Posted on 08/26/2015 9:32:24 AM PDT by C19fan
Traffic congestion nationally reached a new peak last year and is greater than ever before, according to a report by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and INRIX Inc. Their analysis is based on federal data on the number of cars on the road and on traffic speed data collected by INRIX on 1.3 million miles of urban streets and highways. The following are urban areas ranked by the average annual extra hours commuters spend in their cars due to delay, together with the cost in lost time and fuel. 1. Washington, D.C.-Virginia-Maryland, 82 hours, $1,834
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
Decades ago, the Capital Beltway was supposed to be a bypass around the urbanized areas of the Washington DC area. But the Beltway and other highways in the area attracted development to.previously open areas. The Beltway evolved into a highway carrying mostly local traffic traveling between DC suburban areas, instead of being a bypass route for through traffic.
The DC/MD/VA area has the worst traffic in the country.
It also has the most self-appointed experts on transportation policy, “smart growth”, environmental policy, infrastructure and everything else.
That is the problem. These people screw up everything.
Plus a large percentage of these government “experts” are incapable of safely operating a motor vehicle.
If you don’t believe me try driving around the area for a few days.
it doesn’t help that the Metro, the subway system, is an atrocity with breakdowns, offloading for no reason, etc. which makes public transportation virtually unusable.
“Decades ago, the Capital Beltway was supposed to be a bypass around the urbanized areas of the Washington DC area.”
That’s exactly right. I lived in Arlington when that thing was being built. It was out in the boondocks.
It does.
It also has the most self-appointed experts on transportation policy, “smart growth”, environmental policy, infrastructure and everything else.
A benefit of living in the People's Republic of Maryland.
Where we even tax the rain.
Affirmative action and minority set asides are the rule for all Metro contracts.
I know someone whose small company wanted to bid on Metro escalator repair. He was told not to bother.
Notice how Metro escalators are continually broken and never fixed correctly.
I was shocked to learn that at one Metro station, escalator repair was going to take three years.
Granted some stations are deep underground and have long escalators. I don’t recall which station was undergoing repair. But it seemed quite a long project to take years to refurbish escalators at just one station. The Empire State building was built in less time than that.
Then you will also remember when Tyson’s Corner was a country crossroads intersection. Some people nowadays wonder where the corner is and where that name came from, considering the massive shopping mall and office building development there now.
Sometimes on my mile-and-a-half commute I hit both read lights.
“I was shocked to learn that at one Metro station, escalator repair was going to take three years.”
I’m guessing it was a connected minority firm that got the contract.
I’m also guessing that the contract costs far more than it should.
I’m also guessing the escalator will not be fixed correctly.;
I’ve flown into Dulles and rented cars many times. And have to say that drivers in the area are less than considerate of others on the road with them.
my kids take metro and if you are on twitter @unsuckdcmetro is the go-to place to find out the latest atrocities taking place. yesterday my younger daughter posted a pic on twitter of a piece of the ceiling falling down in her subway car. yes, the escalators are in CHRONIC disrepair.
the motto is drive OFFENSIVELY, rather than defensively ; )
“drivers in the area are less than considerate of others on the road with them.”
If by less than considerate you mean driving like psychos and a danger to everyone around them then you are correct.
More evidence the Yankees, one here, has taken over the place.
Sure. I remember the area before the Beltway, before Dulles, before the Metro. Seven Corners was new. Ballston was a shopping center known as Parkington. DC still had streetcars, I got to ride one before they pulled up the tracks. Arlington was a great place to grow up.
DC area #1!
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
Why is DC traffic so bad? Maybe a look at the increase in Federal employment in the area might reveal a clue.
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