A damning report on the state of traffic in Boston.

"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee) 11/20/2019 at 09:54 • Filed to: None

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!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and we’re going to have to start rethinking the way we get around. It’s only about a half mile between Mass General Hospital and the I-93 ramps. Last week during friday rush hour that drive took me nearly 45 minutes.

I’ve pasted the first part of the article here but I highly recommend going over to the Globe to read the whole thing. Some of the traffic figures are mind-boggling, and there's a cool interactive traffic map.

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Gazing optimistically into the future, Mayor John B. Hynes declared on June 25, 1959, that the opening of the Southeast Expressway ushered in “a better Boston.” A freeway that could handle 50,000 cars a day, he said, met “one of the modern challenges of our times.”

How quaint that sounds today.

Hynes may have been right in the moment, but he couldn’t see the hellscape that was coming. Even with added lanes, that same highway gagged last year on a daily average of 200,000 cars. And more keep coming by the day, afflicting Boston with some of the nation’s worst congestion.

Boston’s current traffic obsession is not hyperbole: The metropolitan region has 300,000 more cars and trucks than it did five years ago, according to an analysis of state data. Congestion has crippled every major commuting thoroughfare, from the south, west, or north. Some morning drives have doubled or worse, dooming drivers to thousands of hours a year lost to staring at the red river of taillights ahead and wondering why.

The jam-and-cram has a host of collateral effects. Stalled traffic is traffic polluting in place — ask the people of Chinatown, bounded by the Mass. Turnpike and Southeast Expressway and afflicted by the region’s worst tailpipe fumes. Delivery vans, school buses, and hospital shuttles struggle to get there from here. During the evening rush, key MBTA buses have slowed to near 8 miles per hour, a pace so atrocious it would have trouble qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

The nation’s oldest subway system doesn’t make it easy to give up your car. The Red Line train that barreled off the tracks in June was built in 1969, making it nearly two decades older than half of Boston’s residents. The system has suffered about 40 derailments in the last five years, more than almost any metro transit system in the country.

The suburban commuter rail can be just as frustrating. During that merciless winter in February 2015, two out of every three trains ran late.

It is a truism but transportation makes city life work — or pushes it to the brink. People need to get to their jobs and back home to places they can afford to live.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 10:01

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I don’t know how people put up with it. Seems like one solution is for more and more companies to allow people to work remotely most of the time.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 11/20/2019 at 10:08

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Unfortunately it’s trending the opposite way, according to the article one in four new jobs in the entire state is in Boston.

I'm glad I only have occasional business in the city.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 10:12

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That’s fine if the job exists there, but half of those employers should let their people work from home 3- 4 days a week (if feasible).

Future next gen S2000 owner > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 10:15

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The 21st century will drastically alter our transportation landscape. 

Future next gen S2000 owner > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 11/20/2019 at 10:17

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I don’t like to telework. Our VPN is garbage is one component, but the ability to walk over to someone and have a 5 minute face to face with a piece of paper is crazy valuable to me. Alleviates so much confusion. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Future next gen S2000 owner 11/20/2019 at 10:18

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I get it, but I’d deal with a little confusion to not have a 2-hour plus roundtrip commute every day.

Video chat can help, sometimes (not that anyone wants to use that).

nermal > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 10:21

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The problem, as with all other problems in Boston, is the people.

I betcha that if you transplanted a buncha Boston people to a quaint Midwest town with zero traffic issues, they’d eventually jam it up in the same manner. This is due to their inheren t vehicular ineptitude.   

What the mayor should be doing isn’t blaming the roads and the trains , but rather working up a plan to deport as many Bostoners as possible to Canada, and then migrate in some people that know how to actually drive. That’s the only way to solve the problem. 

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 10:27

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Part of the issue, too, is that Boston’s highways are confusing as heck. I got lost even with GPS. The solution to all east coast traffic issues needs to be: blow it up, start over again. 

OPPOsaurus WRX > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 10:41

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I have to go to Boston for a meeting tomorrow.  We;re meeting at my office at 730 for our 15 miles trek to the city to be there by 930.  

Textured Soy Protein > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 11/20/2019 at 10:42

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Here in the DC area we also have loads of traffic. The city of DC has a population of like 700k people and another million commute in for work. But there even more people who live in one part of suburbia and commute to some other part.

M any employers here do offer some degree of schedule flexibility and/or telework days , but generally they still want employees who show up to offices. Corporate America is inherently old-school in its approach to many things. 

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > OPPOsaurus WRX 11/20/2019 at 10:43

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At least you can use the HOV lane?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Textured Soy Protein 11/20/2019 at 10:46

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I get it, but at what point do your employees just get so fed up with their daily grind that they quit, uproot, and head somewhere with a better quality of life?

facw > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 10:54

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We desperately need to improve transit. They are replacing a lot of the aging rolling stock, but really they should be figuring out how to expand every subway line out to 128, with efficient park and ride there (and perhaps beyond). They should be considering converting commuter rail lines to full subway lines. They should be redoing the bus network like Houston and New York have done. And so on...

