How bad is the traffic really? (exaggeration?)

[xGrendelx]

Originally Posted by LilyLady

I think this was my biggest disappointment when I moved here. I was surprised to learn that a city as spread out as VB didn't have bus routes all over the city. Each time I've lived somewhere new, I've used city buses to learn the different areas. Not here. And the few routes that do exist have very inconvenient times.

I'm with you. I do the same thing in new places because it is a fantastic way to get a lay of the land, but also to see the locals and the way they live. Virginia Beach has a long way to go in this department, but Norfolk is improving. It's a shame more people don't understand how important a service public transit is.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by Minier

The issue of slow, congested traffic seems to come up often in the threads on this sub-forum.

My question is: Would someone that's experienced New York City/ Westchester traffic consider it bad in the Hampton Roads area? Or is it bad for, say, the guy coming the back roads of Montana? I've also experienced Los Angeles traffic, which I thought made New York City traffic seem like child's play . Is it like L.A. traffic? Experienced metro DC traffic briefly (during a 6 week work assignment) and that sucked big time as well (Gaithersburg into DC at rush hour each day). Is the traffic in Hampton Roads similar to DC metro traffic?

Put it in relative terms for me so I can understand how bad the traffic really is

In relative terms we probably have wider roads than you have in New York City. Westchester I don't know; do you have 12 lane roads up there?

I have never been on the back roads of Montana? What are they like?

I moved here from Ohio. Traffic is only bad during rush hour up there. Even then it is only your larger cities, like Cleveland, Columbus, or Cincinnati you have real problems. That is the closest I have come to the traffic problems here.

If New York City traffic is worse then LA traffic, it is probably because LA has a newer road system. New York still has 6 lane expressways. There is no place to build new roads, and they aren't about to use eminent domain for the sake of building a road. Well perhaps in Westchester, but not in the city core. Between the tunnels, expressways and bridges, plus the cost of parking a car and storing a car I would not want any parts of New York. It looks a lot of fun when the traffic is moving, very scenic, but I would not want to spend 4 hours to get from one part of the city to the next. Not to mention the fact that traffic in New Jersey and Philadelphia isn't necessarily that much better.

Hampton Roads does not have the throughput into the metro area though. We have a dinky 4 lane road that comes into this place. In New York that is more like 12, 14 lanes, with dedicated lanes for trucks which is something they should have here. That goes on for like several hours before you actually get into the city. There is nothing of the sort welcoming you into Hampton Roads, and probably never will be anytime soon. Not that I miss that sort of thing because that just means it is going to be hours to get into the city. In HR I never had to wait more than an hour to get into the city (when I was only 5 minutes outside of the metro).

Traffic in Hampton Roads has nothing on DC/Northern Virginia/Maryland traffic, do not let anyone tell you differently. I was on the road at midnight on a Friday night and it was still bumper to bumper. Down here it is only bumper to bumper if there is an accident or construction, or of course rush hour. Their 1 AM traffic is our 6 PM traffic, no comparison at all whatsoever. Plus they drive a lot faster than we drive down here. It is nothing for everyone to push everyone else along in excess of 80 MPH. Here you have a few people that drive that fast, but the worst I've seen is a crowd of people going 75 when the speed limit is 55. No one seems to care that much about getting a ticket here, and I don't blame them. Virginia has an endless array of means by which to give you a traffic citation. If you pay attention to all of the laws, all of the time, you'll get rear ended.

You should be okay if you don't mind traffic that much. But it still consumes a good chunk of your life. A decent transportation system could take half of these cars off of the road, but it will never happen in this place. We're should thank God Norfolk has a train and enjoy it for all its worth.

[smittyjen]

Traffic is horrible around here especially at the bridges and tunnels like others had mentioned!

[blueice6102]

Originally Posted by Minier

The issue of slow, congested traffic seems to come up often in the threads on this sub-forum.

My question is: Would someone that's experienced New York City/ Westchester traffic consider it bad in the Hampton Roads area? Or is it bad for, say, the guy coming the back roads of Montana? I've also experienced Los Angeles traffic, which I thought made New York City traffic seem like child's play . Is it like L.A. traffic? Experienced metro DC traffic briefly (during a 6 week work assignment) and that sucked big time as well (Gaithersburg into DC at rush hour each day). Is the traffic in Hampton Roads similar to DC metro traffic?

Put it in relative terms for me so I can understand how bad the traffic really is

If your from DC/NYC/Boston/Philly... the hampton roads traffic is nothing, childs play. if your from the back roads of montana, it will seem like the world is ending.

[myladymybaby]

Originally Posted by blueice6102

If your from DC/NYC/Boston/Philly... the hampton roads traffic is nothing, childs play. if your from the back roads of montana, it will seem like the world is ending.

Right...I'm from DC and moved out here and people always complaining about the traffic, I'm thinking what traffic. Its really only traffic when somebody have a accident or something.