People drive at different times of the day for a myriad of different reasons, but the large majority of people who travel weekdays between 6:00 and 9:00 AM are commuters, thus the term, “rush hour traffic”.
So, why is it that darkness and/or bad weather have such a big effect on the number of cars on the road? I’m not talking about major storms, I’m talking about moderate rain, an inch of snow, etc. Can and do people simply call off work because they don’t like what they see outside their windows when they get up in the morning? Can they afford to, and does their job allow it?
I arrived at my car this morning at 5:35 and found an inch of snow on it, and it was also snowing moderately outside. Traffic on the way to work was 50% of its normal volume. This happens with regularity, so this morning wasn’t some kind of isolated phenomenon.
Another, “things that make you go hmm”, issue for me is traffic snarls that have no apparent cause such as a breakdown, accident, major merge, etc. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve crawled through them only to find that they magically disappear without any apparent reason such as a wider road, a major exit, etc.
I don’t know how big a factor it is, but I suspect that, nowadays, at least a few of them have the option of working from home if the weather is bad.
Another WAG is that bad weather can affect the timing of people’s commute: some allow extra time to get to work, and some who have flexible start times go in later than usual.
Interestingly when it rains hard enough where I live, the traffic is considerably worse, as all the commuters who might otherwise walk, bike, bus or scooter instead jump in their cars. I live in a city though, so walking or taking public transport to work is an option.
On the flip side, if it snows here, which is a rare occurrance, the place grinds to a complete stop and no one leaves the house.
That was me this morning, I have the option of going into the office or working from home 90% of the time. So today I chose work from home because I didn’t feel like taking a shower, getting dressed and fighting traffic both ways. I like having the option.
I agree weather may make people telecommute, or spread out the rush hour, depending on how excited the weather-critter is about warning people to “give extra time” to their commute.
As for snarls with no apparent cause, I think it just has to do with timing - all it takes is one doofus driving slower than the flow on a busy road and you’ll have a few people who approach that driver from behind brake. The people behind them see red brake lights and brake themselves, onward back up the freeway, until all lanes are slowing and braking for no reason, other than the car in front of them is doing the same.
Some people simply can’t do their job in bad weather. Painters, road workers, linemen, etc. So why go to work? Not to mention people who would normally be traveling to participate in some outdoor recreation.
I think it’s well understood that when traffic is sufficiently heavy, a small & temporary perturbation in the flow can trigger a sort of “wave” phenomenon that may then persist for a long time.
And I think almost everyone has seen cases in which the perturbation is a problem in the opposite lanes. When north-bound drivers see a fender-bender in the south-bound lanes they’re apt to slow down for a look, and thus snarl north-bound traffic to a surprising extent.
Engineers have devoted considerable study to expressway traffic, and they’ve concluded that there’s a compelling psychological principle that causes the traffic to stop–namely, the fear of flaming death.
Some people can - I almost always could , although I wouldn’t for ordinary rain or an inch or two of snow. People may leave later depending on exactly what the weather is - if I wake up to a few inches of snow , someone has to shovel before we can leave for work. People may change their commute - if snow was deep enough that it would have been difficult for my husband to drive his car, he would drive my SUV and either drop me off at work or I would take public transit to work. Either way, it’s one car on the road rather than two.
There are “ghost traffic jams” that are usually caused by people following too closely in dense traffic You’re cruising along at 60 mph along with everyone else, and the guy in front of you slows down to 55 mph for some reason. Maybe he was adjusting the radio, or he got a phone call, or he saw something that distracted him, or caught some glare from the sun while rounding a curve but he briefly slowed down, without braking, and the distance between you and him closed.
If there’s sufficient space between cars you take your foot off the gas and reestablish what you consider a comfortable space and life goes on, but if you’re too close, and there’s a delay, you taking your foot off the gas isn’t enough, and you’ve got to step on the brake, not hard, but you end up slowing to less than 55 mph, maybe 50 mph.
There’s somebody behind you as well. If they were too close the whole process repeats, only they end up having to slow to 48 mph or so. The chain reaction propagates back, sometimes for miles or tens of miles. People end up having to come to a full stop because of it.
There’s a traffic jam moving backwards like a pig swallowed by a boa constrictor. If the traffic density is high enough and following distances are too close it’s inevitable.
Interesting. We’re in the same area, and traffic going into the city for me was worse than usual. Both my kids were late for school, even though I left at my normal time. Like 10 minutes late.
In my experience in Chicago, any rain or an inch of snow or whatnot has always made traffic worse.
In the last few years, I decided that it wasn’t worth the stress or the potential accident to go to work when the roads are icy. My commute to work is pretty much all downhill with some of the hills being very steep. There’s nothing like holding your breath as you inch down an ice/snow covered street and then TRYING to stop for a red light/stop sign and your car starts sliding and the cars in front and behind you are doing the same thing. Then when I go home, I’m navigating those same hills only going uphill. I have a Subaru, so it’s pretty good in the snow, but if I get behind someone with bald tires that can’t get up the hill, I’m doomed. So if the roads are icy in the morning, I text my boss and tell him I’m not coming in and if the weather takes a turn during the day, I leave early. Like I said, it’s not worth it. My boss has always been fine with it.
No. It means that people around here know that snow makes things slippery and make you go CRASH if you don’t pay attention to it. I’ll take that over folks who think they could just drive like normal in an inch of snow.
My traffic puzzle is, there are some four lane main roads in town (two each direction) intersected by two lane side roads (one each direction) with a traffic light. When approach one of these intersections on the side road, I get to the light and have to wait two or three minutes for my light to turn green. However, when I am on the main road and approach the same intersection, I will often see a car pull up to the light on the side road and my light will immediately turn red so that theirs can turn green. What’s up with that?
