Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Got Gas? (Ten Worst Cites for Commuters)
Climate & Weather (Lifewire) ^ | 2 September 2008 | Nancy Fonti

Posted on 09/02/2008 6:49:33 AM PDT by Vigilanteman

Got Gas?


You'll need it for the 10 worst commutes in the U.S.

(LifeWire) - Lost time and endless aggravation are two of the

biggest drawbacks of a grueling commute by car. But gridlock on

the way to work also harms the environment by pumping extra

pollution into the air and wasting precious fuel.

How wasteful and time-consuming a commute becomes depends in part

on how slowly traffic moves and how long it is stalled, says

David Schrank, an associate research scientist at the Texas

Transportation Institute, part of Texas A&M University in College

Station.

Things start to get inefficient only when highway traffic begins

to bog down, he says. "You're not wasting fuel until you drop

below 60 mph, but when you get to stop-and-go traffic, you're

really wasting fuel as you accelerate and decelerate."

Schrank is part of the team that conducted the institute's latest

annual Urban Mobility Study, examining the fuel (and time)

commuters waste because of congestion. The study, based on 2005

data (the most recent available), measures how many hours and

gallons of fuel are wasted per individual commuter˜whether that

commuter is traveling by car, rail, bus or other form of

motorized transportation˜during peak commute times.

Overall, traffic congestion costs the U.S. economy $78 billion a

year, wasting 2.9 billion gallons of fuel and robbing commuters

of 4.2 billion hours, the study found. Here are the top 10 most

wasteful cities in the country for commuters, based on fuel

usage, according to the institute:

(Excerpt) Read more at climate.weather.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: congestion; energy; environment; freedomoftravel; gas; gasprices; personalliberty; propertyrights; smartgrowth; starkravingsocialism; topten; traffic; transportation; worst
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-70 next last
To: RainMan
A week ago the mayor did a “car free Seattle” thingy and towed away peoples cars for parking them in front of thier houses.
Our transit system is a hub/spoke system, which means that suburb to suburb commuting is pretty much impossible on transit.

Let me tell you something, I was in Seattle doing a PhD. I did some research w/the Seattle city government and was told that they were actively taking steps to restrict parking so people would be forced to use public transportation. Now you tell me, if I want to come in from Renton or Federal Way to go to a show or a restaurant, do these people honestly think I'm going to do it by bus?? By cab?? I was floored - they want people to come in and take advantage of city offerings, but punish them for using a car to do so.

I never had a car until I moved out here to the heartland. I have never, ever, had as hard a time getting around a major city via public transportation as I did in Seattle. A 12 minute trip by car from my place to campus was 45 minutes by 2 buses, sometimes 3 if I was trying to avoid long walks to bus stops in bad weather.

Seattle is a beautiful town in many ways, but the transportation there is terrible. It is the one city which would have forced me to buy a car had I stayed after grad school.

41 posted on 09/02/2008 8:39:45 AM PDT by radiohead (Palin - conservative, female, mom, NRA member - good enough for me.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: sportutegrl

When I lived in Penn., there was this common intersection, known as the ‘jughandle’. There were no left turn lanes. If you wanted to turn left you had to drive through the intersection, get in the right lane, go around a ‘jughandle’, (looks like a cloverleaf and takes up the same amount of space, but it is not). Then you would have to go through the red light a second time to ‘turn left’. This doubles the amount of time in the ‘center square’. I have had some very evil thoughts for whomever designed this.


42 posted on 09/02/2008 8:39:54 AM PDT by sportutegrl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman
LA at #1, that's understandable; the metro area is a big parking lot. SF is bad for drivers because the price of gasoline is astronomical, but the traffic except during peak hours and in the Financial District is not too bad. Atlanta a #3, I'd have to quibble about that; at rush hour, the traffic is very heavy, but during non-peak hours, the traffic moves relatively freely. Detroit at #10, well, that's not a surprise. The Motor City may build cars, but the population is so poor and has declined in numbers to the point that few drive.
43 posted on 09/02/2008 8:40:54 AM PDT by quadrant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Entrepreneur

Yeah but the police can zip through traffic on those, buses can improve their “end to end” travel times, and the city can fine those who are illegally in the HOV lane. Of course it comes at an expense of four lanes (2 in each direction) for the rest of the city.

The congestion cost of those HOV lanes is even higher when you realize how long OTHER lanes were closed while the “improvement” project was built (that stretch dates back to 2001 and only now is being finished).


44 posted on 09/02/2008 8:49:27 AM PDT by weegee (The higher taxes that Obama demands of Americans are 'Above my Pay Grade'.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: sportutegrl

Jughandle eh?

In Houston, there are some intersections that prohibit left turns (well, except for police and buses). The signage indicates that drivers are to make a right turn at the light, and then make a U-turn midblock (yes this is on the sign).

