Studying the Studies

A recent study by a Seattle company seems to indicate that things are not so bad on Washington area roads. Those good folks probably need to spend less time in front of their computer screens and less time in their local coffee shops and more time actually driving around here if they want to get the real 411. In fact, the website InsideNoVa.com reports of the list: "There are also no segments of road in the Washington area listed in the nation’s top 100 worst congested bottlenecks. The worst bottleneck in the area, according to this study, was the Interstate 395-George Washington Memorial Parkway intersection in Arlington at No. 176."  Of course, Interstate 395 and the George Washington Memorial Parkway do not intersect, they meet at an interchange and the real culprit of the bottleneck is the 14th Street Bridge.

In this study, called The INRIX National Traffic Scorecard, the Washington metro region moved down from fourth in 2007 to fifth in 2008. The cities with congestion worse than ours are Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This is where the studies that rank regional congestion differ.  For years, Washington has been in the top three worst on the Texas Transportation Institute’s list. Because of the way that group measures congestion New York City never makes the list even though anyone who's been bold enough to get behind the wheel or into a cab or onto a bus in Manhattan knows the special hell that awaits them. The Texas study measures distance of congestion and also time lost which are the things that most of us really care about when stuck in traffic. Besides, how can an area whose worst bottleneck comes in at number 176 also be in the top five of worst congestion?

It's always said that studies can become what you want them to. From the consumer standpoint it's probably just better to go with what you think and feel when you’re sitting in some traffic jam. The studies are best left to the planners and the beancounters to scour.

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So you make it into the District and now it's time to park. Don't forget that the District is raising its rates for parking at meters and it’s not any small thing either. The city says that most rates will rise by 25 cents per hour but several will go up a lot more than that. For example, parking meters that previously charged a rate of $1.00 per hour will now charge $2.00 per hour. The rate at all other parking meters in the District will increase by 25 cents per hour.  For example, if it previously cost 25 cents to park at a meter for one hour, the rate at that meter will now be 50 cents per hour.

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is in the process of updating the 15,453 meters in the District to reflect the rate increases. All of the meters are expected to be updated by April 30th of this year.

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Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.

Comments

[Richard Layman]

It's not just about "the roads" it's about getting around. I seem to recall you live in the Springfield area. Well, I live 0.9 mile walking distance to the Takoma Metro station, and what 4-5 miles by bicycle from Capitol Hill and Downtown.

I do just fine.

The commuting time of people who live and work in the same place is much different for those who don't.

The long commuting times for people living in York, PA or Prince William or Fauquier or St. Mary's Counties, etc., are not my problem.

Conflating their choices with the Metropolitan region's and the core of the region's problems is misleading.

[Tara]

For more on the INRIX National Traffic Scorecard you can go to scorecad.inrix.com