How is Traffic EARLY in the morning? (Dallas, Plano: house, live in)

[Shayne_]

Hello All,

I wanted to know, how is traffic EARLY in the morning in Dallas? I mean about 6am...Im coming from a small town where traffic isnt a big issue so hearing about how bad traffic is in Dallas, scares me.........

Thanks!


ETA: Here I purposely work between 6AM and 7AM so I can avoid rush hour so Im somewhat hoping I can do the same there.......

[Mr.Bungle]

Depends on if there is magical wet stuff falling to the ground (rain) and the route you'll be taking. In my experience, the tollway headed south isn't too bad until after 7:15ish. My wife works 7-4 and leaves the house around 6:30 usually to arrive at work by 7. We live in the Frisco area and she commutes on the tollway to the Galleria mall area.

[ShellNic]

It really depends but at that time, you shouldn't have too much trouble wherever you are. I had no problem in the rain this morning on I-30, but I'm pretty sure more than half the drivers misplaced their brain from downtown to I-35. That magical stuff made it crazy for sure!! But again, at that time, you really shouldn't have any trouble!!

[tom8503]

I often go to the gym before work so I am often on the road between 5:45-6:15am and there is very little slowdowns. I travel north on I35E mostly during that time. It looks like it's moving pretty smoothly south at that time too but I'm not sure. I think for the most part traffic is a lot better before 7am. 635 can get clogged about pretty quick as soon as 7am hits, in my experience, but I avoid that thing like the plague between 35 and 75 so I'm not sure since I don't go on it much.

[Pooua]

Dallas traffic is moderately heavy from 6 a.m. to about 7:15, but it rapidly becomes heavier after 7 a.m.

It is my opinion, based on watching people drive, that many people find even moderate traffic off-putting. Why else do they sit at a stop sign and look down the road for such a long time, when only a single car is in view?

[DaveG99]

Traffic is really light before 6:45am.

[Shayne_]

Thanks guys!! I can deal with that, the earlier the better. Heavy traffic scares me

[Pooua]

I finally managed to get a YouTube video of my drive across morning pre-rush hour traffic last Tuesday (January 24). Something went crazy with YouTube, and my original attempt never completely converted.

Anyway, I drove about an hour from Plano to Southlake via 75/635/114, starting just before 7 a.m. and arriving about 7:45 a.m. Here is a 13-minute, edited copy of the video I shot of that trip.

Early Morning Traffic.wmv - YouTube

[Mr.Bungle]

Hey, cool! I saw my building in your video! I also saw it in Office Space... lol Do you have a hard wired dash cam or something?

[Pooua]

Originally Posted by Mr.Bungle

Hey, cool! I saw my building in your video! I also saw it in Office Space... lol Do you have a hard wired dash cam or something?

Heh, I used to work in one of the buildings by DNT and 635. When I found out that "Office Space" was shot over by Midway, I went over there and shot photos of it. A security guard came out and told me I wasn't allowed to do that. Maybe that could get worked into the next script?

I use either sports cameras or point-and-shoot cameras strapped to my car to shoot video. Currently, I'm using a refurbished Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2 attached by a velcro strap to my sun visor. The batteries last about 1.5 hours (I have 3, and use 1 at a time), and the 32 GB card can hold about 8 hours of video. I can't find a dash cam or sports cam of this quality for the price of this refurbished TS2, and I get the bonus of being able to use my TS2 for much more than the sports and dash cams can do.