Hate your Commute? A few places not to live....
 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Californians idle in the nation's worst traffic jams on interstates surrounding major metropolitan areas but they are far from alone -- 52 percent of these urban stretches of highways are congested, according to a new study released on Thursday.


Drivers in four lucky states enjoyed zero congestion: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

But one Midwestern state, Minnesota, and two East Coast states nearly matched California's sorry showing.

Some 83.33 percent of California's urban interstates are overcrowded, followed by Minnesota at 77.78 percent and New Jersey at 73.35 percent, according to the 16th annual survey by The Reason Foundation, a Los Angeles-based nonpartisan group.

Manhattan popularized the term "gridlock" but traffic jams on New York's urban interstates were only mediocre, ranking 37th at 53.39 percent, according to the libertarian-idea promoting group that compared volume-to-capacity ratios.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070628/...tates_roads_dc

Hear on the radio North Carolina is 48th on the list, right above California. It's also 3rd from the bottom on those states who spent the most money on their roads. And, it's got the #1 fastest growing city in the nation (Raleigh) and the #3ish fastest growing county in the nation (Union).

I think NC government needs to wake up and smell the concrete. It shouldn't take me 30 min to get from I-77 to Pineville that's 5 miles away on 485, and then 15-20 minutes to get from Pineville to my exit that's about 20 miles away.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

We used to live in MA, and my husband had to get into Boston every day. We lived 36 miles from the city. Whether he took the train or drove, it was almost a 2-hour commute.

Driving, with the congestion and parking (30$ a day) was obviously tortuous, but the train faired no better - drive to the station (15 min), take the commuter rail in (1.5 hours), take the T (subway) 10-15 min, then walk a few blocks.

Some 83.33 percent of California's urban interstates are overcrowded...

ya think?! overcrowded is an understatement

Try being one of the 83.33 % of them having to deal with it on a daily basis ....its UGLY!!

One thing I don't miss AT ALL after moving from Houston TX to middle-of-nowhere TN - unless I get caught behind a tractor, I never have to deal with traffic!

I commute in and out of DC everyday -- thanks to all the tourists (especially this time of year) it's brutal.

Having lived in several states.... I do think DC wins for worst traffic and the most confusing roads.

I haven't actually lived in as many states as you, but I definitely agree that DC wins for the most confusing roads. Even worse, once you "break the code", try to explain it to someone else! I can't stand Pierre L'Enfante....

the commute was a MAJOR factor in my decision to leave my last job. add to that the insanity that it cost just as much to drive & park as it did to take public transpo!!! lose-lose situation. It just wasn't worth it. I now have a 25-minute drive opposite most traffic, and FREE parking. :-)

substitute a transfer (or 2) on the Metro (subway) for commuter rail in the sentence above, this sounds JUST LIKE my previous commute into DC.

also forget about grabbing a quick lunch if you work near the mall or any of the attractions.

kd...agreed....when I first moved here...i worked in alexandria so u know what kind of pain it was to drive from Upper Marlboro thru dc AND across 395....in the morning it wasn't so bad...but after 5pm coming home.....a 30 min trip took an hr to 1.5 hrs if someone decided to crash....NOW I work right downtown and it's one easy 40 min ride on the metro PLUS not having to buy gas every 2 days

Cosign to that. I'm interning downtown in Georgetown (who by the way needs to get over their fear of attracting "the wrong sort" and get a metro stop) and I definitely thought I was going to pass out on my way home on the metro yesterday . I've lived in either DC or the DC metro area my entire life and ridden public transportation the for all that time and I have never been on a more croweded train than the one I was going home on yesterday. The stupid tourists made it worse by standing in the doorways not grasping the concept that if you don't "stand clear of the doors" they won't close! No joke we were stopped at Farragut North for upwards of five minutes. If I'd been closer I would've pushed someone out -it was absurd! And, to top everything off, there was no AC on the train. In 98 degree weather. I thought at first it was just so ridiculously hot because of all the people but I ride to Medical Center so I quickly realized, once the people started to thin out, that no, in fact there was no air coming in whatsoever. Oh D.C. -fix your trains!!!
Phew. Just had to get that off my chest. My ride in this morning was much more pleasant. Maybe it's just cause people we're sweaty yet :rolleyes:

The trains here in SF have bars by the doors that you can push on to open the doors as well as the sensors that keep them open if someone is in the doorway. People will stand there thinking it's "not them" keeping the door open because they are technically out of the door way, but their dumbass is leaning on the bar that keeps the door open. :rolleyes:

tiny how about the fact that the tourists dont understand the concept of escalator travel

right is u gonna ride down...left side if u gonna walk down?



GRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...and dont let it be that happy family of 5 at rush hr....that's asking to get trampled if u are in the way....

I've gotta co-sign on everyone with DC. My dad commuted from Woodbridge to Bethesda for two years and finally had enough. It took him 2.5 hours to get home...even using HOV and working from 6 am - 3 pm. Don't even bother getting on the Metro to commute on the Yellow or Blue lines during rush hour...be prepared to get really friendly with your fellow passengers.

Omigosh, I think I say "stand right, walk left" at least 2x every time I take the metro when I'm in a rush. I just hate when the person front of me IS walking, if you want to be technical about it, but is going at the speed of a snail. It drives me mad!

OK fellow Kappa Delta, we should hang out sometime. I work in the Watergate complex (well at least that's where my office, I'm on the Hill most of the time), right beside Gtown. I'd love to meet another KD in the area (before my first AA event next month).

Seriously! When I'm on the Hill (again, I'm there most of the time), lunch is either out of the question or I have to have a lot of spare time to get to where I want to go and wait around as all the other Hill staffers are trying to eat too. No fun!

OMG so true! I used to commute from Alexandria to Dupont Circle and it was brutal. Then later going from Alexandria to Crystal City...not quite as bad

Am I the only one that thought DC grid was easy to figure out? Numbered streets ran north to south, lettered ones run east to west. When they throw the circles and other streets in there, things got crazy

And THANK YOU, they need to put a Metro station in Georgetown. Because the buses from Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom are NUTS. If they can have one in chi-chi Friendship Heights (is that still a tony area?) then they can put one in G-town

I have been known to call someone out on the BART. Oh yeah, why can't trains run more often on BART? This every 20 minute shit doesn't cut it

Thank you! I can rant about the same thing at airports, especially when you are running to try to catch a flight and employees are chilling and chatting on the moving walkway. I had to get rude with someone in Phoenix

It's the quadrant part that freaks non-residents out. I was giving the directions to RFK, and everyone else in the car was telling the driver I was crazy - "M Street couldn't possibly go that way!" Were they surprised to see that it does! Because of the naysayers, we arrived with 20 minutes left in the game.

Absolutely on both counts! Well, other than the fact that I've not been to Phoenix...

I ran over somebody with my wheelie bag in Detroit once - I had 15 minutes to make it and I just didn't care enough to be good.

DC has moved UP to number 2 despite all the new highways being opened

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070918/...usa_study_dc_1

I am so glad I have moved and no longer commute from Annapolis to DC every day. I love my new 25 min commute to work!!!!!

Plus let's discuss DC's shutdown of the S. Cap bridge over the summer and all the work on 295. I am so glad to not be working near there anymore!!!

I don't miss my Huntington Beach to downtown LA commute. An hour, good days. Bad days? I was happy to simply get work/home. One day it 3 hrs to get home, due to an accident and then, road construction. I do miss having the beach 1/2 block away, and being inside at night and able to hear the waves hitting shore.:(

From living briefly in Portland, OR: When driving, I always seemed to end up on the wrong bridge.

From living briefly in San Marcos, Texas: When going to Austin, what is with the freeway? The freeway, each direction, splits, and one split drops, other up and away. And to get to your destination, you have to be on the right section.

Now, I have a 5 minute commute to school, 10 in traffic. That is so weird. I keep leaving too early.

I live in DC...fortunately I don't bother with a car and live a half mile from my office :)

I used to live 15 miles from work... and it took me an hour to get to work on most days. If it was raining, the commute was usually 1.5 hours or more b/c people apparently don't know how to drive when it rains.

So I moved 2.1 miles away from work... figured I might as well since it's a nicer area anyway. I love my new place, I love that I can go home whenever I want for lunch, and even though my new place is a little more expensive, I save a ton in gas and frustration.

Plus I can't really deal that I was speading about 10 hours everyweek driving 15 miles.