Is it really jammed badly at rush hour? (Seattle, Bellevue: renting, home)

[RustinginSeattle]

I think one of the most frustrating parts is that it isn't just limited to freeways. Sometimes it can take you 20-30 minutes just to leave your parking garage downtown and get onto the freeway, because all entrance routes are so jammed up. Or your main road connecting you from your house to the freeway is so backed up that it takes forever just to get along a common road. It's amazing to me that I've taken 15 minutes just to get from the grocery store to my house - about 2 miles away and that's around 3pm! That's the kind of stuff that will make you nuts.

[CoffeeandNatureWalks]

Mass Transit is better is Seattle than in other places I've lived, yet it can be iffy. Even with use of bus lanes, I found a 5-mile trip (north to south) to downtown could result in anywhere from a 1-hour to 3-hour total day's commute. Added to this, whether I left for work an hour earlier or an hour later, it usually required a 2-bus trip and one (if not both) of the busses were generally packed, standing room only.

During one ride on a transfer bus, the passengers began yelling at the driver to stop allowing riders to board, as we were all squished together tightly. It was a very uncomfortable ride for many reasons.

[Stonepa]

So I have to wonder what everyone considers to be a bad commute? I've lived in LA and drove 15 miles each way on the 405. Never thought the traffic was all that bad. Lived in Dallas and drove on the 635. Again, not bad. Chicago, whether the Dan Ryan or the Ike at rush hour? Rough at times but not terrible. So was Mumbai during my time there. Caracas? Really bad. Any city in Columbia? Ditto.

Seattle? The only really bad rush hour traffic I encountered was the 5 from Tacoma to Seattle when there was an accident in Fife. That was bad. Day to day, based on my few days driving around the city at rush hour, not bad at all.

So I think a lot of this has to do with definitions. And time versus distance. So, what do you consider bad? If it takes me 45-60 minutes each way from Issaquah to South Lake Union, would you think that bad? Just trying to get a baseline for Seattle traffic as we plan our move.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by Stonepa

So I have to wonder what everyone considers to be a bad commute? I've lived in LA and drove 15 miles each way on the 405. Never thought the traffic was all that bad. Lived in Dallas and drove on the 635. Again, not bad. Chicago, whether the Dan Ryan or the Ike at rush hour? Rough at times but not terrible. So was Mumbai during my time there. Caracas? Really bad. Any city in Columbia? Ditto.

Seattle? The only really bad rush hour traffic I encountered was the 5 from Tacoma to Seattle when there was an accident in Fife. That was bad. Day to day, based on my few days driving around the city at rush hour, not bad at all.

So I think a lot of this has to do with definitions. And time versus distance. So, what do you consider bad? If it takes me 45-60 minutes each way from Issaquah to South Lake Union, would you think that bad? Just trying to get a baseline for Seattle traffic as we plan our move.

I'd say 45-60 minutes from Issaquah to S. Lake Union isn't terrible. But try going from Kirkland to Renton on a weekday afternoon. On an early Sunday morning it'll take 25 minutes or so, but on a weekday afternoon, 90 minutes. I'd call that bad. Or Renton to Ballard on a weekday morning. When traffic is stopped or crawling at walking speed, I never think to myself " It's worse in Caracas. Boy do I feel lucky."

[thatguy950]

I'll put it this way, for me to go 10 miles at "rush hour" in Seattle (I think the "hour" is a bit wrong, it can last pretty much all day with a few breaks in between), it takes me just as long as it does in LA.

LA has a reputation for being bad, and it's well-founded, but it can be just as bad in Seattle most of the time. Both I find far worse than Honolulu. Seattle, however, has much smaller distances on average than LA. I was commuting from Mill Creek to Seattle for a while, and it was averaging about 2 hours door-to-door EACH way.

[thatguy950]

Originally Posted by RustinginSeattle

I think one of the most frustrating parts is that it isn't just limited to freeways. Sometimes it can take you 20-30 minutes just to leave your parking garage downtown and get onto the freeway, because all entrance routes are so jammed up. Or your main road connecting you from your house to the freeway is so backed up that it takes forever just to get along a common road. It's amazing to me that I've taken 15 minutes just to get from the grocery store to my house - about 2 miles away and that's around 3pm! That's the kind of stuff that will make you nuts.

Amen, the parking garage jam was a totally new thing for me, I have NEVER seen a parking garage backup in LA or HNL like I have in Seattle, it was easily adding 30 minutes to my average commute if I left Seattle any later than 4pm.

[Stonepa]

Thanks. We are also considering Kenmore and Lake Forest. Given I prefer a bike commute if possible it sounds like the Burke Gillman Trail might be a preferable ride. At least I'll get my training done during my commute.

[treuphax]

Frustration is escalating and people are boiling over and lashing out.

