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Your Thoughts on Washington Area TrafficQuestion: Is congestion getting worse? Tell us about your commute and how you combat gridlock. I grew up in the D.C. area and go back frequently. I now live in the Boston area. I don't know for sure how they came up with this figure, but I do know that Boston traffic is worse by far. One major accident can shut down the whole traffic system. There is a need for improvements around the Beltway, but it could be worse.Anthony Garner
Hyannis, MA (Upper Marlboro, MD) Traffic is bad because people drive badly. Enforce the rules of the road and the improvement you see will amaze you. FYI, I bike commute so for me commuting is the most fun part of the work day.Dave Mann
Fort Hunt, VA Why don't people see "Telecommuting" as an alternative to avoiding long commutes? It wasn't in your survey! Telecommuting is the only long-term solution to the 21st century workforce. Today's workforce needs to be mobile because companies are started, sold and shut down so frequently. Without telecommuting, people are unable to buy a house and live in it for more than 10 years. This affects our communities. With telecommuting, we could work thirty years or more for different companies in any state and still be able to raise our families in the same neighborhood.Tim Stanton
Gainesville, VA Yes, congestion is getting worse. I travel I-66 daily from Manassas to NW D.C. I rise at an unbelievable 3:45 a.m. My core work hours are 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. so as to miss as much traffic congestion as possible. The recent improvements on I-66 west of route 50 has decrease my commute and greatly improved the driving conditions. However, the stretch from Route 50 to D.C. is still very congested. Intercounty connectors like the Fairfax Parkway and the Prince William Parkway have been good improvements. Shame on Maryland's Governor for his disapproal of their project. The main problem appears to be all feeder and intercounty connector roads feed into one main system (west into the metro area is I-66, south into the Metro area is I-95 and east is Rt. 50, etc., with limited bridge crossings. The main road systems need to be reevaluated. Put an additional connection between Maryland and Virgina north of the Cabin John bridge to connect I-66, Rt. 7 and Maryland I-270 and south of the Wilson bridge to connect I-95 with Md. 301 and Rt. 5.Al
Manassas, VA Having been born and raised here my entire life I find it amusing that the people who complain the loudest about the traffic are the ones who moved in here from somewhere else. These people came for the jobs and the opportunities the D.C. area offers. I have always said that no place is perfect and that if they don't like the few drawbacks, such as traffic, it would make everyone involved happy if they would simply go back to where they came from. That way it would ease traffic around here, and they wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.Steve
Fairfax More people should ride the Virginia Railway Express. It gets people off the roads and is a very relaxing commute.George Mattley
Fairfax We live and work in the District and have, at most, a 15-minute commute. We're home every day in time to laugh at the traffic segment on the local evening news except in summer, when we're sitting on the front porch telling each other about our day. We live in a beautifully rehabbed, 75 year old, three-bedroom home in a safe, quiet, reasonably priced, residential neighborhood in NW D.C. where we know our neighbors and parents push their baby strollers in the afternoons. I love the gripes from people who move out to the middle of nowhere and complain that it takes a long time to get somewhere. Is a huge yard and cheaply built house, that won't age well and that you can't enjoy because you're stuck in traffic, worth it? What do the kids need more, five bedrooms or time with their parents?Gene
The New and Improving DC Yes, the congestion is getting worse. And until the government takes some sort of action to control the population growth in this area, it's only going to get worse. Think about it. This area attracts a lot of businesses, attracts a lot of people for job opportunities, couples raising large families (when the kids grow up, they need to get driver's licenses and jobs and move out of the house), immigration (immigrants become attracted to this area, they bring their relatives over and raise families).W.R.
