Driving in Honolulu (Halawa: construction, schools, live)
OahuIncludes Honolulu
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Here's what the H1 looks like much of the time. Both directions. This can be any time of the day.
Is that all? You should see mine in Chicago. You guys think that's bad and I know Honolulu always comes out at the top on any given "worst traffic" articles but I've experienced both(I've spent about 30 days in Honolulu within last 3 years on research vacation). Everything is relative. People and writers and reporters choose to look at data/statistics that they want to choose and write and report about it. They don't move to hawaii, sit in traffic to experience it themselves. There are alot of x factors they don't report about.
I've give Chicago the nod for having worst traffic. You think waikiki is bad? Go drive down Michigan Ave. You think H1 is bad(which it is I am not denial) but go drive on Kennedy 90/94, 55, 294, actually, pick any highway here and it'll best H1. To top it off its always dark here when you leave home and come home from work. Add aboout another 30 cars in that pic and you have Kennedy expressway in chicago.
I moved to Oahu from Dallas. I was used to driving an hour to 1.5 to get to work from far north Dallas to the other side of the metroplex, and I still wasn't prepared for the traffic there. It's not just the rush-hour, it's that's there's traffic ALL THE TIME. We lived in Ewa Beach, so it was one road in, one road out. After my husband got home from work, we would stay home. There was no going to the store, no movies, no going out to eat, nothing. Rush hour here lasts from about 3pm to at least 10:30 or later, especially on the weekends. If you're going to an event on the North Shore and you live in town? Hopefully one of your new buddies will offer you a place to crash for the night.
As for just general traffic rules, there were a few things it took me a while to get used to:
1. Many people don't realize it's a violation of Hawaii state statutes if you don't move to the right to let faster traffic pass! Ever see the "Slower Traffic Keep Right" signs? That's what they mean!
2. My brother who is almost a lifelong LA resident thinks stop and go traffic is when traffic drops down to 30-mph. I tell him at least he's moving. Here in Hawaii, we literally stop for a few minutes or longer before moving along at a snails pace of less than 10-mph in a 55-mph section of the freeway for miles and miles!
3. When it's obvious one of the lanes is going to end and a bunch of a-holes get out of line and get in the ending lane just to cut back in front of you. HATE!!!! I deal with this by blocking the ending lane with my car when I know the person coming up is a cutter and not letting them in. It's worse here than I've seen it anywhere else.
4. People on the freeways yielding to people entering the freeways. And oncoming people expecting to be yielded to. Guess it's not so dangerous when...
5. Everyone drives 45 on the freeways. No wonder there are posted MINIMUM speed limits.
6. Not going when the light is green, then when you gently tap your horn at them after 30 seconds or so just to let them know they need to stop texting and go, they follow you from the Foodland in Ewa Beach down the H-1, past the H-2, cussing and throwing the finger, while trying to run you off the road. All while her child is in its carseat behind her. So don't EVER honk at anybody for ANY reason!
And just so you know, a lot of the people living on Oahu have moved there from other big cities, so they know what traffic is like elsewhere. Trust them when they tell you how it is.
TXLara makes a really good point about traffic all the time - the weekend traffic in Oahu has really gotten out of hand, bumper to bumper on H1 more oftern than not from just east of the airport all the way to the east side.
TXLara wrote: "3. When it's obvious one of the lanes is going to end and a bunch of a-holes get out of line and get in the ending lane just to cut back in front of you. HATE!!!! I deal with this by blocking the ending lane with my car when I know the person coming up is a cutter and not letting them in. It's worse here than I've seen it anywhere else."
Whoa, who deputized you and made you the enforcer of traffic laws? I do agree that cutting in is not cool, for example going down an exit lane and cutting back in at the last second. But when a lane ends, why would you not use it until the end? I know people tend to move out of the lane early, but if traffic is crawling, it doesn't make sense. If you merge early, you're just moving the slow-down effect even further down the road. When traffic is crawling or standing still, the cars should fill both lanes until one ends, then they should alternate one from each lane going forward. That's the optimal flow pattern under those conditions. Anything else is slowing down the average transit time.
When traffic is crawling or standing still, the cars should fill both lanes until one ends, then they should alternate one from each lane going forward. That's the optimal flow pattern under those conditions. Anything else is slowing down the average transit time.
YES, I agree 100%!!!
If people don't do this, it just piles up cars farther behind and onto surface streets.