Behind the wheel especially, we don't see humans, we see hunks of metal, plastic, glass and rubber with which we can't exactly empathize. Even in person such as in transit, the masses of humanity debase the value of the individual and we'd hardly miss one, two or a dozen lost from the anonymous hordes of thousands.

Attention and compassion are stretched and fatigued by hundreds of stimuli demanding our focus and resources. How do you react to the thirteenth earnest plea for a handout by a panhandler or a donation for do-gooder fundraiser or a signature for a petition or a phone number for an ostensible suitor...?

We savanna apes and cave-men weren't exactly made for this kind of thing.

We protest that the cramped egg-laying batteries of chicken farming are cruel.

I fully expect our descendants to consider our present lifestyles at least as barbaric.

If hell is other people, then in our cities we are lowering it to an even colder and darker level.

I used to complain about one of the cities where I used to live that there were perhaps a few hundred or maybe a thousand people whose attitude and values would have made our shared company a wonderful mutual gain. Unfortunately there were always 3.5 million other souls in that city just getting in the way as they hustled on about their own lives, so I hardly had a chance to meet or get to know that blessed thousand.

[treuphax]

Originally Posted by thatguy950

Amen, the parking garage jam was a totally new thing for me, I have NEVER seen a parking garage backup in LA or HNL like I have in Seattle, it was easily adding 30 minutes to my average commute if I left Seattle any later than 4pm.

Sorry about the schadenfreude, but while I'm on my bicycle, I see the poor suckers in SLU creeping in their vehicles just to get to the freeway onramp. It looks awful. Depressing. Slower moving than the trench warfare of world war I.

So how long does it actually take to get from that parking garage onto the freeway?

I'm sure it feels like forever, but time yourselves and estimate in your heads how much time you believe passed and compare it to the actual time elapsed. Report back next week. Perhaps I'm not the only curious one?

Commuting is a drag. Every minute spent getting to and from work has been shown to take away from time spent working out, cooking, and sleeping. When two economists polled 900 Texans in 2006 about their favorite activities, the morning commute ranked last. Longer commutes make people less healthy, worse at their jobs, and more likely to get divorced—and commutes are only getting longer.
So what is the deal with the small number of people whom transportation researchers have found to be perfectly fine with their commutes, even—shockingly—enjoying them? This is a real thing: When researchers studied the preferences of 1,300 Bay Area commuters in 2004, they found that “about half of the sample were relatively satisfied with the amount they commute, with a small segment actually wanting to increase that amount.” And when the Canadian government administered a survey about 10 years ago, they found that the proportion of respondents who liked commuting (38 percent) was larger than that of those who didn’t like it (30 percent). Sixteen percent, strangely, said they really enjoyed the experience.

A Mystery of Our Time: The People Who Enjoy Commuting - The Atlantic


Has anybody else considered electric bikes? 25 miles / hour, flatten any hills, and speed by all the traffic jams passing on the shoulder. A feat not even motorcyclists may dare. Maybe even get a little more fit with some pedaling.... I'm curious to try it....

[Stonepa]

Originally Posted by treuphax

Sorry about the schadenfreude, but while I'm on my bicycle, I see the poor suckers in SLU creeping in their vehicles just to get to the freeway onramp. It looks awful. Depressing. Slower moving than the trench warfare of world war I.

So how long does it actually take to get from that parking garage onto the freeway?

I'm sure it feels like forever, but time yourselves and estimate in your heads how much time you believe passed and compare it to the actual time elapsed. Report back next week. Perhaps I'm not the only curious one?

Commuting is a drag. Every minute spent getting to and from work has been shown to take away from time spent working out, cooking, and sleeping. When two economists polled 900 Texans in 2006 about their favorite activities, the morning commute ranked last. Longer commutes make people less healthy, worse at their jobs, and more likely to get divorced—and commutes are only getting longer.
So what is the deal with the small number of people whom transportation researchers have found to be perfectly fine with their commutes, even—shockingly—enjoying them? This is a real thing: When researchers studied the preferences of 1,300 Bay Area commuters in 2004, they found that “about half of the sample were relatively satisfied with the amount they commute, with a small segment actually wanting to increase that amount.” And when the Canadian government administered a survey about 10 years ago, they found that the proportion of respondents who liked commuting (38 percent) was larger than that of those who didn’t like it (30 percent). Sixteen percent, strangely, said they really enjoyed the experience.

A Mystery of Our Time: The People Who Enjoy Commuting - The Atlantic


Has anybody else considered electric bikes? 25 miles / hour, flatten any hills, and speed by all the traffic jams passing on the shoulder. A feat not even motorcyclists may dare. Maybe even get a little more fit with some pedaling.... I'm curious to try it....

I'm one who actually enjoys commuting in my car or bus, although I'd rather be doing it on my bicycle. In the car or bus, it gives me quiet time to think, listen to music or podcasts, and just plain relax. With 2 teenagers in the house you don't get that at home.