Gaithersburg I could not believe that the Interconnector Highway proposed in Montgomery County was NOT PASSED! Shame on the elected officials. I guess they were not looking at the best interests for Montgomery County citizens. It shows you that we are a long way of easing the congestion of the Beltway. Having a highway that connects from I-270 via I-370 to I-95 to Laurel makes the most logical sense, but yet it was voted down by Montgomery County Council. Where's the logic?F Lee
Rockville, MD I believe that one of the things that will help alleviate traffic congestion in Washington, D.C., is for drivers to concentrate more on driving than talking on their phones or playing their music so loud that it can be heard a block away. More importantly, when driving, use your turn signals, hazard lights and remember traffic lights are red for a reason. Let us not forget the pedestrians in D.C., when there is a crosswalk and no signal, all traffic must be stop for the pedestrian. Lastly, relax on the horn. Would you want someone to beep in front of your house?EH
Washington, D.C. Building new roads will not solve the problem of traffic congestion. Widening existing roads will not solve the problem. The ONLY way to cure congestion is to place a toll on drivers and allow all public transportation to be free. There should be high tolls on all roads, and the money should be used to build/extend public transit. If it costs $10 to drive and it is free to use public transit, will a lot of people pick the (free) Metro over the car? Of course, they will. This is the only way to solve this problem.W Linderman
Alexandria You know, you folks move to Northern Virginia and complain that the local government isn't giving you enough transit options, and so you complain. The irony is at the same time, you don't want to pay higher taxes to pay for your demands. In addition, many of you move to a new subdivision knowing the situation that you're putting yourself into. Then you have the audacity to complain about there being no growth controls or transit options. You make me sick you knew this when you moved in and you're part of the problem! And for those that believe that the environmentalists are the ones keeping public transit projects from being built, think again. It is the environmentalists that are advocating slow-growth and reasonable transit options such as commuter rail. They also speak out against transportation ideas that don't make any sense. Many of you want an outer beltway. Do you know what the eventual consequence of that will be? Guess it's called more urban sprawl a continuation of what we have now around our current Beltway. Someone complained that they live in Stafford and work in Gaithersburg, and the commute took forever. Get a grip. You don't like commuting? Then work where you live. I work on a farm in Fairfax, and also with the county government. I have no qualms.Andrew Painter
Lorton, Va There is nothing dumber than having to use 495 to get to Baltimore or Fairfax from Gaithersburg! There should be cross county connectors between the each pair.Tom K
Gaithersburg, MD Within the District, it is still easy to navigate the back streets and beat the traffic. The suburbs are where it seems the worst. I can get around where I need to go in upper NW pretty easily most of the time. The trouble starts at the county lines. The Metro should be open 24 hours a day.Guy Molinet
DC Regarding mass transit, I don't care if you don't mind spending two hours per day commuting to/from work regardless if on a train or in a car, but in my mind that is entirely too much wasted time. I don't think mass transit is any answer what-so-ever. If it were then it would not have to be subsidized in order to get people to use it. Perhaps they should do a study of mass transit in the area. Then people who keep advocating it would realize how terrible it really is. Chicago with the L and New York with grid layout and express lines are much more efficient. Our metro is terrible and I hate riding it. I have to stop more than 12 times and transfer to go the equivalant of 8 miles and it's not relaxing at all. It's every bit as irritating as driving. In order to drive to work, I am either there by 6:30 or have to wait until 10 or I will go nuts. Anytime in between it takes over an hour. For 8 miles! Just to get from Arlington to Conn/Van Ness. Only semi-convenient way is Rock Creek Parkway and some brain surgeon decided that the people in MD are more important, so it is one way during rush hour, and therefore people in VA are screwed. Cars are just the way it is; it's what people prefer. Why not accept that and quit tooting the horn of mass transit when it's not the answer. Fix the . . . roads.Ken
Arlington How far away from work can you reside before the amount of traffic you experience becomes your responsibility? I see cars from Frederick, West Virginia and Pennsylvania commuting every day down 270 and think these people must enjoy pain. I leave for work at 6:00 and laugh at anyone who thinks I'm nuts for getting up too early.Ricky Martin
Germantown I'm from Arlington, where there's virtually no traffic. (Just don't take I-66) So I guess I don't know what true congestion feels like.John P
Arlington There is no such thing as a reverse commute any longer. Traveling 66W in the morning and 66E in the evening can be very slow. The slow downs are beginning earlier and ending later every day.John George
Washington, DC Having lived all over the country including Falls Church and L.A., I would have to rate the rush-hour drive on I-66 as the most agonizing in the country.Ed Pierce
Austin, TX I would imagine that many like myself would prefer public transportation. But the D.C.-Dulles tech corridor has none and by the time they do I may be gone. So I end up contrubuting pollution, anger, and congestion to the mix. Also, carpooling may help a little, but so many of us in the tech industry now have flexible hours as a benefit, and by carpooling we would effectively all be giving that up. I hope that the tech companies who have benefitted so disproportionately, and not the residents of N. Va. end up paying the bulk of the taxes to expand the infrastructure. But I have a feeling they'll get off free in an all Republican Virginia.Brian
Wash DC Traffic flow would be significantly increased, and commute times greatly reduced, if bottlenecks could be reduced at on and off ramps. Therefore, I suggest having the right-most lane of the interstates in the Metro region to be limited to 40 mph, thereby removing 'through' traffic from that lane, and allowing entering and exiting traffic to merge successfully and quickly. This must be accompanied by enforcement of the lane speed requirement. Additionally, the 'keep right except to pass' idea must be both law and practice. Gridlock could be eliminated almost overnight.Jim C.
