What has happened to GW parkway in the morning?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP (and many other Nova residents) have just learned a very powerful, yet basic, economic lesson: everything has a quantifiable value. Your commute has a cost that is imposed on your state and the Virginia taxpayers. And now you are being assessed a price for that commute - either time or money.

I predict that many behavioral economists will be studying the HOT lane data in the next few years. It's a treasure trove of interesting findings.

What is special about my commute that it I should be charged SO much more than other resident taxpayers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The commute in from VA has gotten simply dreadful. Took me 70 minutes to get from Falls Church to downtown yesterday (left the house at 8:10 am). I know I should try to take the metro more - but honestly, I'm claustrophobic, can't stand the metro when it is crowded, and would probably only shave 30 minutes off that 70 minute commute.

My husband and I are trying to carpool more (we did today) but that too is hard when someone has to handle the kid duties in the morning or evening.

It seems incredibly antiquated that there is no freeway coming in from the northern VA suburbs (so, not 395) to DC. Lee Highway and Route 50 are incredibly inefficient.

Of who would lament the lack of another 395? You must live in some huge exurb house and drive to your mailbox.

OK I was blinded by the 395 comment. Falls church? 70 minutes? You should use waze.

Isn't 395 getting HOT lanes too?

yes, but I395 has regular lanes which will remain. Also I think the 395 HOV lanes never had the number of cheaters that I66 had. And the introduction of HOT lanes to I395 will be accompanied by an extra lane - the old HOV lanes are two lanes, but with HOT there will be a third lane (which should help keep the tolls down)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The commute in from VA has gotten simply dreadful. Took me 70 minutes to get from Falls Church to downtown yesterday (left the house at 8:10 am). I know I should try to take the metro more - but honestly, I'm claustrophobic, can't stand the metro when it is crowded, and would probably only shave 30 minutes off that 70 minute commute.

My husband and I are trying to carpool more (we did today) but that too is hard when someone has to handle the kid duties in the morning or evening.

It seems incredibly antiquated that there is no freeway coming in from the northern VA suburbs (so, not 395) to DC. Lee Highway and Route 50 are incredibly inefficient.

Falls church city or mosaic district Falls church

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP (and many other Nova residents) have just learned a very powerful, yet basic, economic lesson: everything has a quantifiable value. Your commute has a cost that is imposed on your state and the Virginia taxpayers. And now you are being assessed a price for that commute - either time or money.

I predict that many behavioral economists will be studying the HOT lane data in the next few years. It's a treasure trove of interesting findings.

What is special about my commute that it I should be charged SO much more than other resident taxpayers?

You commute on a highway that was already off limits at peak to single occupant vehicles. Ergo its possible to convert to HOT lanes without actually charging anyone who had the legal right to use it previously. No other road in the region is like that.

How DID you use it previously? If you were not a carpooler, what were you doing on I66 before the tolling began?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP (and many other Nova residents) have just learned a very powerful, yet basic, economic lesson: everything has a quantifiable value. Your commute has a cost that is imposed on your state and the Virginia taxpayers. And now you are being assessed a price for that commute - either time or money.

I predict that many behavioral economists will be studying the HOT lane data in the next few years. It's a treasure trove of interesting findings.

What is special about my commute that it I should be charged SO much more than other resident taxpayers?

+1

and to PP, nah your argument is full of it and sounds like like Fox pablum - this is just about handing over public, formerly tax-payer funded roads to private companies while continuing to tax us and giving proceeds to private corps, rather than politicians in Richmond refusing to sell out and instead distributing road funding equitably instead of repaving perfectly oversized roads outside of NOVA in their low-population districts.

[Anonymous]

I saw traffic was very slow this morning on GW Parkway heading NB by the 14th Street bridge. Fortunately, I was on my bike, on the MVT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP (and many other Nova residents) have just learned a very powerful, yet basic, economic lesson: everything has a quantifiable value. Your commute has a cost that is imposed on your state and the Virginia taxpayers. And now you are being assessed a price for that commute - either time or money.

I predict that many behavioral economists will be studying the HOT lane data in the next few years. It's a treasure trove of interesting findings.

What is special about my commute that it I should be charged SO much more than other resident taxpayers?

+1

and to PP, nah your argument is full of it and sounds like like Fox pablum - this is just about handing over public, formerly tax-payer funded roads to private companies while continuing to tax us and giving proceeds to private corps, rather than politicians in Richmond refusing to sell out and instead distributing road funding equitably instead of repaving perfectly oversized roads outside of NOVA in their low-population districts.

I66 is not owned by a private company. Its a VDOT project. The toll revenues go to VDOT, and the excess revenues over the cost of administering the tolls are going to transit and bike/ped improvements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The commute in from VA has gotten simply dreadful. Took me 70 minutes to get from Falls Church to downtown yesterday (left the house at 8:10 am). I know I should try to take the metro more - but honestly, I'm claustrophobic, can't stand the metro when it is crowded, and would probably only shave 30 minutes off that 70 minute commute.

My husband and I are trying to carpool more (we did today) but that too is hard when someone has to handle the kid duties in the morning or evening.