Expanding cycle lanes is good too, especially since there are a few dedicated cycling trails, but realistically only the most hard core are going to cycle to work in winter.

Road improvement is pretty hard. We have a lot of outdated highway design, but there really isn’t much room to fix that. There are a few interchanges that could be cleaned up now that Masspike is boothless, and some others that could probably go from cloverleaf to flyover to improve flow.

Beyond that, they should be encouraging more mixed use and higher density development so that people don’t need to travel as far to work.

Tekamul > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 11:04

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F rom your pic: I’ve been on the bridge on the left 2 dozen times. Never been on the bridge on the right. I need to lie to my GPS or something just for the variety. 

I love coming off that long 93 exit, and being confronted with a line I have to break into because it started a mile behind my off ramp. Honks and fingers and s miles all around. From there it’s roulette. Fenway? Kenmore? Boylston? Which one is going to be a parking lot today?

E verytime I think I should just park and ride, yet for some reason I don’t .

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Tekamul 11/20/2019 at 11:13

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Be glad your commute  doesn’t include Storrow Drive.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 11:13

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The solutions are better urban planning (planning so there are places for people to live that is also close to places of work), more public/mass transit and more accommodation for bicycles.

Textured Soy Protein > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 11/20/2019 at 11:16

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That’s definitely a concern when hiring people. Every job candidate I talk to, I always cover the potential commute with them and make sure they know what to expect and are comfortable with it.

Me personally, my first job when I moved here, the best I could do location-wise was a place in Virginia that’s only about 15 miles from my house in Maryland. When there isn’t traffic it takes like 22 minutes and is mostly highway. But during rush hour it was a minimum hour drive home or more.

Now I work in the same part of Maryland as where I live, but my office is 5 miles farther out from the city than my house, so I’m opposite traffic. But it’s not highway at all so takes 17 minutes, maybe a few more in the evening from a little bit of traffic but nothing major. But as commutes go that’s totally fine, especially around here.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 11:20

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Whoever thought “adding more lanes solves the problem” everywhere needs to be dug up out of their grave, brought back to life, and then tortured to death over and over again. Seeing as we have freeways in LA that are 6+ lanes in each direction and both directions are fucked at rush hour, clearly more lanes doesnt solve the problem. It would have been of more value 50 years ago to build transit lines everywhere that said extra lanes were added. Now its too late to simply remove the lanes and replace them with transit so we are screwed forever until self driving cars can fix the problem.

At least in most places in the Northeast traffic is generally into “ the city” in the morning and away in the evening. And it actually goes away outside of those hours. LA is designed entirely wrong and there is no clear place where people live and where people work. The scariest part everywhere though is that its just going to continue to get worse in the coming decades and there really arent any plans in place to fix the underlying issues.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Textured Soy Protein 11/20/2019 at 11:20

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That’s great that you have it so easy!

I have a friend that’s likely moving from Midland, TX, to Houston soon. He and his wife are preparing to pay a ridiculous sum for a house in order to make their commute livable.

Do you allow employees to come in really early and leave early to avoid the worst of traffic?

Tekamul > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 11:21

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F ortunately it’s a semi-regular appointment, not a commute. I absolutely could not do that as a commute.

ThePlasticOne - no diggities expressed nor implied. > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 11:26

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I live in the city (JP). It takes me just as long to drive to my job a mile and a half away (Roxbury) as it does to take the T (local transit). I walk it sometimes. But lucky me, my second job is outside the city so I’m always going against traffic, though it takes me a while to fight my way out from the geographic center. I’ve recently learned the easiest and fastest way out is the least intuitive way - drive towards Fenway Park and nab Storrow.

functionoverfashion > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 11:29

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I’d love to read more of that - the Globe has a serious paywall, and I must be over the limit of free articles. They don’t let you use Incognito either.

I’ve noticed a lot more cars on the road at the times I usually come in and out of the city, which is always designed around avoiding busy times. Last Saturday we came down for the day, and leaving at 4pm on a Saturday it felt like 93 North was one sneeze away from a miles-long backup - which there was, at the 95 interchange. I can’t remember the last time I drove by the 93/95 interchange and didn’t see a massive backup there.

I love how accessible the city is to us - it’s 1:45 on a good day from our house way up in NH - making that into 2:30 would be frustrating not just for the time, but for the fact that it’s caused by traffic, not travel distance. And I know it can take 3 hours on a bad day, as friends and family have found out. One friend was coming up for NYE a few years ago and nearly turned back when they were still in MA after 2 hours. 

functionoverfashion > Tekamul 11/20/2019 at 11:34

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When I was dating my (now) wife, she lived in Brighton. I came down to visit her a lot on random weeknights, in the winter, and I’d get up at 5:30 to be at work in NH by 8:00. I could have taken a few different routes from her apartment, but I took 90 into the city so I could go underground and pick up 93 in the tunnel, thus emerging from the city up and over that bridge. I was always in a good mood winding out my car in 3rd and 4th going up that hill, over the bridge into the rising sunlight, usually blasting Rage Against The Machine, or something like that. 