Alexandria, VA We have no idea about the congestion, because we intentionally avoided that problem since moving here from Los Angeles. I arrived here about a year ago, with my wife joining me about 5 months ago. We solved the daily commuting issue easily from the start: MARC/VRE and METRO. We arrive at work refreshed and in great spirits each day. The end of the day isn't bad either, since we get to relax and enjoy each other's company on the hour trip home to Stafford. How many who drive can say that? Or do they arrive angry, frustrated, and itching for a fight at their appointed morning/evening destination? Granted it is a little expensive, and there is some inconvenience due to somewhat limited schedules. But perhaps increased patronage would intice the providers to expand service and reduce their rates a little. And employers could help by subsidizing at least a part of the fares each month (many LA employers are doing just that). Or are Washington employers more concerned about profits than the quality of life of their workforce? And by the way, Washington driving problems may be bad, but if you haven't experienced LA gridlock, you haven't experienced anything. And don't. Talk about major culture shock!!!Mike and Sherry Wolozyn
Staford, VA YES!!!! I take the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in every morning and the delay is horrible! I live in the Ft. Washington/Oxon Hill area (the very first exit coming into Md. from Va.) and my house is approximately 30 seconds from the Beltway on a regular day. In the mornings it takes me AT LEAST 20 minutes to get to the Beltway and about 20 more minutes just to cross the bridge. Then traffic is fine. That is, until I get to Braddock Road, and then we are backed up again. Lately I've been taking GW Parkway. I still have to cross the bridge, or sometimes I take 295 and go through D.C., but that takes about 20 to 25 minutes off my travel time. I have to leave home between 7:00 and 7:10 in order to guarantee that I'll be at work (Tysons) by 8:30. I used to leave at 7:15 but that doesn't work. And believe me, 5 minutes makes a HUGE difference. For some reason, it never takes me more than 40 minutes to get home though, unless of course, there's a terrible accident. HELP US WOODROW WILSON BRIDGE COMMUTERS!!!!Miesha Brown
Fort Washington/Oxon Hill, MD Govenor Glendening shouldn't have killed the Inter County Connector. We need more suburb-to- suburb connections. A Metro "loop" around the beltway would help, too. Moscow has a subway loop so that people don't have to travel downtown to change trains. It works very nicely.Kevin
Silver Spring If we had kept pace with growth by building more roads and bridges maybe we wouldn't be in this mess. But, oh no...we sat around and listened to the Enviro-nuts chirp and whine and look where it's gotten us!John Baines
Rockville Traffic is getting worse. I now live in Dale City and the commute to Herndon is 1 hour and 15 minutes. They need to expand Metro to people who live in the Woodbridge, Dale city area.Doreen
Staten Island, NY Traffic is definitely getting worse. My response to the congestion and ever growing commuter stress resulting in aggressive driving and rude behavior was to get on public transportation. I take a bus to metro and now arrive at my office more relaxed. It takes a change in attitude, however, to be willing to kiss the car goodbye.Judith Myers
Poolesville The facts are that we have let our country go to the Dogs (politicans/lawyers). They plan for nothing and expect everything. We need people that are nearer to the problems. When this country looks at something we need to look at it 15, 20, 25 years from now and do it for then, not next year or 5 years from now. Take pollution for instance. Wonder why people get cancer that have never done anything to come into contact with cancer causing agents. We permit BIG BUSINESS to do what ever they want. The politicans get there POCKETS lined to vote in favor of big business, they are not interested in little people that pay to run this country, they protect the investors, the stock market, themselves. A lot sooner than later we'll pay for it and expect our children, grand-children, and or great grandchildren to solve our problems. What ashame, what ashame.Brian Augustine
New Orleans I agree that traffic has gotten a lot worse throughout the area. The mixing bowl is going the shed only 7 minutes out of people's commutes and add 45 minutes to it until it is done. For some reason people love to commute though, why would you do it if you didn't at least like it. Waking up at 6 a.m. to get to work by 9, leaving at 5 p.m. just in time to put your kids to bed. People should either work near their homes or demand their governments provide them with reliable public transportation. For example instead of the bus coming every 30 minutes and then stopping at 7 p.m. for the night to take you to the suburbs, the bus should run all night long and go every five minutes. Sure in the begining no one would do it - but when they see how reliable it is - they will abandon their cars.Sara
