Why do we keep talking about highway fuel economy?

Talk to transportation academics or government officials and the future of automobile transportation can be summed up in one word, congestion. Already the daily commute of a significant percentage of Americans is filled with stop-and-go and slow-and-go traffic - the worst driving conditions for both fuel economy and pollution. Even worse, not only are these conditions supposed to get worse for these Americans, the majority of Americans will soon also be facing these conditions.

Yet, whenever most automakers speak of fuel economy, it's always highway fuel economy.

If about half of America is already spending a significant percent of their driving time in congestion, with this percent expected to grow significantly in just the next decade, why do we continue to use highway fuel economy as the standard?

The truth is that most automakers are far less fuel efficient than they claim to be in real world driving, and the real world driving that causes the worst fuel economy and pollution is quickly becoming the norm and getting worse by the day.

Isn't it time to deal with reality, instead of living in the past?