We have often talked about our cities and how bad traffic is....how we get in our car and stand still. Many of us believe, rightly or wrongly, that our own city is the worst.....much chat and debate has taken place over this.
Well, here are some numbers from one of the most well-known and well-respected companies in the buisness of measuring this....the Texas Transportation Institute. The 2005 report...part of which I have posted....has the average amount of time calculated for each driver sitting still in traffic and the number of hours wasted each year. Figures current are good through the end of 2003...apparantly they are still analyzing 2004.
First place...no surprise.....L.A. by a large margin. Then San Francisco. Then the D.C-Baltimore area (my home).Then Atlanta. Then....well...see for yourself:
http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/congestion_data/tables/national/table_4.pdf
1SICKLEX
06-07-05, 06:33 PM
We have often talked about our cities and how bad traffic is....how we get in our car and stand still. Many of us believe, rightly or wrongly, that our own city is the worst.....much chat and debate has taken place over this.
Well, here are some numbers from one of the most well-known and well-respected companies in the buisness of measuring this....the Texas Transportation Institute. The 2005 report...part of which I have posted....has the average amount of time calculated for each driver sitting still in traffic and the number of hours wasted each year. Figures current are good through the end of 2003...apparantly they are still analyzing 2004.
First place...no surprise.....L.A. by a large margin. Then San Francisco. Then the D.C-Baltimore area (my home).Then Atlanta. Then....well...see for yourself:
http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/congestion_data/tables/national/table_4.pdf
Dude, this is a GREAT find. :thumbup: My girlfiiend and I were stuck in traffic today, no matter where we went. Not only that, the lack of people following laws, little ones like using signals to big ones like running a light like 5 seconds after the light is red. It just makes things very crazy.
This is sad and it will just get worse and worse.
XeroK00L
06-07-05, 06:46 PM
It's interesting to note that many areas saw a decline in traffic congestion from year 2002 to 2003, most probably because of the great recession after the dot bomb and 911. I was actually quite happy for a while to see the lessened traffic at the time.:p
NeverSatisfied
06-07-05, 08:01 PM
Wow, didn't expect to see Phoenix up there; I thought the traffic was pretty good when I went to school there.
replica
06-07-05, 08:25 PM
Wow, didn't expect to see Phoenix up there; I thought the traffic was pretty good when I went to school there.
You must mean N. Mexico. Yeah, it's suckin' here. A combination of border crossers and every SOB from the midwest moving here. :mad:
bitkahuna
06-07-05, 09:59 PM
Dude, this is a GREAT find. :thumbup: My girlfiiend and I were stuck in traffic today, no matter where we went. Not only that, the lack of people following laws, little ones like using signals to big ones like running a light like 5 seconds after the light is red. It just makes things very crazy.
This is sad and it will just get worse and worse.
As you know I can certainly relate to that! I just couldn't stand it anymore even though I lived close to where I work. Now I drive about every other day on empty roads. I can still hardly believe it. :D
Lexiss_sc430
06-08-05, 01:17 AM
haha these guys, I have been stuck in traffic for 3 1/2 hours to go 40 miles, and that’s just off the top of my head., if I sat here and tried to think of all the others times we’d be here for a while. LA sucks that’s what it comes down to, plain and simple. Traffic is a usual thing, its no longer a maybe its a certainty, there is not way you go some where in la and not hit traffic, unless its in the middle of the night, then only times you can find the road ways clear is when ur coming back from clubs ;) otherwise :thumbdn: :sad:
CK6Speed
06-08-05, 03:16 AM
I'd still like to see a study using minute per mile. I know here in Hawaii the average round trip is probably only about 25-30 miles for most people, but it will still take them about 1 hour each each way. Mine is about 42 miles round trip, and fortunately I don't have to work in the morning. People here leave work at 4:30-5AM to reach work at 7AM. Often at least 1-2 times a week traffic will be at a pace of about 4 miles per 30 minutes. If there is a fairly large accident many people just stay at work or eat dinner near work since it will take you 3 hours to get home 20 miles away. There are little alternative routes, so if one route is shut down with an accident it is pretty much over. I think traffic lights plays a big role as well, plus my state does these stupid things like shutting down freeway on ramps to speed up traffic in the morning for the freeway, but that leaves entrire areas where drivers need to find an alternative route to the freeway bottlenecking the next on ramp. It makes no sense. Plus, those trying to get out of town generally going the opposite way of major morning traffic gets stuck in much heavier traffic as well. I guess they don't care about the guys getting off work and trying to leave the area.
WhiteTiger
06-08-05, 09:04 AM
Well I am glad that here is one area that I am definitely below average. Ft Lauderdale isn't even on the list and the nice thing is, that if you know your way around the tri-county area, even in rush hour it isn't too bad.
I consider myself very blessed to have a 7 miles commute to work that on a bad day (catching every light and maybe a traffic accident or two) takes me 25 minutes and I have done it in 9 minutes. Average is about 12-15.
Yet I am no stranger to traffic as I have driven in almost ever major metropolitan area in this country including LA and Atlanta. Grew up in Chicago. Unfortunately traffic patterns are only going to get worse.
jtanoyo1
06-08-05, 09:54 AM
LOL, y'all need to come out to Jakarta just so you will know how blessed you guys' are....
I read some info a while back that we are the MOST congested city in the world after Bangkok. Check this pic out from last month, not only do we have bumper-to-bumper traffic, we also got mini flash floods to boot.
