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This isn't about the TSPLOST, since it is now a dead duck.
Yet we still need to look at our transportation issues. Here's an interesting graphic that compares the use of different modes of getting to work in cities around the U.S. Despite all the hoopla about Altanta traffic, our commute times are not all that terrible.
This is pretty interesting. I also noticed in the TNR article you posted in the other thread, the author cited Atlanta as the 21st most congested metro in the U.S. That doesn't strike me as particularly bad for the 9th largest metro. Our commute time of 25.8 minutes also seems moderate.
I use MARTA to commute so I don't have much personal experience, but is the traffic issue maybe a bit overhyped? Are the real concerns perhaps more about limits on future growth than existing congestion?
Hmm, I had always heard we had among the longest commute times.
Anyways, I've actually seen and heard a lot of data showing Atlanta's traffic isn't that bad at all. The latest Inrix has us at 19th most congested in the country. Our most congested corridor (US 92 on the northside) is the 114th worst nationwide. Big whoop. Of course, these ratings all use totally different measurements and stuff, and anecdotally it seems pretty bad, but still.
I guess perception is a lot more important than reality. Maybe Reed should just sit there touting stats all day long and pretend to have his head in the sand. In a decade, we'll have a reputation for having some of the clearest roads in the country.
Well, it's the perception. People perceive this city to be a traffic nightmare because it is black and there is large city traffic. So we need to address perception even if we have to pretend it is bad and that we are dealing with it. Especially when competing with smaller metros in the south and metros with better transit options.
We gotta convince the business who choose not to come here due to the perception. We have to act like we are fixing the perceived issue.
I've been saying that for five years. Anyone who complains about traffic and long commutes here has never lived in NJ, DC, LA, or any other place that has much worse traffic.
Well, it's the perception. People perceive this city to be a traffic nightmare because it is black and there is large city traffic. So we need to address perception even if we have to pretend it is bad and that we are dealing with it. Especially when competing with smaller metros in the south and metros with better transit options.We gotta convince the business who choose not to come here due to the perception. We have to act like we are fixing the perceived issue.
Wtf does race have to do with traffic congestion perception? DC was majority black.
the cities with the worst traffic are the more traditional cities, where most commuters are essentially going to the same place. In ATL employment is spreadout all over the region, diverting traffic away from the city center. This helps commuters in ATL, but it doesn't create a very condusive environment for mass transit.
Like I said, traffic is only bad in Metro Atlanta if you live in the northern suburbs OTP and commute into Atlanta for work. Our perception is horrible. The average person driving through Atlanta on 75 from north Atlanta to South Atlanta will first see 16 lanes of traffic. Most cities do not have 16 lanes so they automatically think traffic is bad. Then they hit 75/85 downtown traffic. Then they hit the 675/75 traffic in the south metro. Generally 85 is normally "bad" in Gwinnett and in downtown but it isn't bad in south Atlanta. Interstate 20 is only "bad" on the eastside at the 285/20 interchange.
Outside of the Top End (285 between 75 and 85)
75/85
Outside of these areas traffic isnt that bad. Traffic isnt bad on the downtown connector unless a game or big event is going on downtown. People outside of Metro Atlanta say that our traffic is bad because we have huge highways that are packed but the traffic is moving. Someone visiting Atlanta driving 15 mph on 75/85 in 16 lanes of thick traffic will say that traffic is worse than driving in Macon in a 4 lane highway with traffic moving at 5 mph
Last edited by tonygeorgia; 08-02-2012 at 07:10 PM..
Maybe it's perception. Maybe it's the lack of a viable transit system. Maybe both?
I say this respectfully. I live in NJ, 30 miles outside of Manhattan, and have commuted into NYC for most of my career--so, let's go with 15 years. My 30-mile commute, if I drove, would take I don't even know how long. Forever, unless I wanted to leave for work at 5:30 a.m., and even then, all bets are off. The Lincoln Tunnel would make my head want to explode.
So, I take the train. Good old NJ Transit. At 30 miles outside of the city, it takes about an hour to get in to Penn Station on a rush hour train. It's not horrible. But it does **** me off, often, that a 30-mile commute takes an hour. (After that, there's walking and subway. But that's my issue, not mass transit's.)
After reading this thread, I have to laugh, because here I sit in NJ, and Atlanta is known as "terrible traffic." Meanwhile, if I were to drive into the city during rush hour, it would be worse, I'm guessing. That said, I have the option of reliable mass transit that reaches far into New Jersey. That's why I say--maybe it's a little of both, when it comes to Atlanta.
The monthly pass on NJ Transit from Morristown, NJ to NY Penn is $361, by the way. Paying it every month makes you want to choke someone. Just saying.
Maybe it's perception. Maybe it's the lack of a viable transit system. Maybe both?
I say this respectfully. I live in NJ, 30 miles outside of Manhattan, and have commuted into NYC for most of my career--so, let's go with 15 years. My 30-mile commute, if I drove, would take I don't even know how long. Forever, unless I wanted to leave for work at 5:30 a.m., and even then, all bets are off. The Lincoln Tunnel would make my head want to explode.
So, I take the train. Good old NJ Transit. At 30 miles outside of the city, it takes about an hour to get in to Penn Station on a rush hour train. It's not horrible. But it does **** me off, often, that a 30-mile commute takes an hour. (After that, there's walking and subway. But that's my issue, not mass transit's.)
After reading this thread, I have to laugh, because here I sit in NJ, and Atlanta is known as "terrible traffic." Meanwhile, if I were to drive into the city during rush hour, it would be worse, I'm guessing. That said, I have the option of reliable mass transit that reaches far into New Jersey. That's why I say--maybe it's a little of both, when it comes to Atlanta.
The monthly pass on NJ Transit from Morristown, NJ to NY Penn is $361, by the way. Paying it every month makes you want to choke someone. Just saying.
I think the issue people have with Atlanta is that you have to sit in traffic a long time to go shorter distances. I know when I leave Buckhead to visit friends or to go places 5 miles or less from me, it can take 45 minutes (sometimes an hour) just to go right up the street inching along in traffic. And there are always accidents, even on the surface roads. Taking the bus it can take 2 to 3 hours round trip.
I used to live in Covington and I would have to leave my house at 6:30 in the morning to make it to work by 8:30 am driving. If I left home at 7:00 am, I would be late. There's no public transit out there.
Here you don't have to live 30 miles away to have a super long commute--by super long I mean just sitting in traffic not moving. Where I'm from we have a commuter railroad as well but it doesn't cost as much as NY/NJ. The most expensive monthy pass on the commuter rail is $263, the cost depending on which zone you are using. Other zones can be half that or less.
I didn't sit in traffic back home because I never drove there, but public transit got me where I needed to go in a decent amount of time. The only time public transit took long is if you were going longer distances. My hometown is huge so it could take two hours by train just to get from one end of town to the other, with the trains steadily running, and that did not include going into any suburbs, just within the city proper.
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