Traffic apps have ruined my commuting life. Sure everyone
who grew up in the area agrees; they have their own
perspective, the roads they grew up on and traveled back and
forth to work with. They'll agree with you, that traffic apps
have ruined the commute, but I've also been a courier, tow
truck driver and delivery driver all around the Puget Sound
area. I know the roads. So if there was a tangle in the
commute, or driving, I knew a route that would get me there
almost as quick -- before traffic apps.
Traffic apps have made it more easy for more people to
easily adjust to moving to the area. They've opened up all
the roads so more people can live and commute here
comfortabley, until that is, there's a traffic jam. Then all
the roads are blocked. All the roads I've known, during rush
hour now, are now blocked. A commute that normally takes half
an hour, during non-peak traffic hours, takes two hours -
every day. And there are no alternative routes. Traffic apps
have gone full circle. First they made commuting easier, now
they've destroyed it.
Currently I commute through Tacoma. The City of and the
DOT have brilliantly shut down two, actually all, of the older
bridges. For a while they restricted truck traffic. They
didn't allow semi's to go over the bridges. Now the bridges
are shut down permanently to all cars. That's probably the
right thing to do, considering all the old rust and
deterioration, but that leaves no alternative traffic route
through Tacoma. Traffic has one route, I-5 and 509, the Port
of Tacoma road, which turns into a parking lot during the
afternoon rush hour.
If on my morning commute, a car breaks down on I-5 north,
in Tukwila, every road is blocked immediately. A commute that
normally takes less than an hour takes two or three to get
through to work.
The other day there was a semi that had turned over, and
even the residential streets were blocked. A few days later
there was a car fire off on the shoulder and traffic got
through with only a minor slow down. The police and fire got
there, shut down two lanes of I-5 and immediately, even the
residential streets I grew up on, and knew as an alternative
commute, were blocked.
Traffic apps were a nice idea, but I think the most
powerful thing they've done, good or bad, is made it more
comfortable for more people to move into an area, and now even
that comfort is gone, every day, during rush hour.
