The Puzzling Holiday Traffic
So this year is really my first year experiencing American Thanksgiving. Last year I was here in California as well but my experience was somewhat insulated from the full on nutty travel surge even though last year I was part of that travel surge and this year I wasn't.
Last year Candy and I went to visit her family in Sacramento. That meant catching a very short cab ride to the Burbank airport and using curbside check-in for our flight. All quite speedy and the airport didn't seem anymore busy than any other airport I've been in at any other time.
This year, though Candy and I stayed home, her friend Todd was flying out of the Los Angeles International airport (LAX) on a trip to Amsterdam to visit his girlfriend. We expected there to be some traffic so we left very early. We didn't compensate for the traffic nearly enough. What is normally a twenty minute trip down the freeway turned into a nearly three hour trip. We got ourselves off of the freeway as it was barely moving, only to discover that the regular streets were just as insanely clogged.
Candy's road warrior like driving, although successful in surpassing much of the other traffic, still wasn't enough to see Todd make his flight, which cruelly enough had even been bumped ahead by fifteen minutes. He apparently missed his last opportunity to board by ten minutes. Which is a pretty good scam I think on the part of Northwest Airlines as, had they not moved the flight up he would have made it with five minutes to spare. So he had to re-book for an additional $200 for a flight the next day.
Driving him down the following day we took an alternate freeway route to avoid all the last minute traffic on the freeway we used the day before. As we pulled into the airport (after a brief and normal 20 minute trip) I looked down the other freeway (the 405), and sure enough it was plugged right up as the day before.
My question is why does this happen? There are plenty of alternate routes to the airport, yet everyone takes the same one, because it seems the most direct I assume. Consulting Map Quest will take you on that very same route. It makes sense to me that were one not familiar with what to expect traffic-wise, as we were, that one would get caught in that traffic jam, but I suspect that most of those travelers have done this year after year after year. It couldn't have been the first time all of us were traveling to that particular airport for the holiday. I think people like to complicate their life sometimes, even if by sticking to what they know (which seems like keeping things simple), just to have stories to tell, or to have something to complain about and blame for how miserable life is treating them. It's not something they do consciously, mostly, but I do think many people thrive on conflict and strife. It all just seems rather silly.
Yesterday was a very good day, and that suits me just fine....'course I wouldn't have had anything to write about had we not got stuck in traffic the day before. Here's to more days with fewer blog entries. :)
Last year Candy and I went to visit her family in Sacramento. That meant catching a very short cab ride to the Burbank airport and using curbside check-in for our flight. All quite speedy and the airport didn't seem anymore busy than any other airport I've been in at any other time.
This year, though Candy and I stayed home, her friend Todd was flying out of the Los Angeles International airport (LAX) on a trip to Amsterdam to visit his girlfriend. We expected there to be some traffic so we left very early. We didn't compensate for the traffic nearly enough. What is normally a twenty minute trip down the freeway turned into a nearly three hour trip. We got ourselves off of the freeway as it was barely moving, only to discover that the regular streets were just as insanely clogged.
Candy's road warrior like driving, although successful in surpassing much of the other traffic, still wasn't enough to see Todd make his flight, which cruelly enough had even been bumped ahead by fifteen minutes. He apparently missed his last opportunity to board by ten minutes. Which is a pretty good scam I think on the part of Northwest Airlines as, had they not moved the flight up he would have made it with five minutes to spare. So he had to re-book for an additional $200 for a flight the next day.
Driving him down the following day we took an alternate freeway route to avoid all the last minute traffic on the freeway we used the day before. As we pulled into the airport (after a brief and normal 20 minute trip) I looked down the other freeway (the 405), and sure enough it was plugged right up as the day before.
My question is why does this happen? There are plenty of alternate routes to the airport, yet everyone takes the same one, because it seems the most direct I assume. Consulting Map Quest will take you on that very same route. It makes sense to me that were one not familiar with what to expect traffic-wise, as we were, that one would get caught in that traffic jam, but I suspect that most of those travelers have done this year after year after year. It couldn't have been the first time all of us were traveling to that particular airport for the holiday. I think people like to complicate their life sometimes, even if by sticking to what they know (which seems like keeping things simple), just to have stories to tell, or to have something to complain about and blame for how miserable life is treating them. It's not something they do consciously, mostly, but I do think many people thrive on conflict and strife. It all just seems rather silly.
Yesterday was a very good day, and that suits me just fine....'course I wouldn't have had anything to write about had we not got stuck in traffic the day before. Here's to more days with fewer blog entries. :)
posted by Linton at 9:03 PM
4 Comments:
Okay...so I'm not savy when it comes to blogging.....DUH!
I'm not really sure why the show was cancelled. Was it? You can tell I haven't checked it out lately. But most of the LAX stories were about drunks. Anyway. I don't know whether I'm leaving this comment in the right spot or not so. Guess we'll see. So to all the blog snobs.....
here if one way is backed up, usually all such routes are as bad, or maybe slightly better, but still not great.
(Like getting in/through the Osborne Village area between 3:30 pm & 6:30 pm especially going south... average speed is about 10-20 km/hour if not slower same for south on Main/St. Mary's Rd, north on certain other roads like Henderson highway)
at least you now know the alternate route, and can use it when needed =)
Choosing alternate routes can be like playing russian roulette. Yes there are FIVE EMPTY CHAMBERS but that LAST ONE can be killer... I use to play that game all the time when I drove into and around TO in rush hour. Most of the time I could find that route that the rest of the traffic world wasn't interested in but a few times I have ended up completely screwed Cathy & I once spent 2 hours on a 1km stretch of the 401 because of lane closures, got off at the first exit and wasted another 2 hours snaking around through Etobicoke neighbourhoods only to realize that if we had stayed on the 401 till the next exit (approx another 20 minutes) we would have sailed smoothly home (45 minute travel).
I do not miss the commute.
OK ... is it me or is the universe shifting.
I had a hard time imagining Linton without the hair... but Linton driving... IN LA.... that one just snuck up on me...
"What is it Alex?"
"I don't know.. just a weird feeling... like I just noticed that the socks I'm wearing are a piar of those funky chick socks from the 70's with a seperate glove like covering for each toe (Each one a different colour) and I have no recollection of ever putting them on or where they came from... a shadow has passed over the thin thread of reality..."
"Oh.. well good night then honey... don't forget to clean the cat box out tomorrow.."
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