Of course, they have also put up red light cameras to catch those “running” the light at these intersections (so you spend several cycles to navigate a turn and will be penalized further if you get frustrated by it).

As I say, such congestion is by willful design.


45 posted on 09/02/2008 8:52:47 AM PDT by weegee (The higher taxes that Obama demands of Americans are 'Above my Pay Grade'.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: ken21
"ever been on a los angeles bus when some armed brothers get on? at the next stop, everyone gets off the bus."

I don't see your point. How would the riders know they were siblings?

46 posted on 09/02/2008 8:57:32 AM PDT by Phemone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Phemone

..smell?


47 posted on 09/02/2008 9:46:41 AM PDT by norraad ("What light!">Blues Brothers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: ottbmare
The traffic in DC does suck, but you do have public transit options that are not available in most California cities.
48 posted on 09/02/2008 9:58:20 AM PDT by Fundamentally Fair (If given a choice between a POW and a POS, I'll take the POW.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: sportutegrl
Finally, right turn on red should be the law in all 50 states.

I assumed it was. I guess I should be careful when driving out of state.

I do know that most folks thing "right on read" means you don't even have to look to see if the lane is clear.....

49 posted on 09/02/2008 10:03:39 AM PDT by Fundamentally Fair (If given a choice between a POW and a POS, I'll take the POW.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: weegee
As I say, such congestion is by willful design.

Yes. The "safety freaks" want to slow everything down. They trade an occasional high-speed crash for numerous low-speed crashes.

50 posted on 09/02/2008 10:30:26 AM PDT by Tallguy ("The sh- t's chess, it ain't checkers!" -- Alonzo (Denzel Washington) in "Training Day")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman

They’ve never driven in Honolulu at rush hour. 2 hours to go 20 miles for some living on the leeward side.


51 posted on 09/02/2008 11:03:04 AM PDT by doorgunner69
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gracesdad
Looks like California is one huge traffic jam.

Yes, but it will be so much better once commie bureacrats herd yet more people out of the suburbs
and into the city where they are forced to use public transit. /s

52 posted on 09/02/2008 3:09:52 PM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Phemone

uh duh ...


53 posted on 09/02/2008 5:00:14 PM PDT by ken21 (people die and you never hear from them again.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: weegee

I have plenty of gas...


54 posted on 09/02/2008 5:12:11 PM PDT by stevie_d_64 (Houston Area Texans (I've always been hated))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: ken21
"uh duh ..."

In other words you are saying your comment was a disparaging remark made in general aiming at all Negroes? Is this why you editorialize to me with a, "uh duh?

The rules specifically ban racist sentiments. "When brothers get on the bus..." is so obvious you feel someone not getting it deserves a "duh," maybe you are being recist.

Perhaps I am not dumb but am being coy here to draw you out and to a degree have seemed to have done so, You do understand the rules in here, Yes?

55 posted on 09/02/2008 6:12:46 PM PDT by Phemone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: ken21
"uh duh ..."

In other words you are saying your comment was a disparaging remark made in general aiming at all Negroes? Is this why you editorialize to me with a, "uh duh?

The rules specifically ban racist sentiments. "When brothers get on the bus..." is so obvious you feel someone not getting it deserves a "duh," maybe you are being recist.

Perhaps I am not dumb but am being coy here to draw you out and to a degree have seemed to have done so, You do understand the rules in here, Yes?

56 posted on 09/02/2008 6:12:46 PM PDT by Phemone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: Phemone

i did not say what you said i said.


57 posted on 09/02/2008 6:15:11 PM PDT by ken21 (people die and you never hear from them again.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: weegee
The problem with CONGESTION (not distance) making Houston a bad commute is that it is in “the system” by design. Our anal retentive City Counil/mayor power structure serves the downtown business alliance.

Houston was ravaged by the Urban Planning idiots. They strive to maximize congestion in order to force misery on everyone and force them to abandon suburbs for the urban living environment.

Did anyone who watched those poor people trying to escape New York on 9/11 wish they lived in one of those high-rises right next door to the twin towers?

gitmo

58 posted on 09/02/2008 6:27:55 PM PDT by gitmo (Some days you're the dog. Some days you're the hydrant.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: ken21
"ever been on a los angeles bus when some armed brothers get on? at the next stop, everyone gets off the bus."

You give the audience enough clues to your meaning.

Unless of course you would never infer Negroes who are male and getting on a bus are likely to be armed and people react like that is a known common fact of life in LA.

But that is not likely to be the case, yes?

In any event, I am done making my point. Your words are your words, and you can parse the meanings as much as you wish. But that does not change how I take them.

59 posted on 09/02/2008 7:07:05 PM PDT by Phemone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: calcowgirl

“Yes, but it will be so much better once commie bureacrats herd yet more people out of the suburbs
and into the city where they are forced to use public transit.”

Where are people being forced to leave the suburbs?


60 posted on 09/02/2008 7:47:07 PM PDT by gracesdad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-70 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson