Commuting in Dallas - II (Plano, Atlanta: vs., move, office)

[Aceraceae]

There isn't any construction around the airport up to the 114 121 split. I drive through there often. Up 114 I'm not sure. It's been a while since I went up that way.

In the mornings the only backup spot now is the first merge after the Sam Rayburn ends and turns to two lanes going in the South direction. However, it is absolutely nothing like what it was during construction. Post construction the 635/International Pkwy/114 East merges that were horrific flow awesome now.

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Plus, there is still some bad construction west of the airport...although now that I'm thinking about it, maybe the construction is further south (183) vs 114.

The intersection of 114 and 170 is currently a mess with construction, and it backs up terribly in rush hours. Traffic coming into Grapevine in the mornings and out in the evening is also really heavy. The city's population doubles during the work day!

[KSJT]

thank you everyone

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by HockeyDadof2

This is more of a rant than anything else as I am sure it will be taken care of, however.

I just got home and in the mail I received a letter advising of a "negative balance" on my toll tag account. I can tell you right now there are no issues with the credit card that is associated with my NTTA toll tag and on my credit card statement I can see the last two charges were on 12/18 and 12/28. This letter is dated 12/26. It reads as follows:

Dear Customer:

We appreciate your business, however, your TollTag account balance has reached a negative amount. This means that your TollTag(s) will no longer read. We wish to caution you that any further use of the tag(s) will cause a violation, and could subject you to a fine.

To revalidate your tag(s), please remit the negative account balance plus your payment for prepaid tolls. If payment has been made, please disregard this notice. If you wish to close your account, please remit the negative account balance and return your TollTag to this office.

BLAH BLAH BLAH

First of all I, unfortunately spend $120 - $200 a month on tolls. I have NEVER had an issue with this account. Secondly, the "negative balance" they reported is -.32. That's 32 cents folks. Third, I was able to look on my account and see that the charges made to my credit cards were in fact credit towards my TollTag account and I currently am $16.23 in the positive. I call to se what's up and was told their system is down and to call back tomorrow and that my payment probably crossed the letter in the mail??? What?? It's an automatic charge to my credit card when it get below $10 as I understand things. The account NEVER was negative unless they screwed up crediting the payment to made to my credit card.


UGH, what a backwards organization NTTA. I so wish I had other options. Unfortunately we do not.

edited to add: They paid .36 to send me this letter. They have my email address on file seems like that would have been the way to go......

I got the same identical letter down to the date. I logged on to my account which shows a positive balance of $40, which is the amount they routinely charge me as a frequent user of it like you. I just saw the letter due to Holiday travels. I paid an additional $60 and wrote them a note online asking about the conflicting information. I like the NTTA product but why not email me rather than send a lette I don't get unless at home. I also updated my credit card information with one not expiring for 4 years to avoid another update for a while. Update us on what you found out of anything and I will do the same.

OP welcome to DFW area... glad you decided to accept the promotion and come to Texas

[ekrobins3]

We are relocating from Atlanta. We keep hearing about how terrible traffic is in Dallas for a commute, and I'm wondering if anyone can compare it to traffic in Atlanta. Right now, we live about 20 miles away from my husband's office, and on average he has a 45 minute commute in light rush hour. In heavy rush hour it is easily an hour or so.

Are commutes similar in Dallas, or worse? Just trying to get a feel for what to expect!

[bencronin04]

Plano to downtown Dallas(very popular commute) is about the same distance and sounds about the same in time a well. In heavy traffic is can take you an hour each way. On a weekend it can take as little as 20 minutes.

For example right now is light traffic, in an hour it will probably be 45 minutes plus:

25 mins
In current traffic: 30 mins

[bencronin04]

IF you all decide to move to Dallas, you'll just learn what highways to avoid at what times. IE 635 pretty much every , but especially during rush hour.

[Aceraceae]

As already stated there are commute times per distance that are similar to Atlanta.

[JimBaker488]

I've lived and worked in both cities and Dallas traffic is not as wild and wooly as ATL traffic, a place where daily commuters seem to want to treat the drive to work everyday as a NASCAR event.

[hal2814]

I lived in Atlanta for over 20 years and just moved back to Dallas about 3 years ago. You know how in Atlanta traffic is terrible everywhere except for a few pockets where traffic actually moves? Reverse that and you have Dallas traffic. At its worst, it’s as bad as Atlanta traffic, but it’s rarely at its worst. And they actually keep building controlled-access highways here in Dallas. There are alternate routes. If the highway is bad, you can usually get on a 6-lane surface street with lights that are timed somewhat sensibly. There are highways that move both north-to-south and east-to-west around the city. Highways! Not just one. IMHO, the only real downsides are construction traffic (but hey, at least they build roads here) and left lane hogs. I thought left lane hogs were bad in Atlanta. I had no idea they could be this bad...