Summer commuting woes, tips

One of my most favorite advancements in technology is those new signs that tell you average travel time to a destination. They even put one up on the Throgs Neck Bridge that tells you the time you will be sitting on the CBX if you go to the GWB. Brilliant.

But they also let you know when you are screwed. This morning, my commute on on the Northern State took me past the sign that tells you approximate travel times for the LIE (495) and the Northern state to the CIP. You know its bad news when instead of a minute value, it's just "dashes" indicating nothing but trouble.

 

So two hours into my ride this morning the realization hit me: It's officially summer. Why  are still so many cars on the road right now? Typically this time of year the traffic volume is significantly reduced, especially in the morning.  I don't know when releief will come, but I am looking forward to it.

Here are also some general tips for metro commutes this month:

• Whitestone Queens bound: Always stick to the left.   After the toll, the lanes split and the right goes into a slow crawling two lanes while the left is a single fast moving lane


• Throgs Neck: Weekend work on the bridge should make you think twice about the Clearview vs. the CIP


• Deegan Northbound : construction continues on GWB ramp, making this almost never a good option

Whats going on:  A lot of good stuff in the hopper. I'm working on an articles of how to spot the new NYPD unmarked Taurus Interceptors, translating FM traffic data, and also installing a hard-mount radar detector.

Sine the most popular article3s by far on this site are the how-to posts on preparing your car for a hurricane and TPMS, expect to see more like that.