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Home | Commuting
Traffic.com's Jam Factor
 Traffic.com has a feature called Jam Factor that gives you a 0-10 score for traffic conditions for a particular area. The system also lists matters of concern, such as construction, that is slowing traffic.
Traffic.com's Jam Factor combines real-time speed and travel time measurements calculated from digital traffic sensors combined with information from state-of-the-art operations centers to provide a user-friendly, yet comprehensive, measure of the traffic intensity on a roadway. This color-coded, numerical system clearly and consistently identifies traffic conditions and delays on a scale from 0-10 with 10 representing the worst traffic conditions along the driver's route.
For an example, you can click here to see a map and Jam Factor report for the I-78 NJ Tpk Newark Bay Ext./Holland Tunnel - Outbound. You can find traffic near you by typing in your zip code in the box on the traffic.com homepage.
Posted on September 20, 2006
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The Deadliest Days and Times to Drive
Which days are the deadliest days to drive? Fortunately, we just passed the two worst days July 3rd and July 4th. The next dangerous day coming up is August 3rd. The data was provided in an AOL article that used charts from a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study called "Traffic Safety Facts 2004."
Deadliest Days to Drive
- July 4
- July 3
- December 23
- August 3
- January 1
- August 6
- August 4
- August 12
- July 2
- September 2
Deadliest Days of the Week to Drive
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Friday
- Thursday
- Monday
- Wednesday
- Tuesday
Deadliest Time of the Day to Drive
- 3:00 - 6:00 pm
- 6:00 - 9:00 pm
- 9:00 - Midnight
- Noon - 3:00 pm
- Midnight - 3:00 am
It sounds like drivers should be careful on those evening commutes and on weekends when there are more drunk drivers on the road. But road safety is important at all times no matter what the trends say. More information about accident data can be found on the NCSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) website which can be found here.
Posted on July 6, 2006
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Thanksgiving Day Traffic Higher Than Last Year
Traffic is likely to be heavier this holiday season than last year despite the climb in gas prices. The Boston Globe is reporting on several incidents, including a commuter train that crashed into cars in Chicago, that are snarling traffic. The Midwest also received a few inches of snow which is slowing traffic.
AAA said more than 37 million people would travel by car at least 50 miles from home during the long holiday weekend. The association, citing a telephone survey, said the number of Thanksgiving travelers would be up 0.8 percent from last year.
''I'm glad gas is not $3 anymore," Kate Kehoe said as she filled her tank in Ann Arbor, Mich., for a trip of about 55 miles to Flint.
The Chicago Tribune said the snow caused some traffic headaches.
On Wednesday afternoon, while northern Indiana braced for a storm that triggered a National Weather Service warning in effect until 11 a.m. Friday, swarms of drivers headed out of Chicago. The holiday travelers clogged expressways, with long delays particularly a problem on Interstate Highway 80, officials said.
Westbound I-80 began experiencing heavy traffic shortly after noon Wednesday, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. By 4 p.m., the interstate was backed up in both directions.
Hopefully the post-Thanksgiving traffic will go a lot smoother.
Posted on November 23, 2005
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High Gas Prices Make Carpooling More Popular
Carpooling never went away but it is getting a boost because of the high price of gas. Gas prices have reached a national average of $2.61 according to today's Fuel Guage Report. So carpooling is no longer just a convenience it also saves drivers money. NewsChannel 11 reports that carpooling is a popular trend in Lubbock, Texas.
Gas prices jumped ten cents over the weekend, meaning at most places in Lubbock you'll pay $2.44 to $2.49 for a gallon of regular unleaded-- that's the highest they've ever been. Regardless, thousands filled up before dropping their kids off for the first day of school. NewsChannel 11 found the latest trend among parents is carpooling.
With hundreds of students heading back to school, the latest trend has nothing to do with clothes or shoes, it's carpooling.
If the gas prices get high enough you are likely to see adults carpooling for work and other activities as well.
Posted on August 22, 2005
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Survey: 15% of Americans Eat Lunch in the Car
A new national survey has found that 15% of Americans eat lunch in their cars. This was more than the percentage of people that eat lunch in restaurants -- which was 14%. The study also found 35% of poll respondents indicated that needing to eat lunch while doing something else, like driving or working, is a challenge to eating a healthy meal. If you have seen the lines at the fast food drive-thrus and you have noticed the people around you eating in their cars (sometimes while driving) then this survey is probably not a big surprise to you.
Posted on July 19, 2005
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Commutes Get Worse
For millions of American commuters the trip to and from work is getting longer and longer. MSNBC.com has an article about a new national report on the nation's growing gridlock problem:
Congestion delayed travelers 79 million more hours and wasted 69 million more gallons of fuel in 2003 than in 2002, the Texas Transportation Institute’s 2005 Urban Mobility Report said.
Overall in 2003, there were 3.7 billion hours of travel delay and 2.3 billion gallons of wasted fuel for a total cost of more than $63 billion.
Los Angeles, San Francisco, D.C., Atlanta, Houston and Dallas were rated the worst cities for commuting -- but 51 cities have major traffic problems. MSNBC said that, "Honolulu became the 51st city in which rush-hour traffic delayed the average motorist at least 20 hours a year."
