Another traffic post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this political in nature?

Because the cause of the problem is a series of political choices that deliberately and knowingly increased congestion.

That being pro or anti-congestion is now a political issue is indeed stupid. But this is the world we now live in.

+1. The city of Alexandria is currently trying to REMOVE lanes on perpetually clogged Duke street because they think adding a bus lane and a bike lane will make the city a better place. It's absolutely asinine.

That isn't removing a lane, that is just designating it for a specific purpose. The lane is still there, people in cars just can't use it. Maybe try taking the bus?

In other words, purposefully increasing congestion as part of an effort to intentionally make things worse today in order to force people to radically restructure their lives. Blue MAGA strikes again!

DP. It's pretty clear the current model doesn't work. Having people drive 5,000 pound SUVs to commute has hit it's logical end point. No one likes it, drivers least of all based on how they post. So it's time to try something else. As with anything the transition may be rough. But maybe we wouldn't be here if people drove Fiats instead of F150s.

This message brought to you by Elon Musk.

DP. Elon Musk makes a 6,600-pound truck and isn't particularly interested in public transit. So even if he wants to make federal workers' lives more miserable, I don't think he actually has much in common with the person you're replying to.

Personally, my life is much better when I take Metro to work instead of driving, because it means I'm not stuck in traffic and it means I can do some work (or read or whatever) on my phone on the way there. Obviously, there are people for whom driving is necessary. But I don't understand the insistence that driving is obviously better than taking transit for most commuters.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Accidents on multiple North-South routes. This is happening because capacity has been reduced on all of those and DOT is intentionally increasing congestion throughout the city as a safety measures.

This is a factor. Also factors: Ramped-up return-to-office policies in the public and private sectors that have seen far more office worker types commuting downtown than they had been for the last five years; more aggressive driving since the pandemic (this is obviously anecdotal, but I've seen it everywhere, cities, suburbs, various states); bad luck.

A return to the office was inevitable and very predictable. Nothing that happened from 2020-2022 was normal. Using that as a baseline comparison is extremely disengenuous.

The simple truth is that, in 2022, DDOT started reducing capacity on all the major routes in and out of town and changed the timing on stop lights in order to increase congestion.

This created a scenario whereby there is no excess capacity on any of the major roads. Thus, there are no detours around a problem. If two of those routes get hit by an incident, such as an accident or temporary road closure, the entire network becomes gridlocked.

All of this was warned about repeatedly and ignored. The whole road diet/traffic calming project is reminiscent of what the George W. Bush administration did in Iraq.

But also, some RTO policies have ended remote work arrangements that long predated the pandemic, and on top of that, people have been driving rather than taking Metro. You really can’t put all the blame for traffic on any one cause. No matter how much you dislike the specific cause you’re going to pick.

Oh stop it. The purpose of the "road diets" is literally to reduce capacity and increase congestion. You should be happy that they are working as intended.

RTO greatly increased traffic congestion specifically at rush hours. You seem only able to criticize one minor aspect on local conditions and ignore the real problem. You are not a serious person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be all in favor of "road diets" or "traffic calming" or whatever makes it harder to drive... IF they had amped up our public transportation game. Instead they're decreasing bus frequency, removing stops, and cutting entire bus routes, and of course metro is a shitshow.

it takes me 10-12 minutes to drive to my office. 35-40 minutes to walk. 35-40 minutes to take public transportation. What reasonable person would choose the 3rd option that includes waiting and walking time?

Someone who prefers reading books to driving or walking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys know the region keeps growing as do the cars themselves? Traffic is going to get worse and worse regardless. The only way things get better is if people get out of their cars.

According to who, you? Has it worked? No. Single minded bike advocates are so privileged they are ridiculous.

Basic logic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At least you all are no admitting that the increase in congestion occurring right now is because of deliberate political choices.

And you wonder why the country is swinging to the right, lol.

Everyone is making traffic worse. Drivers with bigger vehicles and long commutes, developers building exurbs, feds with RTO and of course local governments with the dreaded bike lane/bus lane/road diet. The one big difference is that only one of these things has a chance to make traffic better. And logically, that's the one you're mad about...

