More traffic in the morning?

[realazy]

Anybody notice that there's more traffic in the morning?

It usually takes me 25-30 min to travel from the NW to downtown.

This week, it's been taking me around 40-45 min.

Did more people get hired? or did people just decide to drive instead of parking at park n ride?

[jazzyb]

also noticed a rather heavy increase today.

[Tarrantula]

Accidents this morning were the cause of poor traffic flow.

[Machi]

been noticing it as well... I've been late every day this week LOL

[prae]

My mornings have been relatively steady (NW to SE) but I have noticed a marked increase in afternoon traffic.

[Arnold]

I noticed that this morning too going to work downtown from the NW also. I dont know whats up with the traffic i didnt see any accidents down centre street :dunno:

[89coupe]

Originally posted by realazy
Anybody notice that there's more traffic in the morning?

It usually takes me 25-30 min to travel from the NW to downtown.

This week, it's been taking me around 40-45 min.

Did more people get hired? or did people just decide to drive instead of parking at park n ride?

Its because the stupid fucking city is charging $3 now to park at the LRT parking lots.

At the same time, open lots have dropped their rates downtown to attract those LRT people and now more are driving downtown.

Its a cluster fuck!

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by 89coupe


Its because the stupid fucking city is charging $3 now to park at the LRT parking lots.

At the same time, open lots have dropped their rates downtown to attract those LRT people and now more are driving downtown.

Its a cluster fuck!
Hard to say... parking is super expensive and hard to find downtown so I cant imagine many people opting to drive rather than pay the LRT parking fees.

[BigShow]

Originally posted by realazy
Anybody notice that there's more traffic in the morning? ...


About what time to drive to work?

[benyl]

The lot I park in is EMPTY... haha.

Rates have to come down.

[ralliart_girl]

Originally posted by Machi
been noticing it as well... I've been late every day this week LOL

lol me too

[3g4u]

Horrible traffic this morning from SW to DT.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2

Hard to say... parking is super expensive and hard to find downtown so I cant imagine many people opting to drive rather than pay the LRT parking fees.

Probably becoming easier to find with more and more layoffs.

[Euro838]

Yeah, noticed it too. Was wondering if there was a sudden economic boom this week. Driving by the trains and lots, they were definitely empty in the NW. This was around 8 am for me. I think I saw 1 person for every 4-seat pod.

Brentwood was probably 2/3 full at max. So I guess everyones driving downtown rather than deal with paying twice for LRT. Way to go City Council! :thumbsup: "fixing" something that wasn't necessarily broke in the first place!

[Mar]

People getting their jobs back? :dunno:

[~Leah~]

I only drive from Cochrane to the NE and I've also noticed much heavier traffic ~ 7am.

[realazy]

Originally posted by BigShow


About what time to drive to work?

I leave around 7ish usually.

[~Leah~]

Could be that because it's getting so freaking bright so early now, people are going into work earlier?

[rc2002]

I think the peak traffic has just shifted. I don't hit traffic anymore when I leave my house at 8:15am.

It's definitely not due to the $3 charge for park and ride because most of the congestion is outside of downtown. $3 at Park and Ride vs $20-$35 DT. There's no comparison.

[89coupe]

Originally posted by richardchan2002
I think the peak traffic has just shifted. I don't hit traffic anymore when I leave my house at 8:15am.

It's definitely not due to the $3 charge for park and ride because most of the congestion is outside of downtown. $3 at Park and Ride vs $20-$35 DT. There's no comparison.

Bullshit, traffic into downtown has doubled.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by richardchan2002

It's definitely not due to the $3 charge for park and ride because most of the congestion is outside of downtown. $3 at Park and Ride vs $20-$35 DT. There's no comparison.


Old transit - $83 /month
New transit - $150/month (pass + parking fee)
Downtown parking (not including gas in traffic) - $250 to $350

Now that $150 saving MIGHT not be worth it to some people, but on the other hand, you also have parking 24/7, so you can go park downtown in the evenings/weekends and enjoy yourself without worrying.

I think a lot of people would also do park downtown, just in spite of townhall.

[TorqueDog]

Given their pricing regime, they obviously don't want us to use transit then, do they.

Here's an idea: improve the transit system first. Give us a reason not to spend the extra ~$150 a month for downtown parking; as it stands, I'd pay that for the convenience of taking my car. If transit was more convenient and effective, I might not.

