The most unreliable commutes

[dud]

Was wondering if anyone here has to take any of these commutes on a daily basis ... and if you agree with the findings:



"Most of us have our commutes timed to the second. We know the exact hour and minute we need to leave the house to arrive at work on time. We even know how much time to add on a rainy or snowy days.

But some commutes defy time and logic. In other words, you just can't set your clock to them.

"You and I know congestion isn't just an average problem," says lead researcher Bill Eisele of Texas Transportation Institute. "There are days you may know on average it may take you 30 minutes to get to work. but some days you're stuck there and you've missed an important meeting. It can be really frustrating."

We teamed up with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) and INRIX to look at some of the most unreliable commutes. In other words, they are commutes that can change like the wind. The slightest weather or traffic delay can double or triple your commute time. TTI and INRIX looked at dozens of factors from cities across the nation to come up with a list of cities and roads you need to avoid.

"It could be these places have a particular weather incident that slows it down or there could have been construction problems," says Eisele. "They are corridors (roads) that are really unpredictable from day to day."

We show the particular streatches of roads you need to avoid, how much extra time you need to add when bad weather or traffic strikes, and an estimated total commute time on bad days. Peruse the numbers and fire up your GPS to find an alternate route if your daily trek takes you on one of these roads.:


The commutes include:


Atlanta, GA
GA-400 Southbound
•Length: 4.1 miles
•Additional Time Needed on Bad Weather Days: 18 minutes
•Total Time on Bad Weather Days (based on 30 minute commute): 48 minutes


New York
Hutchinson River Pkwy. Northbound
•The Corridor: Cross County Pkwy / Exit 15 ------> Mamaroneck Rd. / Exit 22
•Length: 4.5 miles
•Additional Time Needed on Bad Weather Days: 14 minutes
•Total Time on Bad Weather Days (based on 30 minute commute): 44 minutes


Norfolk, VA
Hampton Roads Beltway/I-64 Eastbound
•The Corridor: Rip Rap Rd. / Exit 265 ------> Hampton Rds. Bridge Tunnel (Turnpike)
•Length: 3.1 miles
•Additional Time Needed on Bad Weather Days: 11 minutes
•Total Time on Bad Weather Days (based on 30 minute commute): 41 minutes


New Haven, CT
I-84 Westbound
•The Corridor: I-691 (Cheshire West) ------> Austin Rd./ Exit 25A
•Length: 3.4 miles
•Additional Time Needed on Bad Weather Days: 10.5 minutes
•Total Time on Bad Weather Days (based on 30 minute commute): 40.5 minutes


Houston, TX
N. Loop West Freeway/I-610 Eastbound
•The Corridor: US 290 ------> Yale St.
•Length: 4.0 miles
•Additional Time Needed on Bad Weather Days: 16.7 minutes
•Total Time on Bad Weather Days (based on 30 minute commute): 46.7 minutes


Pittsburgh, PA
Penn Lincoln Pkwy / I-376 Eastbound
•The Corridor: Lydia St. / Exit 2 ----------> US-19 TK RT/ PA-51/ Exit 5
•Length: 3.4 miles
•Additional Time Needed on Bad Weather Days: 19.7 minutes
•Total Time on Bad Weather Days (based on 30 minute commute): 49.7 minutes


Riverside, CA
Ontario Freeway / I-15 Northbound
•The Corridor: I-210 / Exit 115 ----------> Glen Helen Pkwy.
•Length: 6.2 miles
•Additional Time Needed on Bad Weather Days: 14.2 minutes
•Total Time on Bad Weather Days (based on 30 minute commute): 44.2 minutes


Washington, D.C.
I-70 Westbound
•The Corridor: MD 144. / Exit 49 ----------> US-15 / US-340 / /Exit 52
•Length: 6.8 miles
•Additional Time Needed on Bad Weather Days: 14.9 minutes
•Total Time on Bad Weather Days (based on 30 minute commute): 44.9 minutes


New Orleans, LA
I-10 Eastbound
•The Corridor: Loyola Dr. ----------> Veterans Memorial Blvd.
•Length: 3.5 miles
•Additional Time Needed on Bad Weather Days: 10.4 minutes
•Total Time on Bad Weather Days (based on 30 minute commute): 40.4 minutes


Louisville, KY
I-64 Westbound
•The Corridor: Cannons Lane / Exit 10 ----------> I-71 / Exit 6
•Length: 4.4 miles
•Additional Time Needed on Bad Weather Days: 12.2 minutes
•Total Time on Bad Weather Days (based on 30 minute commute): 42.2 minutes




