this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2024
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No, but I grew up there. I don't know what part you're in, but Seattle traffic is just awful, so the HOV lane is probably actually faster.
I'm in Utah where traffic really isn't that bad, yet people still seem to pay to go there despite it not going any faster than the other 5 lanes. Oh, and they cross the double white lines too, which is illegal. The difference for me between good and bad traffic for my 25 mile commute is about 10 minutes: 35 min on a good day, 45 min on a bad day. It's really not an issue most of the time.
Yup, I'm in the Seattle area. It's terrible traffic. It's not as bad as commuting from L.A. to Orange county on the 405, but it's pretty bad. It also gets really bad with far fewer cars on the road than Southern California, since most of the drivers up here are terrible, slow, and unattentive. That's not just a subjective opinion either. An independent analysis put Washington driver's as some of the worse in the nation. No amount of roadwork will fix our traffic when 80% of the drivers have their heads up their asses.
Oh, I disagree, I think Seattle drivers are some of the most considerate drivers I've ever had the pleasure to drive with. I put on my signal and they make space, and they seem to consistently follow the "stay right except to pass" rule.
Socal drivers are better in heavy traffic, but they're also a lot more aggressive and can't drive in rain. It seems every time there's a hint of rain, there's a ton of accidents.
That's a rating for traffic enforcement, not drivers. And they're not "the worst," they're "18th worst," meaning pretty average (7 off from being median).
The problem with Seattle traffic isn't the drivers, it's a mixture of limited space (only I-5 and 167 going N/S) and poor overall highway design. I-5 goes right through the city, so it's too convenient so everyone piles on it.
And there's no relief because the transit system kinds sucks. For example:
I'm in Salt Lake City, and our Frontrunner has 2x the ridership vs Sounder (Sounder for reference) despite us having car less population, probably because it goes where people want to go and it runs all day. I take it almost every time I go to the airport, and it connects to three light rail lines with good routes. My dad and brother worked in Seattle, and neither took the Sounder because it was worse than dealing with traffic.
It looks like there are plans to fix the first two, not sure about the third. I've actually never ridden it, because it doesn't run during the day, so I can't rely on it. I've taken the Link a couple times in Tacoma because it's in a nice spot, but that's it.