[Anonymous]

Newsflash: increasing road capacities and accommodating cars has never, ever worked to relieve traffic, period. Just look at the disasters that are around Texas cities and Los Angeles. Guess what happens the more lanes and road capacity you add? You end encouraging people to drive more and live further out, which ends up causing more congestion again. How many times do we have to keep doing the same thing over and over and over again that ends up solving nothing? It's insanity we keep dumping trillions of dollar into car infrastructure only to get more pedestrian deaths, worsening traffic, and deteriorating lifestyle. Seoul is a famous example where they removed a massive thoroughfare through the city for cars, and guess what happened? Traffic actually improved while the city was beautified because they turned a huge road in the city into a much better canal based walkway.

Enough with catering to the car industry. US' car centric culture BLOWS, and it's also why Americans are so fat, out of shape, and healthcare is bankrupting the country. Kill the car and driving culture. US' urban planning based on the automobile is the worst, most disastrous decision this country has ever made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Newsflash: increasing road capacities and accommodating cars has never, ever worked to relieve traffic, period. Just look at the disasters that are around Texas cities and Los Angeles. Guess what happens the more lanes and road capacity you add? You end encouraging people to drive more and live further out, which ends up causing more congestion again. How many times do we have to keep doing the same thing over and over and over again that ends up solving nothing? It's insanity we keep dumping trillions of dollar into car infrastructure only to get more pedestrian deaths, worsening traffic, and deteriorating lifestyle. Seoul is a famous example where they removed a massive thoroughfare through the city for cars, and guess what happened? Traffic actually improved while the city was beautified because they turned a huge road in the city into a much better canal based walkway.

Enough with catering to the car industry. US' car centric culture BLOWS, and it's also why Americans are so fat, out of shape, and healthcare is bankrupting the country. Kill the car and driving culture. US' urban planning based on the automobile is the worst, most disastrous decision this country has ever made.

Wow. Hyperbole.

But if that is the worst then we really do have it pretty good. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this political in nature?

Because the cause of the problem is a series of political choices that deliberately and knowingly increased congestion.

That being pro or anti-congestion is now a political issue is indeed stupid. But this is the world we now live in.

+1. The city of Alexandria is currently trying to REMOVE lanes on perpetually clogged Duke street because they think adding a bus lane and a bike lane will make the city a better place. It's absolutely asinine.

That isn't removing a lane, that is just designating it for a specific purpose. The lane is still there, people in cars just can't use it. Maybe try taking the bus?

So much privilege in this statement.

You have clearly never ridden a bus in DC if you think riding it is for the privileged.

I am physically disabled. Assuming that I can just ride a bus for all of my needs, or ride a bike or walk and just don't need my car is in fact very privileged. So GMAFB.

The fact that you own a car is privileged. It’s an overused word that means nothing now.

LOL, sure. I give another person’s point of view and you just dismiss it. Remember I belong to a demographic that anyone, at any time, can unintentionally find themselves a member of, not all of us were born like this. So maybe one day you too can discover how important a mobility aid (such as a car) is to a physically disabled person.

I know how important a mobility aid is to a physically disabled person. Funny how just because I disagreed with you you assume I have no experience with this.

[Anonymous]

RTO is the worst. Traffic sucks thanks to that Maoist Trump

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this political in nature?

Because the cause of the problem is a series of political choices that deliberately and knowingly increased congestion.

That being pro or anti-congestion is now a political issue is indeed stupid. But this is the world we now live in.

+1. The city of Alexandria is currently trying to REMOVE lanes on perpetually clogged Duke street because they think adding a bus lane and a bike lane will make the city a better place. It's absolutely asinine.

That isn't removing a lane, that is just designating it for a specific purpose. The lane is still there, people in cars just can't use it. Maybe try taking the bus?

So much privilege in this statement.

You have clearly never ridden a bus in DC if you think riding it is for the privileged.

I am physically disabled. Assuming that I can just ride a bus for all of my needs, or ride a bike or walk and just don't need my car is in fact very privileged. So GMAFB.

The fact that you own a car is privileged. It’s an overused word that means nothing now.

LOL, sure. I give another person’s point of view and you just dismiss it. Remember I belong to a demographic that anyone, at any time, can unintentionally find themselves a member of, not all of us were born like this. So maybe one day you too can discover how important a mobility aid (such as a car) is to a physically disabled person.

I know how important a mobility aid is to a physically disabled person. Funny how just because I disagreed with you you assume I have no experience with this.

There is nothing funny about it. Being dismissive with albeit attitudes is wrong. Do better.