Washington, DC My commute has been getting worse over the last nine years. I've tried driving, VRE, Metro and slugging. There will always be some delay when using one method or another. This morning someone reduced one of Santa's reindeer and it stopped all HOV traffic so I reverted to the Metro. There is no government program that can prevent that situation. This is the result of living in a major city. Reducing growth will help. Adding lanes will help until you get to the bridges. Moving in town only works if your a renter. Telecommuting may also help. There is no one problem and there is no one solution. We all just have to try to be courteous and remember that misery loves company.Gregory
Kingstowne It won't happen, of course, but this serves to further exemplify the need for additional investment in mass transit in the D.C. area. Light rail running frequently from the Md. and Va. suburbs would be an effective method of solving D.C.'s transportation woes and a shot in the arm for the environment - not to mention the local economy. People still don't seem to make the connection between air pollution, declining air quality and cars. Getting people out of their vehicles and onto new trains would create jobs while significantly clearing the air. Investment is needed from the counties, D.C. and the Federal government. Any sort of improvements made in the D.C. area will cost money to be sure. Anyone who complains about area traffic should put tax money where his or her mouth is and demand an effective means of mitigating traffic congestion. Money spent on more highways only compounds the problem. An efficient system of mass transit in the nation's capital and the outlying areas would not only preserve commuters' sanity, but the environment as well. I wonder what the combined value of that would be.Kent
Washington, DC I moved to Tysons because there is no third lane on I-66 inside the Beltway and the surface streets were always clogged with the overflow. Also, one breakdown/accident would cut off 50% of the flow instead of 33%. I-66 also needs to be widened between Exits 47 and 40. It's just not right that people going West have to get stuck for 4-7 miles with everyone going down Route 29.Edgar Mueller
Tysons Corner If there are long lines in a supermarket, do you like it when they open up more cashiers? Or do you stop shopping as much?George Croft
McLean What is my oppinion? The traffic still sucks. Can we three states and the Fed together do something to build a second Beltway?Charles
Gaithersburg I just moved here from Chicago and find that traveling by car is much easier here than in Chicago.Bob Wendt
Alexandria Drivers in LA, although risky, are much more skilled than the D.C. driver. The D.C. driver is uptight, unskilled, naive and in a hurry. D.C. is also replete with an army of interns and fresh faced hill staffers driving daddy's 10,000 lb SUV when they ought to be on the Metro or walking to work.Tom
Sacramento I lived in the D.C. area for two years back in the mid 1980s. I loathed almost everything about the area, such as ridiculously high housing and food costs, crime rate, etc. But, by far, the worst thing was the horrible traffic. It didn't take a genius to figure out that, given the irresponsibly high rate of housing and shopping mall construction throughout the area, traffic would become an even bigger nightmare as the months and years passed. My solution was to get the heck out of the area, which I did. I have never, for one second, regretted that decision. I have absolutely no sympathy or empathy for those hundreds of thousands who choose to live in such an uninhabitable area and must cope with the daily gridlock. There is NO solution to the traffic problem in the D.C. area. Tough rocks, guys and gals.Rusty Gunner
Parkersburg, WV Did anybody read the opinion section on Sunday? Far-sighted planners in the 1960s developed a BRILLIANT plan that would've meant little congestion now or for decades in the future. Multiple beltways, radial highways, and transit systems were designed to connect employment/population centers with much of the rest of the land in between them set aside for parks. The D.C. region shelved the plan, but the traffic came anyway much to the displeasure of the no growth crowd. There really is no answer as an adequate solution to our traffic woes would be impossibly expensive to build and held up forever by NIMBYs.Lee
Arlington I heard from people to start being Proactive and stop griping. Well to starters I live in Burke, a bustling residential area. But guess what, no Metro station. Yes we have a commuter train. I wrote a letter to the district supervisor requesting her to look into putting a Metro train in burke. Her response was, we have a Springfield/Franconia Metro station near your house. Guess what the Springfield/ Franconia station is 10 miles from my house. Now I am great believer in mass transit. I am ready to stand outside grocery stores and urge people to sign up for a Metro station. But all these people who are venting out their frustration are in minority. The people living in the metropolitan area just do not understand the concept of Metro train or bus.B