[beyondpinoy]

i havn't really noticed a difference, it still takes me 20-25 mins to get to work.. i live in the SE and i work Downtown.. and i usually leave at 7:30 every day (isn't that peak times)

[kenny]

Originally posted by 89coupe


Bullshit, traffic into downtown has doubled.

Your commute time has doubled or traffic has doubled?

I drive into downtown everyday at about 9am and traffic levels are roughly the same as a month or two ago. My commute takes about 15 minutes from Garage to Building Parkade.

[89coupe]

Originally posted by kenny


Your commute time has doubled or traffic has doubled?

I drive into downtown everyday at about 9am and traffic levels are roughly the same as a month or two ago. My commute takes about 15 minutes from Garage to Building Parkade.

Traffic has doubled.

I'm coming into downtown around 7:45 am center street bridge has been 3 lanes full lately.

[Euro838]

Originally posted by 89coupe


Traffic has doubled.

I'm coming into downtown around 7:45 am center street bridge has been 3 lanes full lately.

Well, from that way, it could be because of the langevin bridge closure (bridge from EDM trail). I'd guess all the traffic is being diverted over to Center st bridge.

At the same time, I noticed traffic in the NW to be heavier too.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok



Old transit - $83 /month
New transit - $150/month (pass + parking fee)
Downtown parking (not including gas in traffic) - $250 to $350

Now that $150 saving MIGHT not be worth it to some people, but on the other hand, you also have parking 24/7, so you can go park downtown in the evenings/weekends and enjoy yourself without worrying.

I think a lot of people would also do park downtown, just in spite of townhall.

Meh.

Evening parking downtown is an extra $2-4 bucks. Hardly a benefit for the few rare times I would actually use it.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by TorqueDog
Given their pricing regime, they obviously don't want us to use transit then, do they.

Here's an idea: improve the transit system first. Give us a reason not to spend the extra ~$150 a month for downtown parking; as it stands, I'd pay that for the convenience of taking my car. If transit was more convenient and effective, I might not.

If you actually took transit you might have a valid opinion.

Transit is PACKED and trains during the rush hour come every 4-5 minutes. The morning express buses from the suburbs are jammed and leave every 10-15 minutes and the bendy bus BRT routes are busy as well.

Not sure how it could be made any more convenient for you aside from picking you up in front of your house.

If you want crap transit service move back to Winnipeg.

[G-ZUS]

this morning blackfoot coming out of forst lawn was a cluster fuck for some reason

[~Leah~]

Hmmm... so it seems to be mostly from the north, and mostly at earlier times?

[sputnik]

Originally posted by G-ZUS
this morning blackfoot coming out of forst lawn was a cluster fuck for some reason

There was an accident on the bridge over Deerfoot this morning.

[cornelius85]

Today was bad, but there was accidents. I am getting really annoyed with how much longer it is taking to get home each day for the last month. I wonder if the LRT parking fee has something to do with it..

[frinkprof]

I highly doubt that Park N' Ride fees have had much of an affect on traffic.

Number of Park N' Ride stalls - 14,126 (Source (http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/park_n_ride_locations.html))

Park N' Ride lots are, from most reports I've read, or seen for myself, 1/2 to 2/3 full, for the sake of this argument, call it 1/2, so 7 063 stalls that previously were being used.

People who formerly used Park N' Ride basically have 3 options. Abandon transit altogether and drive the entire way to their destination, take a feeder bus or walk/bike to the station, or park in adjacent communities and business parking lots. I would say that 1/2 is as good a guess as any as to how many people have abandoned transit altogether and now drive the whole way to their destination.

However, let's do a worst case scenario, where every single person that no longer uses Park N' Ride have chosen to drive and that every single one of them has a final destination of downtown.

So, spread these ~7000 extra vehicles over all the routes into downtown (since some former Park N' Riders would take Memorial -> 4th Ave, some would take MacLeod, others would take Bow Trail, etc., etc.) during peak hour, and this worst case scenario might produce a noticeable affect, but likely nowhere near on the scale of "double." Note that Centre Street bridge alone carries 18 000 vehicles per day in one direction. (Source (http://www.calgary.ca/DocGallery/BU/trans_planning/data/traffic_flow_maps/2007_flowmap_dt.pdf)). (Yes I'm aware that I used a per day figure, rather than peak hour, since I can't seem to find any. If anyone has any, I'd be interested in seeing them).

Now, consider that the true number of extra vehicles going into downtown that weren't before due to the parking charge is probably less than 3000 vehicles, and it makes less of an impact than the worst case scenario, likely making any affect not very noticeable.