Posted on May 10, 2005
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Commuter Consuption is a Big Business
The Washington Post has an interesting article that discusses all the
consumption that takes places on the way to and from work. Americans
consume tons of food, music, audio books, cell phone time, drinks and more
on their long commutes.
Americans make 51.3 billion trips to and from work in their own vehicles every
year, accompanied by fleets of helicopters scrutinizing the traffic, scores of
meteorologists watching the weather and the cheerful sounds of drive-time radio, offering the latest news and entertainment. The daily ride has given rise to audio books, the travel mug and a 7-Eleven Inc. trademark, Dashboard Dining. The national motto has become grab and go, and legions of businesses work feverishly to fill a near-sacred space: the cup holder.
To a commuter the cup holder is a sacred place and more restaurant chains and
convenience stores are trying new items that can be placed in it. The Post says McDonald's is selling a salad inside of a cup, Campbell's offers cup-sized soups and 7-Eleven sells fruit in cups. But it is really coffee that drives profits from commuters. The car being filled with gas generates small profits, but the Post says it is really the drivers desire for caffeine that generates big profits for gas stations with convenience stores.
Even though the nation's 138,000 convenience stores sell three-quarters of the
gas in the country, says Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the convenience store association, a car is much more than its tank. It's the thirsty and caffeine-fueled driver the stores desire so intensely. "A lot of convenience stores think of coffee as the new black gold as opposed to gas," he says. "You only make a penny or two profit on gas, if you're lucky. You can make more off a 12-ounce cup of coffee than a 12-gallon fill-up."
Posted on April 27, 2005
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New Way to Tax Drivers
If you live in California you may dislike the current 18 cent a gallon gas tax. But would you still dislike it if the California government opted to tax you for each mile you drive instead? The revenues from gas taxes in California could fall if people continue to purchase hybrids and better mileage vehicles, so the government is looking into options to
collect more revenues. KESQ News Channel 3 reports that, "Under the plan, the state's current 18 cent a gallon gas tax would be replaced with a tax on every mile you drive. Global positioning satellites and sensors on your car would keep tabs on exactly where and how far you travel. Privacy advocates say tracking drivers would be like big brother sitting in the back seat of your car, keeping tabs on everywhere you go. Others say
it's a disincentive for people to buy hybrids and other more fuel efficient vehicles because any current tax savings would be eliminated." People who drive all day because of their work and people with long commutes (common in California) could also be negatively impacted by a change from a gallon gas tax to a mileage tax.
Posted on March 7, 2005
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Ray Bradbury Talks Transportation's Future
According to Ray Bradbury, one of the world's leading science fiction writers and author of such classics as The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, traffic on our nation's major highways will freeze with gridlock, and only then will people decide to change their driving habits.
"We're going to be forced into new solutions just as we were forced into space," said Bradbury in a Green Car Journal interview. Bradbury reminds us that unusual circumstances made for an acceptance of space travel, with America's race for space driven not by the general population's desire to go to the moon, but rather by a reaction to political events during the Cold War. Similarly, Bradbury expects that a complete rethinking of our transportation system will be driven by reaction to events over the next five to seven years, not by a desire for change. In the interview, Bradbury says that, simply, "we're going to be forced to look at the automobile and freeways because they're not working."
Bradbury isn't alone in pointing out the need for change. In Green Car Journal's Winter 2004/2005 issue, Amory Lovins, noted physicist and CEO of Rocky Mountain Institute, discusses how the application of advanced automotive technologies can create highly efficient vehicles that help resolve America's dependence on foreign oil.
Lovins supports his perspective with a look at specific examples of advanced automotive design and manufacturing work at BMW, Honda, Porsche, and Toyota, along with an RMI Hypercar project that examines a virtually designed, production costed, and manufacturable crossover vehicle that uses these, and other, technologies. The RMI team's new Pentagon co-sponsored study, Winning the Oil Endgame, documents these advances.
"It shows how to save half of U.S. oil use at $12/barrel, and then replace the rest with biofuels and saved natural gas," said Lovins in the article. "That would eliminate U.S. oil use by 2050 -- without needing federal legislation, CAFE, or gasoline taxes, but led by business for profit."
Posted on January 17, 2005
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Gridlock Worse Than Cavity Filling
Americans may love their cars, but they hate gridlock. According to a recent Yahoo! Autos survey conducted by Harris Interactive, consumers would rather get a cavity filled at the dentist (24 percent) than sit in gridlock traffic for over an hour (12 percent). What else would people choose over backed-up traffic? Standing in line at the DMV (22 percent), sitting in the middle seat of an airplane during a transatlantic flight (19 percent), and dealing with a crowded mall during the busiest shopping day of the year (17 percent). The only unpleasant activity in the survey that ranked lower than sitting in traffic was standing up in a crowded subway for over an hour (5 percent). Even on the move, commuting brings additional annoyances. When asked about driving pet peeves, not surprisingly, the number one answer to the survey was people talking on their cell phones and not paying attention to the road (30 percent). Tailgaters (25 percent) and people who don't use their turn signals (14 percent) were next on the pet peeves list, followed by being cut off (13 percent) and someone braking too frequently in front of you (11 percent).
Posted on November 5, 2003
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