Parkway West WORST Congestion outside NY & LA (Carnegie, Green Tree: neighborhood, salary)

[youngabe]

Originally Posted by dtrtrggr13

Also - did the people who performed this ever visit Chicago or DC? Wayyyyyy worse congestion than here.

Yes and look at their population numbers as well versus Pittsburgh. It's about the statistics, the short distance plus the time it takes to travel that short distance, not necessarily the volume.

[Geeo]

Traffic on the parkways was pretty steady until the 1960s, I believe. There was no Monroeville or Robinson to speak of, no suburban office parks clogging the access roads, so there was less traffic. Most people worked in the city, nearby suburbs or river towns and lived nearby and transit ridership was a lot higher (although the private transit companies were on their last legs by that time). Allegheny County probably had a fraction of the cars it has today. The Pennsylvania Railroad and Pgh & Lake Erie Railroad still had daily commuter service until 1964. Also, most families had only one car in those days and didn't have to make extra trips to drop off the kids at day care.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by South Range Family

A more practical approach would be an education program that teaches people how to merge, and maintain their speed through tunnels, and over bridges.

Ahhh, nice to see at least one other person that sees through all this "poor design, it's because of the terrain" nonsense.

Let's also not forget about educating the masses on handling downhill grades and maneuvering bends in the road.

[BrianTH]

People will squawk beforehand (afterwards most people would likely embrace it), but the only practical way to address this problem is congestion pricing. To the extent people are concerned about needing more peak capacity on these corridors, the only viable approach is to start investing more in higher-capacity technologies (e.g., busways and rail lines). Fortunately you could potential use some of the revenues from the congestion tolls to help fund such projects.

[bbrian12]

Originally Posted by youngabe

And here's an idea to help raise money to improve the Parkway West...let's embrace this and set up cameras similar to those on rollercoasters where you can buy a picture of yourself on the nation's 9th most congested highway. At off peak times, you can buy a picture of yourself breaking incessantly or for no reason, etc. Sell t-shirts, everything. "I sat on the Parkway West for {insert commute time} just because! " Let's do it!

I like this idea except instead of buying your pic the police can mail you a ticket for careless driving instead! just like traffic cams send you a ticket in the mail this can be the same principal.

[SammyKhalifa]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

Ahhh, nice to see at least one other person that sees through all this "poor design, it's because of the terrain" nonsense.

Let's also not forget about educating the masses on handling downhill grades and maneuvering bends in the road.

I agree.

Everyone's stupid except for me!

[Blackbeauty212]

I would guess to say with the increasing Labor Force and shrinking Public Transit options.....It will soon be normal for a solid back up Inbound from Robinson/Montour Run all the way to the Tunnels during the Rush....and other times from 79 in.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

I would guess to say with the increasing Labor Force and shrinking Public Transit options.....It will soon be normal for a solid back up Inbound from Robinson/Montour Run all the way to the Tunnels during the Rush....and other times from 79 in.

...it's already like this.

[villageidiot1]

What Western PA has needed since the 1960's is an alternate route between the airport area and the Monroeville area. Instead, we have had transportation projects in Western PA such as the unfinished Mon Valley Expressway, a new Pittsburgh International Airport terminal, the North Shore Connector project, the Route 219 four lane highway from Somerset to Ebensburg, expansion of little used regional airports at Latrobe and Johnstown and the extension of Interstate 376 to Interstate 80 near Sharon.

For some reason, Western PA seems to have trouble prioritizing transportation projects. There always seems to be money available for certain politicians' pet projects but no long term vision as to what is really important for the entire region.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by SammyKhalifa

I agree.

Everyone's stupid except for me!

There you go!

I was trying to make an honest attempt to agree that a lot of the nonsense you see in Pittsburgh driving happens elsewhere, but I'm still overwhelmingly convinced that most locals are overly timid, overly cautious, severly lacking in simple driving skills, and severly lacking in basic knowledge of navigating the region they have lived in all their lives.