Archive
The Power of Suggestion: Traffic Signs Could Relieve Gridlock; Alter Driving Behavior
Tell me...do you think this would work?
What if we could help ease traffic congestion by merely installing traffic signs? Nothing fancy here. These signs would simply suggest a desired driver behavior to achieve a desired outcome: moving traffic along in a more expeditious manner.
Highways all over the country already have these. Imagine my awe as I rode past, staring at them with my mouth wide open as I had an “ah-ha moment.” There was a sign that blatantly said: “Steep Upgrade, Maintain Speed.” Wow, what an idea! A sign that strongly suggests that drivers hit the gas pedal to maintain speed because — pay attention now, this is deep — we are now driving on a steep incline on a highway, and in order to not slow the people down behind us, we need to STEP ON IT. What a novel idea! Why haven’t the transportation authorities in MD, VA, and D.C. metro area caught onto this??
We could use this one, too!
Study explained traffic jams
Years ago, I remember watching a news story about a traffic study that explained why traffic jams and slowdowns occur on our highways. Among their conclusions were: (1) rubbernecking to see the source of a police stop; (2) rubbernecking due to a disabled car or accident; (3) sheer volume; (4) curvy highways; (5) hilly highways (the steeper the grade, the slower traffic gets); (6) construction and or repair.
We have many highways that are curved and are downright hilly in this area. I understand slowing down a little for curves in bad weather, but not to the degree that most people do. I’m quite sure they were built to accommodate highway speeds (at least during fair weather). But, for some reason, people don’t compensate for hills by simply accelerating. Guess they just feel that they don’t need to or are not paying enough attention to notice that their car is slowing down. I wouldn’t want to be a passenger in that car!
Wake up, people!
I believe that this problem could be helped just by strategically installing the right signage. Traffic merging onto I-95 North is always slow because there are two steep upgrades before you even get to Exit 33 Rt. 193. After this exit, traffic usually speeds up exponentially (with some exceptions, of course). I am convinced that merely suggesting that people accelerate to maintain their speed would go a long way to relieve congestion caused by hills. It’s worth a try!
Tell me…what do you think of this solution? Don’t be shy — leave a comment.
Leveraging the Power of Connectivity
Expand this highway from four to six lanes NOW!
Connectivity — it is what viable transportation is all about. Commuters between the Baltimore and Washington D.C. metro areas aren’t currently able to go back and forth between the two metro areas efficiently and expeditiously, and it is because the two metro areas are not adequately leveraging the power of connectivity.
We have very few commuter options between the two metropolises: either drive on I-95 or 295 Baltimore-Washington Parkway or take whichever combination of MARC and Metro trains work best for you. That is it as far as I know (let me know of others) — and that is a darned shame.
We need more options, people! But, here is a little ray of light: recently, measures have been taken to allow SmarTrip users to access MTA’s facilities (buses, subway, and light rail) and MTA smart card holders to use Metrorail and Metrobus. Isn’t that great progress?? We need more, more, more of this kind of collaboration between and amongst transportation entities!
I’ve been saying this for a long time – lawmakers, politicians, heads of MD and DC municipal-run transportation: provide more solutions to connect Baltimore to Washington D.C NOW!
- Expand 295 Baltimore-Washington Parkway from four lanes to six lanes – I can’t say this enough. This parkway is congested every day of the week at all times of the day. It is unbearable during rush hour. We need more capacity!
- Create another major highway route that connects the two cities and their suburbs – even if we expand the parkway, eventually we will still need additional roads to handle increasing traffic between the two cities.
- Expand Metro — We need to get real about the fact that the entire suburban area needs this service for more than just commuting into D.C. Stop being so conservative when making plans to add stops. Plan to extend at least out to the White Marsh area. Don’t shortchange any of the surrounding suburbs!
- Expand MARC capacity to cover all of Baltimore’s and D.C.’s suburbs and add stops that intersect with Metro for even more connectivity.
- Develop express bus routes that usher commuters between the two cities and their surrounding areas.
I understand that there are plans in place to address some of this but, in my humble opinion, the plans currently in place don’t go far enough. There is so much that needs to be done to improve the connectivity between these two areas. Everyone stands to benefit from two major metropolises that meet the needs of its inhabitants by being well-connected. We need to get busy!
Relieve Traffic Congestion Through Increased Use of Sustainable Affordable Public Transportation
This chart helps us evaluate which options will work best.
I can admit, I am very attached to the convenience of being able to hop in my car and go wherever I want, whenever I feel like it. It’s a necessary evil when you live in the Washington, D.C-Baltimore metro area, and I am thankful that my 13-year old Honda can still take a licking and keep on ticking.
But, by the same token, it would also be great if I could walk out my door and have several convenient affordable and viable transportation options at my disposal. This could include being able to walk, take a short and cheap bus/light rail/subway ride, or bike to my destination. If everything were so conveniently located — or at least so easy to get to—maybe I wouldn’t feel the need to always defer to my car. There are several benefits to this on all sides: improved health from more exercise, lessening my carbon footprint, saving money, etc.
One other thing that I would really like to see is more sustainable ways to get around — the apex of which would be “green” transportation options. These options would satisfy the goal of devising and implementing transport that would be bearable, equitable, and viable on the social, environmental, and economic levels.
Although the upfront costs and initial sacrifices may be significant (i.e. financial resources, worsened traffic congestion), the long-term benefits would definitely be worth it — especially when you consider that the problem will not simply “fix itself.” Since demand for public transportation solutions has quickly risen in the D.C. metro area, we need to hastily make up our minds about which solutions to use — and then implement them without further delay.
Washington DC Traffic Congestion: Several Problems
Yes, traffic has gotten much worse in the metro D.C. area. There are several problems that we have that aren’t being sufficiently addressed:
We don’t have enough roads/lanes/infrastructure to meet the demand. But there’s absolutely NO shortage of vehicles, though!
Our addiction to our vehicles has been neccessitated and fueled (pun intended) by urban sprawl due to out-of-control housing construction/expansion on every piece of land that is available.
Many of us in the Washington, D.C. area are college-educated or better. That means that the demand for white collar jobs is very high and ultracompetitive. However, most of the decent-paying (white collar) jobs are located in only a few major hubs (i.e Herdon/Tysons Corner, D.C., and Bethesda/Rockville/Silver Spring). This causes those of us who don’t also LIVE in these areas (because we can’t AFFORD it) to have to DRIVE to these areas in order to pay our bills because there are, oftentimes, no decent alternatives.
If more people had viable alternatives, like the option to telecommute, more schedule flexibility, convenient commuting/travel options, conveniently located workplaces, more affordable housing located closer to workplaces, expanded infrastructure, etc., we might really be able to lick this thing!
Hello world! This is my first post.
Welcome to the Baltimore-DC Traffic Frustration Blog. This is a place where I will vent about my frustrations driving in the Baltimore/DC area.
Share this blog