Textured Soy Protein > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 11/20/2019 at 11:57

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My personal opinion on schedule/telework flexibility, and my company’s policies, are two different things. I don’t get the privilege of setting that policy.

Technically our business hours are 8-5 but not many people show up right at 8. There are some who come in way early because they’re some kind of savages, or want/need to get out earlier in the afternoon . I come in more like 8:30-8:45. Some folks have various telework arrangements due to things like childcare where they might have 1 or more days working from home, and there’s one person with a special needs kid who is home more often than not .

So there’s a little flexibility and accommodation available, but not by default. T his is a very old-school company in many ways, which is good and bad. But the good part is I have kickass health insurance.

Just Jeepin' > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 11:59

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When I lived in Somerville I didn’t use my car at all for a year, but it helped I lived 5 minutes from a red line stop and my job was at the very next stop.

Has public transit gotten worse in the last 20 years? Admittedly my  location was a pleasant fluke, but I remember the system being just about as widespread and comprehensive as I could imagine it being.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > functionoverfashion 11/20/2019 at 11:59

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I’m on Cape Cod, and I have family in Nashua. When I visit i t’s gotten to the point where it’s quicker to just take 495 all the way around the city than it is to cut through it on 93.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > ThePlasticOne - no diggities expressed nor implied. 11/20/2019 at 12:00

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The traffic on Storrow isn't usually too bad but goddamn is that road terrifying to drive on.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Textured Soy Protein 11/20/2019 at 12:02

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Sounds like they’re willing to work with folks, which is good.

I worked 6:30-4:30 (and a half-day Friday) for a while, when we were trying to figure out how not to have our first kid be the first one dropped off and last one picked up from daycare. I’m not built for that, but would gladly get to work crazy early if it meant avoiding brutal stop & go traffic.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Just Jeepin' 11/20/2019 at 12:06

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Th e system and is just as widespread and comprehensive as you remember it being, it just hasn't been updated or maintained in the time since.

functionoverfashion > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 12:11

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I don’t doubt that at all. 

Nick Has an Exocet > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 12:13

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In 09-10, I commuted from Charlton, ma to Central square in Cambridge. 55 miles and 2 hours each way. In the time since, the only thing that has changed is the switch to digital tolls on the Pike.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Nick Has an Exocet 11/20/2019 at 12:25

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Back in the 90's my dad did contract work with a software company in Boston. Three times a week he would have to commute in from our house half an hour west of Worcester. He was already gone when I got up for school and would get home just as we were getting ready for bed.

To this day I have no clue  how he managed it. The money must have been good.

Nick Has an Exocet > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 12:58

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Brutal. I used to leave at 6am, arrive at 8am, leave the office at 6pn, and get home at 8pm. I gained a ton of weight spending 4 hours in the car. I was doing it for a $12/hr contract (didn’t include gas/car/etc) working on some Rock Band games.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Nick Has an Exocet 11/20/2019 at 13:15

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My dad was doing graphic design work for IBM/Lotus.

ThePlasticOne - no diggities expressed nor implied. > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/20/2019 at 14:13

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Sucka, please, I have to use the Riverway on a regular basis .

BaconSandwich is tasty. > nermal 11/20/2019 at 14:19

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As a Canadian, heck no.

Unless you want to send them to Quebec.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Just Jeepin' 11/22/2019 at 21:34

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biggest problem is due to the narrow tunnels, they are limits to shutting down lines that many other subway systems. they keep discussing running lines later on weekends, but that is nearly impossible due to the need of shutting down lines, to work on them.  

Additional strain is that the population just keeps growing putting greater strain on the existing system. and the green line is expanding into somerville. They’ve been talking about an outside subway loop for nearly 15 years, to take some of the strain off the central hub. 

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > functionoverfashion 11/22/2019 at 21:43

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Every couple months I used to have to take an 8:50 out of logan. I would have to leave my place by 5 am for a 50min  drive . I once left at 5:30 , and if it wasn’t for all the people in line at security letting me skip, I’d never made it  . I’m amazed the let me on with how late I was checking in.   

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 11/22/2019 at 21:55

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they should have built wider, or a second tunnel, so one line could be shut down for maintenence and not shut down the system. 

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/22/2019 at 22:34

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Perfect time to drop another million self-driving cars into the market to fetch my Dunkin’ and take the kids to music lessons and soccer practice....

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 11/22/2019 at 22:36

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Oh, that will all be fixed when The Big Dig is completed

....

Oh. Wait a minute. They DID finish that, didn’t they?