Another point to add to the conversation. Most riders access the stations via feeder bus. Add in people who, walk, cycle, or get dropped off by a private vehicle (that doesn't park at the station), and the percentage of people riding the LRT that use Park N' Ride is on the order of 10%.

-----------------

I would wager that any increase in morning vehiclular traffic would be due to a combination of things, but mostly construction detours such as the Langevin bridge, the one on 4th Street near 10th Avenue SW that has been either fully or partially closed for some time, 16th Avenue North work, and other construction delays.

[Prolifique]

Traffic will get worse as the population continues to grow, its inevitable.

[TorqueDog]

Originally posted by sputnik
If you actually took transit you might have a valid opinion.

Transit is PACKED and trains during the rush hour come every 4-5 minutes. The morning express buses from the suburbs are jammed and leave every 10-15 minutes and the bendy bus BRT routes are busy as well.

Not sure how it could be made any more convenient for you aside from picking you up in front of your house.

If you want crap transit service move back to Winnipeg. My not taking transit doesn't make my opinion any less valid. :thumbsdow According to CalgaryTransit, my commute is over an hour by Transit. Presently, it takes me less than 20 minutes to drive. Hard to opt for transit with those kind of numbers, don't you think?

So that said, I'd consider taking transit if it was more effective for my commute. :nut:

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by ~Leah~
Hmmm... so it seems to be mostly from the north, and mostly at earlier times?


fucking northern monkeys!
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a274/patch60/Lenny_mclean.jpg

[sputnik]

Originally posted by TorqueDog
My not taking transit doesn't make my opinion any less valid. :thumbsdow According to CalgaryTransit, my commute is over an hour by Transit. Presently, it takes me less than 20 minutes to drive. Hard to opt for transit with those kind of numbers, don't you think?

So that said, I'd consider taking transit if it was more effective for my commute. :nut:

So I am guessing you live in the burbs and don't work downtown.

That is fine. That has nothing to do with CT having lousy service. It comes down to the fact that the route you take isn't that popular among commuters from your area.

Unlike Winnipeg a large population of Calgary works downtown. So it is reasonable for them to focus on getting people downtown from all areas of the city. That means that if you dont work downtown chances are you will have to go downtown first and then switch buses/trains to get where you need to go. This is often the case in most cities and not unique to Calgary.

Do you expect CT to provide a bus route that takes people from Edgemont directly to the Foothills industrial park if only a few people currently make the trip by car and have free parking there?

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok



http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a274/patch60/Lenny_mclean.jpg

I hate those fooking Southern faries.

[TorqueDog]

Originally posted by sputnik
So I am guessing you live in the burbs and don't work downtown.

That is fine. That has nothing to do with CT having lousy service. It comes down to the fact that the route you take isn't that popular among commuters from your area.

Unlike Winnipeg a large population of Calgary works downtown. So it is reasonable for them to focus on getting people downtown from all areas of the city. That means that if you dont work downtown chances are you will have to go downtown first and then switch buses/trains to get where you need to go. This is often the case in most cities and not unique to Calgary.

Do you expect CT to provide a bus route that takes people from Edgemont directly to the Foothills industrial park if only a few people currently make the trip by car and have free parking there? I understand the differences between Winnipeg and Calgary, thanks. :rolleyes: Trust me, their transit system is proof of how terrible public transportation can be when it's run by morons.

Regarding CT, where did I say it was lousy? I said for my purposes, it's inconvenient. Now they're making it less attractive to those who could benefit from it by raising prices to park and to ride.

[Davetronz]

I noticed a huge increase in traffic volumes this entire week from McKenzie Towne to NW at around 6:45am.

[colt22]

anyone know why the hell there is rush hour type traffic on deerfoot/crowchild at 11 in the morning?????????

[rc2002]

Because of idiots getting into accidents.

[kaput]

.

[Tomaz]

I have noticed an increase in traffic all week. I usually have no problem with traffic in the morning, but latley i have been at a full stop for an entire light change.

BTW, i live in woodlands/woodbine area. Having anderson as your only way out is a bitch!

[~Leah~]

Originally posted by kaput
This is probably because its friday, but I was able to drive to work downtown this morning faster than on a saturday. Traffic was flowing about 30km/h over the limit the whole way and only had to stop at 2 lights.

Ditto!! I think a lot of ppl took the nice day off lol

[JeremyD]

weird it took me 20 extra minutes coming down crowchild today. It was backed up from shag to mcmahon. This was at 8:30.

yesterday a 45 minute drive took 1:15. For no reason that I could see. no accidents or anything like that.