Burke Believe it or not, I've recently taken up driving from Falls Church to K Street instead of riding Metro. Why? Because I live right off of Rt. 50. It takes me 35 minutes to drive in and I found $8.00 parking if I'm in by 9:00. If I take Metro from West Falls, I pay $6.65 a day, I MUST park by 7:40 or there's no spaces, it takes 50 minutes, and I must drive, park, walk, go thru a turnstile, walk, wait, stand while riding, go thru a turnstile, and walk. By getting in my car, I eliminate 7 of 9 steps on a one-way commute. It is significantly less stressful. Also, in my car, no one's Walkman is too loud, I can drink my morning beverage, listen to the radio, and avoid the typhid incubator that is a Metro car in winter. There's no farecard to buy, lose, jam or demagnetize. Do you see my point?Christine
Falls Church From a look at the other messages, the clear consensus seems to be that that more/wider/greater roads & bridges will not solve the problem -- obviously they'll fill up before the bext one's built. That means controlled growth, greater HOV restrictions, and better mass transit have to be the answer (continued decentralization of workplaces will likely help as well.) The first three will greatly increase our quality of life, our air and our safety. Car commuting has made people very stingy and angry -- tailgating so that not a soul could poasibly switch lanes, frustrations building, anger venting -- I know that Metro is not currently an option for everyone, but it's nothing like that on public transportation.JC
Washington, DC Morning commutes drive me crazy! I generally take the Metro which is a blessing in disguise and a 20 minute ride with not much of a wait or delay. But about once a week I drive from my home in Gaithersburg to my office in Bethesda. This adventure tends to take anywhere from 1 hour to and hour and a half. We are not even talking about 30 miles! Ridiculous. It Always seems that radio is saying there is traffic from 270 Germantown to the split. Is all of this traffic just being caused from people that simply don't know how to merge properly? I wonder.J. Hitchcock
Gaithersburg There is no doubt that traffic is much worse. It seems to worsen by the day. My commute from Southern Anne Arundel County ranges from an hour and a half to two and a half hours for what should be a 45 minute trip into D.C. I can't say that it's all because of population increase though. As I drive down the road the man next to me is on the phone, the women in front of me is putting on her makeup and the kids behind me aren't belted in and are driving their parents crazy. These distractions cause accidents which cause major traffic delays. Yes, population has risen and their are more commuters on the road, but if all of us drivers pay attention to what is around us, for instance other cars, then we wouldnt have all of the accidents which cause rubbernecking, bottlenecking and congestion. We might actually get somewhere!Priscilla Lewis
Churchton, MD I travel from Laurel, Md., to Georgetown, a total of 18 miles. At 6:30 a.m. it takes one hour to get to work. At 5 p.m. it takes an hour and a half to get home. If that isn't gridlock I don't know what is! I am in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Route 1 (Rhode Island Avenue) all the way from Laurel to Georgetown. The thing that keeps my sanity is listening to either big band music (WGAY AM) or listening to books on tape which really help the time to fly (well, relatively).Patty O'Brien
Laurel, MD I am a 33 year old engineer who for the last 5 years have lived in SE, D.C. Before that, I lived 10 minutes away in Temple Hills, Md. All my jobs have been in Virginia. I laugh at the people trying to get in the city in the mornings cause my side of the road is ALWAYS clear leaving the city. There is always some congestion around the Downtown area of 395 but it clears up in 10 minutes. I go from Anacostia to Springfield, Va., at the average speed of 70 miles per hour every morning. Same coming back (okay, 65 coming back). Total commute down the whole stretch of 395? 35 minutes. The people who live in the deep suburbs are stuck with one road coming in from any diriction, 270 in the north, 66 in the west, 95 in the south, and Rt. 50 in the east. Baltimore is built the same way. The average person just stays close to the city or inner Beltway. If you have to fight Rt. 1 every morning, or a Liberty Road in Baltimore at night to get 30 to 60 miles out of the city, good luck. It's the price you pay for being a follower. The suburbs are nice, but maybe if there were more jobs out where you lived, the commute wouldn't be so bad. I'd hate to live in Newark, New Jersey, and expect the ride into Manhattan to be a breeze every morning! Especially if everone from New Jersey tried to take the same Jersy Turnpike and the same exit to get to the same 10 square block in downtown Manhattan. Think about it...Paul C. Rice
Washington, DC It's one thing to bitch about traffic during the weekdays, but if you get on I-66 going either way on weekends and holidays it is guaranteed to be backed up. Usually the source is somebody simply changing a tire on the side of the road. Everyone knows that intelligence isn't a prerequiste in order to be a politician, but it seems like they are the only ones who don't see the problem. We pay a tax every year on our cars, where does the money go?BR
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