It seems incredibly antiquated that there is no freeway coming in from the northern VA suburbs (so, not 395) to DC. Lee Highway and Route 50 are incredibly inefficient.

Wow, that's a long time. I left my house at the same time yesterday, dropped my kids off at school, drove to the WFC metro (about 2 miles away), parked, waited for the empty second train, rode to McPherson Square while getting caught up on emails, went to Starbucks, and got to my desk by 9 am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The commute in from VA has gotten simply dreadful. Took me 70 minutes to get from Falls Church to downtown yesterday (left the house at 8:10 am). I know I should try to take the metro more - but honestly, I'm claustrophobic, can't stand the metro when it is crowded, and would probably only shave 30 minutes off that 70 minute commute.

My husband and I are trying to carpool more (we did today) but that too is hard when someone has to handle the kid duties in the morning or evening.

It seems incredibly antiquated that there is no freeway coming in from the northern VA suburbs (so, not 395) to DC. Lee Highway and Route 50 are incredibly inefficient.

Wow, that's a long time. I left my house at the same time yesterday, dropped my kids off at school, drove to the WFC metro (about 2 miles away), parked, waited for the empty second train, rode to McPherson Square while getting caught up on emails, went to Starbucks, and got to my desk by 9 am.

'Only' shave 30 minutes off of a 70 minute commute.

Only almost half.

Probably cheaper to get therapy for your claustrophobia than pay toll or try to carpool.

The toll is there to induce you to take the.faster metro option. Or to pay toll allow them to invest in more transit (though private rail cars seem unlikely)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The commute in from VA has gotten simply dreadful. Took me 70 minutes to get from Falls Church to downtown yesterday (left the house at 8:10 am). I know I should try to take the metro more - but honestly, I'm claustrophobic, can't stand the metro when it is crowded, and would probably only shave 30 minutes off that 70 minute commute.

My husband and I are trying to carpool more (we did today) but that too is hard when someone has to handle the kid duties in the morning or evening.

It seems incredibly antiquated that there is no freeway coming in from the northern VA suburbs (so, not 395) to DC. Lee Highway and Route 50 are incredibly inefficient.

Have you ever driven in 395? It is always worse than 50 and I66, read up on induced demand

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We commute on 50. Yesterday, there were two separate WMATA bus incidents between about 8:30 and 9:00, one where a bus and car collided right before the TR bridge (looked like the car was merging left out of the lane that goes to GW and trying to cut in to go to the bridge), and the other where a bus was blocking two lanes on the bridge itself. Made for some mega backup on 50.

Today, we saw a truck that appeared to be perpendicular to the roadway on GW, just past the exit for the TR bridge. Not sure if that could have explained this morning's issues. But yesterday was definitely WMATA/driving related, not toll related, at least on 50.

Yesterday was horrendous on 50. I drive to Rosslyn from the Columbia Pike area and usually it’s a breeze. Yesterday at 9 am it took 45 minutes. Once I got onto 50 everyone was just trapped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The commute in from VA has gotten simply dreadful. Took me 70 minutes to get from Falls Church to downtown yesterday (left the house at 8:10 am). I know I should try to take the metro more - but honestly, I'm claustrophobic, can't stand the metro when it is crowded, and would probably only shave 30 minutes off that 70 minute commute.

My husband and I are trying to carpool more (we did today) but that too is hard when someone has to handle the kid duties in the morning or evening.

It seems incredibly antiquated that there is no freeway coming in from the northern VA suburbs (so, not 395) to DC. Lee Highway and Route 50 are incredibly inefficient.

I live near East Falls Church and it took me 45 minutes to get to my office near Chinatown on my bike. You should give it a try.

[Anonymous]

There was an oversized truck stuck under Teddy Roosevelt bridge.

WTOP is your friend!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The commute in from VA has gotten simply dreadful. Took me 70 minutes to get from Falls Church to downtown yesterday (left the house at 8:10 am). I know I should try to take the metro more - but honestly, I'm claustrophobic, can't stand the metro when it is crowded, and would probably only shave 30 minutes off that 70 minute commute.

My husband and I are trying to carpool more (we did today) but that too is hard when someone has to handle the kid duties in the morning or evening.

It seems incredibly antiquated that there is no freeway coming in from the northern VA suburbs (so, not 395) to DC. Lee Highway and Route 50 are incredibly inefficient.

I live near East Falls Church and it took me 45 minutes to get to my office near Chinatown on my bike. You should give it a try.

I suspect this is the Dunn Loring part of Falls Church though PP won't confirm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The commute in from VA has gotten simply dreadful. Took me 70 minutes to get from Falls Church to downtown yesterday (left the house at 8:10 am). I know I should try to take the metro more - but honestly, I'm claustrophobic, can't stand the metro when it is crowded, and would probably only shave 30 minutes off that 70 minute commute.

My husband and I are trying to carpool more (we did today) but that too is hard when someone has to handle the kid duties in the morning or evening.

It seems incredibly antiquated that there is no freeway coming in from the northern VA suburbs (so, not 395) to DC. Lee Highway and Route 50 are incredibly inefficient.

Assuming you took 50, yesterday was not a normal commute.