why traffic in Maryland is so bad? (Baltimore, Bethesda: crime, home)

[MrQ2]

It's like NYC pain without the NYC benefits.

[bufflove]

Too many people commute too far via an inefficient mode of transportation. Do I win a prize for answering correctly?

[Arianator]

Originally Posted by bufflove

Too many people commute too far via an inefficient mode of transportation. Do I win a prize for answering correctly?

That's exactly what the problem is.

I live in Glen Burnie, and one of my neighbors who lives across the street commutes to DC. One of my coworkers has a second job, and he commutes from his home in Arbutus to his job in Bethesda. The roads just aren't built to handle so much traffic. Any widening would likely come in the form of "HOT lanes" sort of like those on 495 and 95 in Virginia. Although these have their own traffic nightmares; There are plenty of stories of how, where the 95 express lanes (recently converted from HOV lanes) end, traffic hopelessly backs up.

There's a ton of jobs in Washington, and housing in Montgomery county and NoVa is insanely expensive. Many also don't like PG county due to the crime and bad schools. The only other option is to move farther out into Calvert, Charles, St. Mary's, Frederick, and even as far as Washington county.

[seanlax]

Half of Maryland doesn't suffer from traffic issues. Obviously that geographically-speaking, not population-speaking.

From an engineer standpoint, it has a lot to do with a lack of arterial roads, public transportation and sprawl development. And I don't necessarily mean residential sprawl, commercial sprawl is probably a bigger factor in this state anyways. In addition, Maryland, particularly the I-95 corridor, is a geographic choke-point for inter-regional and freight traffic. A turnpike-style road, with minimal access points (like 3, e.g. 495,32,695, across the state), would probably go a long way in this state.

[DistrictSonic]

Originally Posted by Arianator

That's exactly what the problem is.

I live in Glen Burnie, and one of my neighbors who lives across the street commutes to DC. One of my coworkers has a second job, and he commutes from his home in Arbutus to his job in Bethesda. The roads just aren't built to handle so much traffic. Any widening would likely come in the form of "HOT lanes" sort of like those on 495 and 95 in Virginia. Although these have their own traffic nightmares; There are plenty of stories of how, where the 95 express lanes (recently converted from HOV lanes) end, traffic hopelessly backs up.

There's a ton of jobs in Washington, and housing in Montgomery county and NoVa is insanely expensive. Many also don't like PG county due to the crime and bad schools. The only other option is to move farther out into Calvert, Charles, St. Mary's, Frederick, and even as far as Washington county.

Building more roads or lanes does not necessarily reduce traffic issues, in fact they can make it worse. Inefficient design, and people traveling more vehicle miles for tasks increases traffic. Basically, too much sprawl.

An arterial road though pushing away interstate travel away from DC and Baltimore though would help a great deal for the region.