Now you wonder why I never drive the Aristo ANYWHERE....
I was thinking about this today while I was sitting in our lovely Chicago traffic.
For some reason I thought that a 'stacked' expressway would be great.
Anyone else agree?
The expressway to and from the city being multi-level to handle the rush hour traffic?
flipspeed
06-08-05, 10:03 AM
LOL, y'all need to come out to Jakarta just so you will know how blessed you guys' are....
I read some info a while back that we are the MOST congested city in the world after Bangkok. Check this pic out from last month, not only do we have bumper-to-bumper traffic, we also got mini flash floods to boot.
Now you wonder why I never drive the Aristo ANYWHERE....
metro manila is pretty bad too. 2 lane roads are turned into 4 somehow and people literally bump each other's cars like it's nothing. add to that floods and air pollution. :sad:
flipside909
06-08-05, 11:58 AM
I was thinking about this today while I was sitting in our lovely Chicago traffic.
For some reason I thought that a 'stacked' expressway would be great.
Anyone else agree?
The expressway to and from the city being multi-level to handle the rush hour traffic?
That wasn't a great idea here in CA built in the 60s but damaged in the 80s. Remember Loma Prieta Earthquake on October 17,1989 and the Bay Bridge World Series A's vs Giants? I remember experiencing it...almost seems like yesterday:
No but you have blizzards so who would want to drive on the top level of the stacked highway? :D
zenki300
06-08-05, 09:02 PM
My bro was telling me that increasing the number of freeway on-ramps and off-ramps would help traffic, because even stacked freeways would be useless unless traffic could be effectively channeled to alternate routes. Just one option I remembered him telling me about.
bitkahuna
06-09-05, 07:56 AM
Well look what they're planning in Britain for congestion - charging for road use by the mile with varying rates! I believe it's Oregon or Washington states that also want or are planning something similar. :mad:
Road pricing ‘only alternative to UK gridlock’
By Darren Dodd
Published: June 9 2005 03:00 | Last updated: June 9 2005 14:19
The introduction of road pricing could be the only alternative to American-style gridlock on Britain’s roads, Alastair Darling said on Thursday.
The transport secretary unveiled his department’s latest thinking on road charging in a speech to the Social Market Foundation. Such schemes could cut congestion by almost half with only four per cent less cars using the road, he said.
Mr Darling called for a wide-ranging debate, emphasising the need to build a consensus for change, including other political parties, local authorities and the general public. “Public support is important. If you can’t persuade the public that there is `something in it for you’, then we are unlikely to get off the starting blocks,” he said.
There was no quick fix to end the problems of traffic congestion, Mr Darling said. The radical move to introduce charging by distance travelled would span several parliaments and would need local pilot testing before a national scheme emerged.
“To do that, we’ll need to work with one or more local authorities. No decisions have been made about where they might be. But we need to be making those decisions in the next two years, with a pilot up and running in five to six years,’’ he said
A feasibility study has already set out a range out a range of charges from 2p a mile, through to £1.34 a mile on the busiest roads, Mr Darling said, with the maximum charge only paid by half a per cent of traffic.
The government’s Transport Innovation Fund will make up to £200m a year available to support local and regional transport strategies. Local authorities will be invited to come forward with solutions to tackle congestion, including measures based on pricing.
The Future of Transport, the government’s white paper published in July, said road-pricing could play an important part in Britain’s transport strategy over the next 30 years with the technology available to make it possible within 10 to 15 years.
There was nothing in in the speech to indicate whether road-charging could become a new source of tax revenue. Mr Darling has said previously that it was not his intention to introduce any additional charges for the motorist but to make a switch from other charges.
The initiative was broadly welcomed from politicians and business groups.
Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrats transport spokesman, said the public could see the logic behind road charging. He added: “Any system should be revenue neutral and based on location, pollution, and congestion. Road charging is only part of the solution, and must not be seen as a substitute for an integrated public transport system.’’
Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First, the lobby group, said: “Doing nothing is not an option for the capital. Some 40 per cent of the UK’s congestion is in London, costing between £4bn and £8bn a year.”
The government already plans to introduce a national road charging system for trucks in 2008.
Hameed
06-09-05, 08:12 AM
As you know I can certainly relate to that! I just couldn't stand it anymore even though I lived close to where I work. Now I drive about every other day on empty roads. I can still hardly believe it. :D
Rub it in Mr. Entrepreneur. :)
I would never live in a city where the traffic is so bad. My patience is very thin and I would move to the boonies. Yes you give up certain things for others.
mmarshall
06-09-05, 08:36 AM
That wasn't a great idea here in CA built in the 60s but damaged in the 80s. Remember Loma Prieta Earthquake on October 17,1989 and the Bay Bridge World Series A's vs Giants? I remember experiencing it...almost seems like yesterday:
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Well...you have to take the good with the bad anywhere you live. Yes, earthquakes, mudslides, wildfires, salt air on exposed metal, and of course, traffic, are indeed problems in coastal CA. But there are many good things about SoCal too.....you yourself have spoken about them a number of times.
Same where I live. The great economy, high wages, low unemployment, high standard of living, extensive dealers and service facilities, and many places to go and see has to be balanced against awful summer heat and humidity, occasional severe storms and winter storms, and, like CA, sky-high real estate and TRAFFIC.