D.C. Traffic
The trip to D.C. in March was a happy memory. While there with friends, we were able to take off on a whim to see the D.C. sights - a great place for tourists. Commuting to work in D.C. is a different story. After recent drives in Florida, San Diego, Taiwan, Japan, and the Bay Area, I decided that you aint seen bad traffic until you've seen D.C. traffic.The situation:
Last week, I had the pleasure of working all week in "the District." Because I couldn't book a hotel for under $375 in DC, I had to stay in the 'burbs. I got a great deal - only $295 in McLean. (sarcasm) According to the GPS I rented, it was 18 miles from where I had to be - Navy Yard. No big deal, right? Wrong.Commute time:
Mark told me to allow 1.5 hours to arrive at work. For 18 miles!? It wasn't that I didn't believe him. I just wasn't willing to accept it. So I left at 8 for my 9 o'clock meeting. Guess what time I arrived. 9:30. Dead on, Mark. It took me 90 minutes to drive 18 miles!
Get in line:
It's too bad the Navigation system doesn't tell you "The pile-up in the right lane is for YOU!" There were so many stopped cars waiting to exit, it was hard for the traffic to move past. I'd never been so ecstatic to hit 40 mph. But by the time GPS told me "Exit in 1/2 mile," the right lane had already had a line forming for the past mile and a HALF. Nobody was going to let in a cutter. On a positive note, this trip taught me to be more patient with out-of-towners.
So when I missed my exit from George Washington Pkwy onto 395, I had to drive 3 miles past, U-turn, only to immediately get in line for the exit. Sure enough, GPS indicated that I had almost 2 miles before the actual exit, as I sat parked in the right lane.Lanes and roads:
Although the scenery along the roads are pretty and the roads seem well made, there aren't enough! The freeways never had more than 3 lanes. Local roads - 1 or 2 lanes with stop lights all the way. So many commuters went local that parents dropping kids off at school had to deal with the traffic too. Ugly.
Anyway, the next few days of commuting improved significantly. I only drove for 45 minutes each way. I don't want to work in D.C. ever again if I can ever help it. But the good thing is that whenever I do, I get to see the Changs and Huangs after work. Getting to Clifton, also 18 miles, was not a problem.
If you live in a place with worse traffic than this, and you think I'm just a whiner, feel free to blast me. But I don't want to hear someone from Utah ever complain about traffic again.
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16 comment(s):
Jerin,
Look at the bright side: You did not run out of gas on the freeway!Many people have that happened in Taipei City.They should seriously consider public transportation.
I live in UT and I am not whinning about the traffic~~ :p
By
Unknown, at
6/19/2007 11:41 AM
What's amazing is that I felt like I was constantly driving the whole time I was there. At the end of the week, I still had over half a tank left!
By
Jerin, at
6/19/2007 12:36 PM
Growing up in the Bay Area, we never realized that the rest of the country ISN'T intertwined with freeways, huh??
Sometimes I DO miss the convenience of hopping on a freeway and having 3-4 more to choose from within a 10 minute drive!
By
Restless Mom, at
6/19/2007 12:51 PM
Hey Jerin, stop whining... just kidding. That commute sounds terrible. That's why I don't want to live there either. And if I did, I'd be working at the Navy yard too! So how come you had to go to the Navy yard? I thought the Navy didn't like 3L?
By
Michelle, at
6/19/2007 4:24 PM
Guess I shouldn't complain about Bay Area traffic anymore.
By
Aaron and Emily, at
6/19/2007 9:04 PM
Yeah, the whole Navy thing is a long story that I couldn't put on the internet anyway. But that's exactly why I'm there. Business meetings of particular interest to the Navy and other vendors of the Navy. It'd be nice if more meetings could be in Virginia, Florida and California. :)
By
Anonymous, at
6/19/2007 10:27 PM
This is why I'm grateful everyday for my 1.5 mile "commute" to work. 10 minutes from door-to-desk! Woo hoo!
By
andrew, at
6/22/2007 10:23 AM
Andrew, my commute beats yours: roll out of bed, open iBook, start working!
By
Heckachan, at
6/22/2007 2:09 PM
Lisa, can you get me a job?
By
Jerin, at
6/22/2007 3:08 PM
Lisa, I definitely can't beat that! You win! Now where do I sign up?
By
andrew, at
6/22/2007 6:23 PM
Hi Jerin,
Ouch. I feel for you. I got stuck twice in completely stopped holiday traffic up here. It took me an hour and 40 minutes to travel 12 miles. One of those times, Ryken was howling in the back seat and I was on the brink of madness!! After those incidents, I've wisely learned a few local road options, and I gained a whole new appreciation for So Cal and Bay Area freeways.
By
Anonymous, at
6/27/2007 11:25 PM
Nice to hear from ya Irene! I didn't know the traffic in Seattle was that bad! I'm really appreciating living in a small city, suddenly.
By
Jerin, at
6/28/2007 7:48 AM
This comment has been removed by the author.
By
YourFriendMark, at
6/29/2007 9:32 AM
This comment has been removed by the author.
By
YourFriendMark, at
6/29/2007 9:32 AM
This is why I watch movies on my Zune. You keep your eye off the road and you get to finish watching episodes of Alias, the Office, Knight Rider, whatever. And you get to work feeling great, because you're not worried about the guy that cut you off or the big pile up on such-and-such interstate. You just know that Sydney Bristow could probably take on Michael Knight anyday!
Yeah yeah, so it's not safe to watch a movie in your car. At least I know I'm not being safe. Wish I could say the same about the cell-phone drivers!
By
YourFriendMark, at
6/29/2007 9:35 AM
And they say that L.A. traffic is uniquely terrible! DC has bad traffic.... come visit us in LA!
By
00, at
8/27/2007 8:24 PM
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