Central Puget Sound State Route 167 - Delay
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Measures of delay on the SR 167 corridor in the central Puget Sound region.
Travel delay
Travel delay is the amount of extra time spent at speeds below a given threshold—such as the posted speed limit or the maximum throughput speed on a highway. WSDOT uses maximum throughput speed (85% of posted speed limit) as its threshold for calculating delay, which it measures in either annual hours of delay per vehicle or annual hours of delay per person. For details on methodology to calculate travel delay, see WSDOT's Handbook for Corridor Capacity Evaluation (PDF 5.9MB).
Highway capacity constraints vary based on the presence of managed lanes and multimodal travel options; the SR 167 corridor is served by the Sounder commuter rail, transit buses, and high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes. For detailed information about the SR 167 HOT lanes, see SR 167 HOT Lanes | WSDOT (wa.gov).
Heat maps
The heat maps below show vehicle hours of delay by time of day (measured in 5-minute intervals) and milepost. The darker the shading in a particular spot on the heat map, the more hours of delay occurred at that time and place. Shading is standardized across all the corridors to allow for comparison.
There is a separate heat map for each direction of travel. The northbound graph below is read from the bottom to the top, while the corresponding southbound graph is read from the top to the bottom. For additional details on how to read heat maps, see Handbook for Corridor Capacity Evaluation (PDF 5.9MB).
Sources: WSDOT Transportation Safety and Systems Analysis Division and WSDOT TRACFLOW (https://tracflow.wsdot.wa.gov/)
Multi-year trends
In 2022, delay continued to increase compared to 2021 due to the ongoing recovery of traffic volume in the wake of COVID-19. The delay in 2022 was close to the pre-pandemic level.
In 2020, due to the statewide response to COVID-19 there was a significant decrease in delay compared to previous years.
From 2018 through 2019, the central Puget Sound region experienced substantial economic growth and increased employment, which resulted in more commuters on the road, including on SR 167.
On most of the SR 167 corridor, travelers experienced more delay in 2019 than in 2018. However, the southbound section of the corridor between the SR 18 interchange and near the 15th Street NW and S. 277th Street interchanges had less delay in 2019 than in 2018. This improvement was likely due to the extension of the southbound high occupancy toll lane to Pacific in December 2016.
Highway capacity constraints vary based on the presence of managed lanes and multimodal travel options; the SR 167 corridor is served by the Sounder commuter rail, transit buses, and high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes. For detailed information about the SR 167 HOT lanes, see SR 167 HOT Lanes | WSDOT (wa.gov).
Annual highlights
In 2022, delay increased compared to 2021 and was close to the pre-pandemic level. Northbound delay occurred during the morning commute approaching S. 277th Street and approaching Renton. Southbound delay occurred during the evening commute and covered the full length of the corridor.
In 2021, delay increased compared to 2020 but was still significantly lower than the pre-pandemic levels. Northbound delay occurred during the morning commute approaching S. 277th Street and approaching Renton. Southbound delay occurred during the evening commute and covered the full length of the corridor.
In 2020, due to the statewide response to COVID-19 there was significant decrease in delay compared to 2019, but it occurred at the same locations. As in 2019, northbound delay occurred during the morning commute approaching S. 277th Street and approaching Renton. Southbound delay occurred only during the evening commute and covered the full length of the corridor.
In 2019, there was more vehicle delay on SR 167 than in 2018, but it occurred at the same locations. As in 2017 and 2018, northbound delay occurred during the morning commute approaching S. 277th Street and approaching Renton. Southbound delay occurred only during the evening commute and covered the full length of the corridor.
In 2018, vehicle delay on SR 167 was similar to that in 2017. Northbound delay was nearly identical in both years, occurring during the morning commute approaching S. 277th Street and approaching Renton. Southbound delay occurred only during the evening commute along the full length of the corridor.