Surprise...Atlanta drops from top 10 for traffic congestion (College Park, Springfield: movers, college)

[KevK]

Originally Posted by neil0311

OK, but other cities have as bad or worse. The sad truth here is that most urban centers have bad traffic, but it's relative.

Funny how people are calling this all kinds of names because it doesn't agree with their perception. If the same study said Atlanta had the worst traffic in the nation, you'd be praising it as tremendous.

That is because it would be TRUE!

[gt6974a]

Originally Posted by DeaconJ

But definitely not MARTA...

A big thanks to:
CCT with 11,000 riders/day
GCT with 8,000 riders/day

MARTA with it's poor leadership and lack of rail coverage...451,000 riders/day

Like I said, I'm one of those 11,000. Atlanta, you're welcome

[J2rescue]

Originally Posted by joe2000

I agree. Atlanta has bad traffic but its like any normal city its size. The only reason most people think that Atlanta has bad traffic is because Atlanta has more interstate lanes than most cities. Traffic looks worse if you are in 7 lanes of traffic verse 4 lanes. You can be in another city in 4 lanes of traffic traveling at 5 mph but if you are in Atlanta in 7 lanes of traffic going 10 mph, those same people will say Atlanta traffic is worse even though you are going faster

I think the reason people think Atlanta traffic is so bad is because people drive farther here. What I mean by that is Atlanta has the longest average commute distance which tends to skew Atlanta negatively in those other rankings that always have Atlanta in the top 5. Of course these long commuting distances are not good for traffic but a longer commuting distance will naturally result in a longer average commute time but it may not have anything to do with bad traffic. And everyone I know from Chicago, NY, DC have always said " At least Atlanta moves" in comparison to those cities. One friend from NY has no idea what all the fuss is about with Atlanta traffic.

This particular study is based on GPS data while the others are merely estimates. If you look at the data it gives a good bit of detail such as the worst bottlenecks and hours of congestion for each bottleneck.

Atlanta metro bottlenecks (http://scorecard.inrix.com/scorecard/MetropolitanDetails.asp?ID=12 - broken link)

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by J2rescue

This particular study is based on GPS data while the others are merely estimates. If you look at the data it gives a good bit of detail such as the worst bottlenecks and hours of congestion for each bottleneck.

Facts? Do those matter?

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by neil0311

Facts? Do those matter?

Some people will continue to display their lack of knowledge, even when presented with real facts from a reputable source.

[tonygeorgia]

Originally Posted by neil0311

Exactly. I'm not saying Atlanta has no traffic or that everything is rosy, but unless you commute on GA 400 or I-85, the traffic isn't all that bad compared to many other metro areas. Sure, there are good days and bad days, but on the whole, I can get to downtown Atlanta during rush hour a hell of a lot easier than I used to get to downtown Boston during rush hour.

I tend to think that many people here compare Atlanta today to Atlanta years ago, which I can do as well, and in that comparison things are much worse today. However, if you compare Atlanta with other large cities, for the most part it's not any worse, and this study bears that out.

Ever been on the L.I.E. in NY during rush hour? Waited at the GW Bridge tolls in NJ? Been on Rte 128 doing the "computer commute" or Rte 3 from the south shore in the Boston area? Atlanta has some bad traffic in specific places at certain times, but the hype is way overrated most of the time.

At lease our traffic isnt as bad as DC. Try driving on 395 or BWI Parkway on a Saturday

[tonygeorgia]

Originally Posted by KevK

I know Atlanta has bad traffic. Not because of the lanes it has but because it can take you well over an hour to get from Buckhead to Memorial Drive at times. It can take you 1.5 hours to transverse the 21 miles from I-20 west to Ashford-Dunwoody on 285 with a 5 speed manual Mustang where you never get past 2nd gear the whole way!

And there you have it. At times it will take you 1.5 hours and at most other times it will take you 30 mins. Traffic the way you described is in all major cities

Most of the people who complain either:

- Work downtown and live way OTP

- They didnt vote for the marta rail

- They choose not to live near marta

- Etc



At time, traffic in all major cities can be horrible. Funny how you say at times its bad but you didn't say that most of the time it isnt bad

[Buckhead Betty1]

Originally Posted by LAB6120

This is definately true. I started taking Marta when gas prices went up, but had to drive to work Tuesday, traffic flow was great, not like how I remembered it last year. I hope it continues.

Don't get use to it. It's because of the high unemployment rate right now. Once those people get back to work traffic will be back as we once knew it.

[Saintmarks]

In defference to the person who said Dallas traffic is not as bad as Atlanta, well I agree and disagreee. Getting to downtown Dallas is just as bad from the northern suburbs if not worse than a similar commute from a similar northern Atlanta suburb.

However Dallas has much better east/west routes across the suburbs than Altanta has. A commute from say Kennesaw to Alpharetta is a bear. A similar commute from Grapevine to Frisco (comparable suburb to suburb commute) is a breeze.

As employment centers in metro areas are no longer confined to the downtown of the core city, the hub and spoke design of Atlanta's freeway system is outdated. The NIMBYers have stopped the outer loop, a horrible decision, IMO. Should have been built decades ago.

[J2rescue]

However the Dallas area had 14 road segments that ranked as worse "bottlenecks" than any segment in Atlanta according to the study.

Dallas (http://scorecard.inrix.com/scorecard/MetropolitanDetails.asp?ID=4 - broken link)

It looks like nearly every city saw some improvement in congestion due to the recession and high gas prices.