Sorry, sorry, I should have explained. It was only in one specific area where the only people who were cutting were the cars who were gaining two spaces, and it DID make the wait time longer, as they passed the proper end of the lane and were pulling up on the shoulder to squeeze around in order to be first. It got to be so bad, I noticed a traffic cop standing on the median not too long before we moved back to the mainland. Once he was placed there, the cutting stopped. This wasn't near the freeway.
It was only after I had to sit at this particular intersection for months and noticed many people started blocking off the "shoulder/lane" that I did it too. I am/was not encouraging anyone to do this elsewhere.
Compared to the Bay Area Honolulu is a cake walk. The traffic is less and no one gets in too much of a rush. Sacramento's more of a challenge to drive in.
We lived in Ewa Beach, so it was one road in, one road out.
(snip)
And just so you know, a lot of the people living on Oahu have moved there from other big cities, so they know what traffic is like elsewhere. Trust them when they tell you how it is.
I moved to Honolulu from LA, and I also spent a lot of time in both Boston and the Bay Area (though in fairness, I didn't have a car when I lived in the Bay Area). I think traffic all three of those places is way, way, way worse than here. But (and this is an important but): I LIVE IN TOWN.
I can take back streets to work, never getting on H1. It takes about 15 minutes to go the 2.5 miles to work. I can get into & out of Waikiki (though I rarely want to). I can drive to downtown (and paying to park there is way cheaper than Boston or LA, seriously). But I can also walk to downtown from where I live, and I usually opt for that. I also drive up to the North Shore on the weekends pretty often, and never think too much about it. Or over to Kailua after work for a quick beach visit? No problem.
Very rarely, I need to get on H1 during rush hour (someone flying in to visit and arriving at 5pm or something... have to get to the airport). There are lots of cars, yes. But I never have the blood-boiling rage and anxiety I used to feel in LA. Seriously. H1 rush hour may seem bad to some folks, but after driving in LA... it just doesn't compare. Not at all. But I don't have to do it every day. I did have to do it every day when I lived in LA. Big difference.
Yes, the traffic going to & from Ewa is terrible. That's why, when I was moving here, *everyone* I talked to told me not to get a place there, no matter how much cheaper it might seem. If you factor in commuting costs, time, and quality of life... not cheaper.
I think it's really important, when talking about how bad traffic is on Oahu, to give this context. Have to commute from Ewa to town every day for work? Yeah, that's probably worse than anywhere I've lived. Live in town? Not so bad folks. Really.
Yes, the traffic going to & from Ewa is terrible. That's why, when I was moving here, *everyone* I talked to told me not to get a place there, no matter how much cheaper it might seem. If you factor in commuting costs, time, and quality of life... not cheaper.
I think it's really important, when talking about how bad traffic is on Oahu, to give this context. Have to commute from Ewa to town every day for work? Yeah, that's probably worse than anywhere I've lived. Live in town? Not so bad folks. Really.
Don't forget about the electricity costs in Ewa! I would not be able to live comfortably without a/c year-round in Ewa. Sadly that's an additional $300-$400 each month!
TXLara
As for just general traffic rules, there were a few things it took me a while to get used to:........
I saw a lot of what you have described, while living in S Florida , Miami-Ft Lauderdale - West Palm Bch, along I-35 daily commutes and it was "daily". Almost a clone, of what you vividly wrote about. Must be warm weather that does that to drivers. In many ways it seems to be a large scale Oahu and a little less expensive, humid, and numerous side road traffic lights that take you 20 minutes , to go 4 miles. As you learn the lay of faster routes, it can be less. Bayside - Miami people mover/monorail was highly publicized but not enough lines exist to impact traffic, or routes to residential areas, unless serviced by coordinated bus routes. Looks good, but not sufficient. Since Oahu is so small and compact at Waikiki - Honolulu, the "lack" of sufficient, well managed/coordinated rapid trolley/light rail/bus to by pass road driving, and REDUCE cars used, is impossible to understand. Especially for tourists use, to encompass the entire island quickly and efficiently. Everybody, everywhere, always makes excuses for NOT providing public transit. I know for a fact that transit CAN be done well. When politicians say our nation needs to be energy independent, and have great transit all over, when are WE going to "stand up" and ask these liars to present a plan in 60 days or shut up and go work at a fast food joint? Elections and re-elections must have a "probation" of 6 months. NO action results in the next high vote recipient REPLACING that clown.
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