11/20/2023 0 Comments Bay bridge traffic by hour![]() Surging freeway congestion is especially confounding considering not only remote work but also historically high gas prices and recently increased bridge tolls, factors that might be expected to discourage driving. ![]() There is one caveat to the study’s conclusion: Congestion on city streets remains low, while freeways have filled up. The region ranks 15th worldwide for traffic congestion, with drivers spending an average of 97 hours in traffic last year. INRIX, a traffic analytics firm, found that Bay Area congestion fully returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2022. Regional data bears out the return to traffic agony. But afternoon commutes are still lighter for many - Bay Bridge speeds are averaging 34% faster leaving San Francisco. ![]() Drivers are packing the bridge during rush hour, and morning travel speeds are slower by 32% compared to four years ago, according to congestion data tracking speeds from Treasure Island to the Fremont Street exit in San Francisco. While overall bridge traffic is still down about 10% compared to 2019, morning commutes from Oakland to San Francisco are often worse than before the pandemic. Perhaps nowhere is this more visible than the Bay Bridge. But we’re at capacity.” Commuters head across the Bay Bridge towards San Francisco during the morning commute in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, March 30, 2023. It might not be the exact same times, in the same circumstances. “It’s a paradox, right?” said Alexandre Bayen, an engineering professor at UC Berkeley who studies traffic patterns. Ultimately, the long-term fix for resurgent congestion may be the least popular idea yet: Make it even more costly to commute by car. Radio stations ping with morning traffic-jam updates: The MacArthur Maze is a mess, I-880 a slog, and 101 a zoo - even though remote work ushered in a colossal shift in travel patterns, and taxpayers have spent billions of dollars to provide buses, trains and other alternatives to driving. BART’s ridership is down 60% after many passengers fled the system three years ago and never came back. ![]() Downtown offices that once buzzed with techies and lawyers are deserted. There’s a new mystery that thousands of Bay Area commuters are trying to solve. ![]()
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