Thoughts about traffic

[SeattleUte]

My wife says traffic is the most intolerably boring discussion topic possible. I disagree. I find traffic endlessly interesting. Someone told me that in LA at gatherings, cocktail parties and such, people always spend the first 20 minutes discussing their route there, clever shortcuts, traffic conditions, etc. That makes total sense to me; what a great way to start working the room.

Seattle is a beautiful challenge. That's what I tell myself to keep from going crazy, anyway. There are some principles to keep in mind. One is that usually there is a lake in your way, and the lakes need to be crossed by the most efficent means possible.

Another is, when in doubt take route 99 (just imagine the 2 minute drive over Lake Union on 99 vs the draw bridges in Fremont and Ballard). For example, going from the U district to Queen Ann via 99 takes 15 minutes (depending on traffic; which is usually tolerable on 99). DO the same thing through Freemont and it could take you an hour, depending on time of day. The day I discovered this changed my life.

Always consider 99 vs. I-5. Where you want to be spit out should determine your decision. I-5 is always more likely to have traffic. Too many points of confluence, it's too much a trunk for communters who want to wind up on the east side

The thing about Seattle, is if you know your way around, understand that usually there are better and worse ways to get places, it can save years of traffic time off your life.

I've been puzzling over what really causes traffic jams. I think that traffic could be greatly reduced if more people drove with purpose. Being in a daze or putting in a CD as the light changes is a big part of the problem.

[wuapinmon]

I love Steve Winwood.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

There is a reason I always try to drive from Ft. Lewis-Everett or Everett-Ft. Lewis between 2-5 AM.

[Scott R Nelson]

My wife says traffic is the most intolerably boring discussion topic possible.

Your wife is right.

[mUUser]

I sometimes encounter traffic near the Town Square, usually near the barber shop or grocery store. Maddening, but I can go a block or two down the road to avoid it. I don't even want to talk about the road construction in front of the community bank. :anger:

[smokymountainrain]

My wife says traffic is the most intolerably boring discussion topic possible. I disagree. I find traffic endlessly interesting. Someone told me that in LA at gatherings, cocktail parties and such, people always spend the first 20 minutes discussing their route there, clever shortcuts, traffic conditions, etc. That makes total sense to me; what a great way to start working the room.

Seattle is a beautiful challenge. That's what I tell myself to keep from going crazy, anyway. There are some principles to keep in mind. One is that usually there is a lake in your way, and the lakes need to be crossed by the most efficent means possible.

Another is, when in doubt take route 99 (just imagine the 2 minute drive over Lake Union on 99 vs the draw bridges in Fremont and Ballard). For example, going from the U district to Queen Ann via 99 takes 15 minutes (depending on traffic; which is usually tolerable on 99). DO the same thing through Freemont and it could take you an hour, depending on time of day. The day I discovered this changed my life.

Always consider 99 vs. I-5. Where you want to be spit out should determine your decision. I-5 is always more likely to have traffic. Too many points of confluence, it's too much a trunk for communters who want to wind up on the east side

The thing about Seattle, is if you know your way around, understand that usually there are better and worse ways to get places, it can save years of traffic time off your life.

I've been puzzling over what really causes traffic jams. I think that traffic could be greatly reduced if more people drove with purpose. Being in a daze or putting in a CD as the light changes is a big part of the problem.

Fun post. Seattle traffice is indeed, awesome in that if you know the tricks you can really avoid a ton of headache.

The first two rules of Seattle with regard to traffic for somebody new to the area...

1) If you aren't going to live in Seattle, but work in Seattle, go east - the 90 is always much better than I-5. 2) If you do go east, avoid the north part, because the 520 is a joke.

Also, I agree that 99 can be a life saver at times.

[Sleeping in EQ]

Have you ever read Paul Virilio, SU? You might like The Politics of Speed and his work on dromoscopy.

[TripletDaddy]

I remember the week we went in and conducted Shock and Awe. One morning driving around, the morning drive time news guy said something along these lines: "For those of you just turning on your radio, the United States has invaded Iraq with a blistering bombing campaign on Baghdad. but first, let's go out to the 405 and see what's going on out there...."

That ironic moment encapsulates SoCal car culture perfectly, I think.

[SeattleUte]

Have you ever read Paul Virilio, SU? You might like The Politics of Speed and his work on dromoscopy.

Thanks for the referral. I'm going to snap it up.

[SeattleUte]

Fun post. Seattle traffice is indeed, awesome in that if you know the tricks you can really avoid a ton of headache.

The first two rules of Seattle with regard to traffic for somebody new to the area...

1) If you aren't going to live in Seattle, but work in Seattle, go east - the 90 is always much better than I-5. 2) If you do go east, avoid the north part, because the 520 is a joke.

Also, I agree that 99 can be a life saver at times.

A friend of mine who lives in Bellevue told me recently that the suburbs are more conjested now than Seattle proper, because they have grown faster and overwhelmed the infrastructure, and are huge in their own right. That's certainly become true on that vaunted isolated paradise Banbridge Island.

Not sure if that supports or contradicts your thesis or how it fits in. The East Side is a lot of Greek to me.

[UteStar]

In a downtown setting is this: When everyone is sitting at the light and it turns green, the problem is the first game accelerates...then the guy behind him reacts and starts to accelerate and so on. The 10th guy in the back at the light doesn't start to go for like 15 seconds. Its ridiculous.

So, the solution is this: When the light turns green, everyone immediately accelerates. Everyone is moving within 1 second of the light turning green. Its genius. For those that screw up by not accelerating immediately, immediate traffic ticket (and possible jailtime). Downtown traffic problem solved. Everyone is happy.

[YOhio]

We never seem to have traffic problems here in the great Ohio Miami Valley. I think it's because we all have a good sense of the road (and we drive with purpose!).

[beefytee]

This is actually something that has crossed my mind a bunch recently. There is a lot of time wasted at stop lights waiting even when no other vehicles crossing the other direction. Stop lights and grids could easily be a whole lot smarter.

If I were more of an entrepreneur I would persue this as there is plenty of federal money out there for improving the environment.

[old_gregg]

This is actually something that has crossed my mind a bunch recently. There is a lot of time wasted at stop lights waiting even when no other vehicles crossing the other direction. Stop lights and grids could easily be a whole lot smarter.

If I were more of an entrepreneur I would persue this as there is plenty of federal money out there for improving the environment.

roundabouts

[Scott R Nelson]

So, the solution is this: When the light turns green, everyone immediately accelerates. Everyone is moving within 1 second of the light turning green. Its genius. For those that screw up by not accelerating immediately, immediate traffic ticket (and possible jailtime). Downtown traffic problem solved. Everyone is happy.

Nice theory, but it doesn't work in practice. The better thing, from a safety point of view, is for each car to "keep a two second following distance", and not go until two seconds after the car in front. That way if the car in front of you has to hit the brakes for some unexpected reason, you can stop before hitting them.

If everyone tried to drive your way, as soon as some pedestrian or bicycle rider does something unexpected (e.g., chases after something they dropped or swerves into traffic) there is a rear-ender accident.