Very cool and scientific post.

I knew my commute sucked, but now I know that everyone's commute in New York sucks!

Of course mine really is bad: 1.5 to 2 hours each way!!!!!! And of course there are days like last week when I'm stuck on a train from Connecticut for an extra hour. Or when the subway line is constantly stopped because of this or that. Luckily I telecommute most of the week.

Aren't we glad they're raising the fares at the MTA? Good timing with this post!

Awesome post! I've spent hours of my day on the road, alone in my car, and if I spent those hours spent on a train or bike instead I guarantee I would've felt refreshed (and maybe even accomplished!) after my commute.

I completely agree with you that the focus of policy should be on congestion reduction. The effects of reduced congestion are openly apparent on the roads in LA during government or Jewish holidays -- just a few people off the road those days makes a HUGE difference in commute time and ease.

@Rob Pitingolo - I don't think this is problem that stems from the transportation system itself. The problem stems from a number of "social" behavior requirements and cultural practices.

One is, employers who want people to always be in a traditional "on call" work environment; at their desk and present for roll call. Telecommuting is an underused tactic that many "dinosaur" companies will never embrace. Sure, a Best Buy retail clerk needs to be in the store the whole week, but does a marketing coordinator need to be in the office all week? What if there were some sort of incentive (tax break, write off etc) for businesses that offered 25%-50% of their workforce a telecommuting option (even if it’s just giving some people a couple of telecommuting days at home a week)? I'll bet we would see a slow gradual reduction in congestion over time.

Also we forget that K-12 school causes traffic. I am on the west coast and during the summers my driving commute is reduce by 30 minutes! The problem of commuting is rooted in the way people are force to use the hours between 7:00AM-6:00PM. I don't know what would keep parents dropping kids off in the morning to school, but I know with certainty that K-12 drop offs are causing commuting traffic in the west.

What about accidents that people stop to look at? We have all seen traffic for no reason, due to people just stopping and looking. What if emergency service personnel used tarps to cover accident scenes when possible? This has worked in some European countries. Also, what about people who stop in the middle of the freeway to exchange insurance info? There should be a fine of some kind for "interfering with commerce" when people do not pull over into the shoulder of the freeway (especially for fender benders when no one is hurt and the cars still function).

There are many other things, but these three are the most significant causes for traffic and none of them is really caused by the capacity of the freeway or efficiency of the roads. These are issues caused by incompatible cultural practices.

@Rob Pitingolo - I guess I forgot to mention that I am in the civil/transportation engineering industry. You are right about my commute running through an above average number of school zones, but that does not make the 30 minute difference "hard to believe". I am willing to concede that this situation may not be "very common", but it still occurs often enough to be a significant issue worthy of recognition. It is in fact, an issue that is being addressed by my firm which has some work with the 405 freeway expansion in southern California. Professional transportation engineers and planners have accounted for such a possibility with K-12 generated congestion, perhaps you have overlooked something in your analysis. It may not occur "everywhere", but the issue is still real and can be accounted for.

Did your evidence include an analysis of the "public policy issues" that supported the "marginal-at-best decrease in rubbernecking" results? The tarp alone does not solve the problem; there are supporting policies which can include penalties and public education. I think you cherry picked the examples of failures over the success stories that included more than just the tarp to solve the "rubbernecking" problem.

Where would I find such evidence for the marginal decreases? Many of these professional reports are owned by the firms that produced them in the first place (Europe and the US). I doubt you would have access to them. Also not all government agencies save such reports in archives, nor will they allow access (even for academic purposes). You must be pretty good with the freedom of information act.

"it would also increase the incentive to hit-and-run when one does occur"

Where would I find such evidence? Please site an academic source or white paper. Again, I think private sector companies would have the best info on such an outcome (i.e. insurance companies).

Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing incorrect about your findings based on the data that IS available to you. However having been on the academic and professional side of this industry I can tell you with near certainty that you are dismissing specific points which you need to investigate more thoroughly.

@boohoo: ditto on transit time decreasing during the summer. I actually couldnt believe the change when summer rolled around. NYC has the largest public school system in the country and provides free metrocards for the majority of them. Trust me, it makes a difference.

You can even see the difference during the day. Take the train during rush hour then take it again at 11pm at night. Less trains running but the ones that are are moving much faster.

Congestion is also an issue as well. The N train, which supposed to be express CRAWLS from station to station taking 15 minutes to get from Atlantic to Canal--ONE STOP! The reason: "We are delayed because of train traffic ahead of us, please be patient"

I would rest or read but the trains are so crowded it's damn near impossible.

@boohoo, this is very non-rigorous analysis that I threw together on a Sunday afternoon - it does not incorporate any GIS. I have little interest in nit-picking about the effectiveness of policies like tarps and insurance exchanges; nor do I doubt that there is research that suggests changing those policies would improve the flow of a fixed volume of traffic through a given roadway. We seem to be in agreement on the point that regardless of the specifics, few cars on the road (regardless of how it's accomplished) is synonymous with less congestion.

@everyone, thank you for sharing individual anecdotes. I certainly understand that each individual has a rational justification for living/working/traveling the way they do.