Of the roads listed I've only driven the Onatraio/I-15 route and know it's pretty bad. Here is a link to the full article if interested:

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/unreliable-commutes_2012-01-05

 

[FoBoT]

Atlanta, true dat
when I lived there my drive could be from 35 minutes to 2 hours. it was almost always best to not leave the house before 8:30 am if not 9 am, i'd get to work the same time anyway, more or less

and i lived on the 'good' side of town (with regard to the traffic) , as it says , the north side of atlanta is just insane

 

[alent1234]

you have to be crazy to drive into NYC to work. between the tolls and parking it's cheaper and easier to just take the train

 

[DrPizza]

•Length: 3.4 miles
•Additional Time Needed on Bad Weather Days: 19.7 minutes

I'm not quite understanding the stats - is this the additional time *just* for that 3.4 mile section?!
If so, Do Not Want!! 4 miles, it takes me 5 minutes; 6minutes if I get stuck behind a bus. My time is too valuable to me to spend it stuck in a car in traffic.

 

[Crono]

Luckily, I don't have to take the Hutch. Really terrible when it's snowing or raining heavy.

 

[Wyndru]

I agree with the Hutch

 

[manimal]

What no 405 in LA?

My days commuting on that in car were awful. Riding the bike was much better.

 

[SearchMaster]

I drive GA-400 every day, but not the stretch mentioned here. I'm on the road by 5am so traffic is not a concern.

 

[Red Squirrel]

My new commute is awesome, I'm actually driving in a perpendicular direction to traffic, so the only time I really get held up is crossing the highway if the light is red. Takes about 5 minutes to get to work. My last job I did not have to go on the highway, but I was going on a busy road so some times there was lot of traffic. Never took more than 10 minutes though. I don't know how people with super long commutes do it. I would go insane. It's enough that I have to be to work 8+ hours, I don't want to spend another hour or more driving to/from there.

 

[Crono]

What no 405 in LA?

My days commuting on that in car were awful. Riding the bike was much better.

They weren't looking at consistently clogged highways, but stretches that are unreliable in certain situations (bad weather, strikes)

 

[Red Storm]

If not for carpooling (and the HOV benefits) I would probably go insane from DMV's (DC, MD, and VA) rush hour traffic.

Though in reality, I'd probably fall asleep behind the wheel (gridlock traffic can put me to sleep like a lullaby) and fender bender someone.

 

[actuarial]

Thread title and article suck. In the first paragraph of the article it even states:

We even know how much time to add on a rainy or snowy days.

Then it goes on to only define time-wasting commutes (not unreliable commutes as the thread title indicates) as ones that add the most time due to weather.

A commute is still reliable even if every snowy day doubles your commute, since you know when you leave your house when you're going to get to the office. What should have been looked at is variance in commute times controlled for weather.

 

[Crono]

Thread title and article suck. In the first paragraph of the article it even states:


Then it goes on to only define time-wasting commutes (not unreliable commutes as the thread title indicates) as ones that add the most time due to weather.

A commute is still reliable even if every snowy day doubles your commute, since you know when you leave your house when you're going to get to the office. What should have been looked at is variance in commute times controlled for weather.

It's not a well-worded article, but I think this is the essence of it:

the slightest weather or traffic delay can double or triple your commute time

I think the actual study included non-weather (unexpected) delays which multiplied commute times far more than other routes.

 

[manimal]

They weren't looking at consistently clogged highways, but stretches that are unreliable in certain situations (bad weather, strikes)

ah I get it.

 

[Oil]

I don't take the route listed for Houston but can definitely believe it. I think they are still doing construction over there so with that, normal traffic and rain it would be pretty slow moving

 

[IronWing]

If a monsoon storm hits, my afternoon commute can increase by an extra 30 minutes for a five mile stretch if the road is passible at all. If the road is impassible then it may take up to two hours for the water to drop and the traffic back up to clear.

It didn't use to be so bad. The washes would run so the folks in low clearance cars would know to pull off and hang out on the high ground while the folks in high clearnace vehicles went swimming. Then population in my area exploded over the past decade. Now there are so many newbies that haven't figured out the system clogging up the travel lanes that the high clearance vehicles are stuck behind the little cars and no one gets home.

Also the all new housing developments and poor ranching practices have led to increased peak flows in the washes so the road becomes impassible more often.

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

While I'd like to move closer to Chicago some day. I'd dread commute.