Seattle Has Nations' Worst Traffic Congestion!!! (Vancouver: home, neighbourhoods, construction)

[SeeYaSoCal]

*shaking head* I don't believe it either. I would still take Seattle traffic over LA traffic any day. Besides, my TomTom gets me lost around here all the time so their 'study' is anything but conclusive.

[Ira500]

I've also been lost as a result of following the directives of my Tom Tom. Mine is set to have a British accent, and a mind of it's own. " Turn right!" says the sadistic GPS, as I reach the end of a one way street.
Seems to me that in NY and LA, you're likely to spend far longer stuck in traffic, buy maybe in Seattle there are more roads which will delay you by an extra half an hour due to traffic. Maybe NY or LA might have less total percentage of the roads mired in traffic, but those that are, it's total hell, sitting for hours on end.

[Redline]

This article has to be true if it was written by a Puget Sound company, right???

[WikiAdam]

I've spent good chunks of my life driving during rush hour in both Los Angeles and Seattle, and while Seattle resembles LA's 24-hour parking lot more and more with each passing year, it still can't touch the City of Angels for near-stationary commuting. LA has the most heinous traffic of any city I've ever been, but Seattle's not far behind.

[dacx]

Originally Posted by iskray917

From someone who grew up in southern California and has visited NYC several times, there is no way that's true.

I could see it being true if you look at it per capita as the Seattle area is much smaller in population than southern cal and NYC.

[Ira500]

OK, looking at the data, what they are measuring is the average rate of speed on a particular road comparing it to the speed limit. If the average rate of speed is 15 MPH but the speed limit is 35 MPH, that's a significant delay. Within the City of Seattle, there are plenty of streets with delays like that, not only freeways...Just for a few: 15th Ave W, Elliott, 3rd Ave, 4th Ave, Aurora, Rainier, 23rd/24th,Montlake Bridge, University Bridge, Ballard Bridge,Sand Point Way, Lake City Way, NE 45th, NE 50th, etc...
I've been in DC traffic, NYC traffic, and LA traffic, and those were nasty, horrible, multi hour delays.
I've sat in delayed traffic here on a daily basis. So maybe, technically we're worse cause we have more roads with delays, but the traffic in those other cities is nightmarish.

[Adrian71]

Originally Posted by Ira500

I've sat in delayed traffic here on a daily basis. So maybe, technically we're worse cause we have more roads with delays, but the traffic in those other cities is nightmarish.

Yeah ... come to DC, and you'll find out what heavy traffic is like.

Seattle may have more roads that move slower, but *at least they're moving.* The DC Beltway is like a parking lot, and most roads are clogged and slow even on the weekends.

My wife and I deliberately jumped on I-5 during rush hour when we visited Seattle, just to see if we could deal with it. It was busy, and slow, but at least it moved.

I'll take Seattle traffic over DC traffic anytime.

[Vells]

Originally Posted by gnab gib

Yeah ... come to DC, and you'll find out what heavy traffic is like.

Seattle may have more roads that move slower, but *at least they're moving.* The DC Beltway is like a parking lot, and most roads are clogged and slow even on the weekends.

My wife and I deliberately jumped on I-5 during rush hour when we visited Seattle, just to see if we could deal with it. It was busy, and slow, but at least it moved.

I'll take Seattle traffic over DC traffic anytime.

I used to think the same before I moved here, but the congestion hours on I-5 and I-405 are longer per day (start earlier and end later) than they are in the DC area (from my experience living in DC area for about 4 years and now in the Seattle area for about 5 years). I also see this difference: if the congestion has eased up a little bit, drivers in DC will speed up; here, drivers seem to take a while longer to accelerate.


On the other hand, there is vastly better driver courtesy here than in the D.C. area -- another thing that I think the West Coast does better is the short timed traffic lights that filter cars onto the freeway from exits -- unlike, for example, the Dulles toll road, where people fight and inch their cars up in front of each other to merge.

[Adrian71]

Originally Posted by Vells

I used to think the same before I moved here, but the congestion hours on I-5 and I-405 are longer per day (start earlier and end later) than they are in the DC area (from my experience living in DC area for about 4 years and now in the Seattle area for about 5 years). I also see this difference: if the congestion has eased up a little bit, drivers in DC will speed up; here, drivers seem to take a while longer to accelerate.

I think I'd prefer the slow-and-steady approach. You're right about DC-area drivers. As soon as things clear out, they all hurry up to the next slowdown.

On the other hand, there is vastly better driver courtesy here than in the D.C. area

I noticed a big difference when I was in Seattle. Half of what makes driving in the DC area so stressful is how high-strung and in a hurry so many people seem to be. If you don't jackrabbit your car through the intersection the split second the light turns green, you'll have someone on your bumper, laying on his horn.

-- another thing that I think the West Coast does better is the short timed traffic lights that filter cars onto the freeway from exits -- unlike, for example, the Dulles toll road, where people fight and inch their cars up in front of each other to merge.

Oh, how I wish they had those traffic lights out here. I-66 could desperately use them as well.

[obsidian97]

Traffic is slow here. Plus, it seems to be load-balanced (at least around Redmond/Bellevue). I can take a smaller road that has less traffic, but it'll have more lights or be a longer drive. If I get onto the larger road there are more cars, but fewer lights. I've tried no fewer than four (almost) completely different ways to make my commute and I could never shave more than about 2 minutes off my average time.

What also may have figured into it is the number of cars that are actually getting from point A to point B in a given interval. For instance, if you're going 5 MPH down a 4 lane highway that's better than going 15 MPH down a 2 lane road in aggregate even though it stinks to get stuck in either.