Topic: OT: a rant about traffic

[Francois]

Not my usual to complain about stuff. But here I go.

While looking at my pictures from the past, I noticed that I used to travel much greater distances than I do now. These days, just getting out of town feels like a chore and I just hate it. And looking at the weekend threads, it often makes me feel like someone who just talks about taking pictures without actually doing so.

Then I read something about traffic and congestion in the paper that got me thinking a lot. It's something so big that it was all over in the news. I know traffic is probably the most boring subject on earth, but as a former town planner I find it quite fascinating.

The GPS manufacturer Tom Tom has just released a report called the Tom Tom Congestion Index .
Very interesting since they calculate traffic flow for every major city in both Europe and North America.

While Los Angeles gets the gold medal for the most congested city, Montreal still ranks only 4th... pretty high (even higher than New York). But the most interesting part is not the congestion level, but the amount of time wasted per hour of driving to get anywhere. In the region, for every hour you spend on the road, a whopping 40minutes is wasted. Higher than in L.A.

Just to give you an idea about how bad it is, the speed limit is 100km/h on our highways. With the delay caused by traffic, you end up driving at an average 33km/h... almost the same speed as in a school zone. Just try and get anywhere at that speed!
So, I end up taking more time just getting out of the region than anything else... this really p***** me off... It's like being trapped in suburbia and not being able to get out of it... It's mind numbing when you think about it.

OK, rant over...
Hope it wasn't too harsh...

For those who like infographics, take a look at the document. It's well done.

[terryj42]

I totally feel your pain.  I'm "trapped" in Dallas, Texas where it is easily a one hour drive to find a pleasant, quiet, and semi-photogenic countryside.  Urbanscapes get old after a while, but you do what you must to waste film.   

[LT]

And looking at the weekend threads, it often makes me feel like someone who just talks about taking pictures without actually doing so.

That is my life in a nutshell right now Francois. Although for very different reasons. It's mushroom season here again and I havent even been to the woods to see what is fruiting  ... hope to be back in the saddle soon though.

[Andrea.]

I know how you feel.
Came back from seeing a 'client' last night and passed a car! And had to drive through a flock of sheeps who hadn't obviously read the road safety code!

[Paul Mitchell]

This is the reason why I get up at silly o'clock to get to photogenic locations, such a pleasure to drive round the M25 at 4am and arrive at a popular coastal spot without any people, the light's beautiful at that time too!

I just get a bee in my bonnet about the speed some people drive around urban areas, we had a local police check a few weeks ago and someone was clocked doing 62mph past an Infants school!... adding insult to injury he was on his mobile too!

Andrea, that made me smile! We once drove from Stornaway to the Butt of Lewis (26 miles) on a Sunday morning and didn't see one car! Mind you we did see a lot of parked cars outside the chapels!

Paul

[gothamtomato]

I know what you mean. I live in NYC, and it has become unbearable congested. It used to be fun to make photographs in Central Park, because tourists were afraid to go in there - but now they're not and it's mobbed all the time.

[Alan]

i live in the countryside here in Galway [west coast of ireland] so i dont have
trouble with traffic. if i want to go to the city its a 30 minute drive.

i am currently shooting autum scenes from around the area, come to think of
it nearly all my photography is done within a 20 mile radius of my home.

when i view other peoples work, particularly Phil's and sean's from crete and the us
i really envy your locations!

its a good point Paul makes being up early and on location for that magical light.
yesterday was out of the bed and out the door at 7am to go to a location.
i was waiting for the right time to visit this place but it didnt happen,
so i just drove around a bit longer got a few nice pics and was home in time
for a late breakfast with herself @ 10.30 . . . am 

[Phil Bebbington]

I live in a small city 90,000 so congestion is rarely an issue. Add to that I work part time and you'd think I would be out there all the time. 

Truth is, I shoot so little when at home. I have small projects that keep me sane, but, for the large part I sit and think about photography and look at other's work. I need to change this, but, I've been saying that for years. Thank god I spend all of my holidays shooting or I'd have nothing to share!

[Francois]

I'm happy to see I'm not the only one stuck in traffic hell!
And happier to see I'm not the only one who's photography gets affected by it!

[John Robison]

Guess it's bad all over. I live in south Puget Sound, Washington state and would rather have a tooth pulled than try to go anywhere on I-5. It seems to be a large parking lot much of the time. I've been here for 34 years and the whole time the DOT is working on it. Sometimes we have to go north to get up to Canada to visit the wife's folks on Hornby Island and I have to start at 5 AM to get to Ferndale, 10 miles from the border before taking a coffee break. Then I can still catch the 10:15 AM Tawassen ferry to duke point just south of Nanaimo on Vancouver Is. The whole trip, about 300 miles of driving and 2.5 hours on the ferry's is still 10 hours total.

[sapata]

When it comes to traffic... well, I'm living in São Paulo now. This is a city of just about 11 million people and according to the late statistics there are about 7 million cars on the street. This is due to a useless government that never spend enough money on public transport. So if I have to cross the city in the peak time, I have to spare a couple of hours just to be on the safe side... and I think this is just madness

[Francois]

And just imagine, Montreal's about 1 million population and we still get traffic jams that last almost all day...
We have five bridges that go into town. One has rotten pillars. One stays up by some miracle. The other, the safe one, was originally designed for horse and buggy (and inaugurated under Queen Victoria)... but it's one way in and one way out... unless when it's closed because there's a train or a boat coming... One has been re-paved all summer long. And the last one is a crumbling underwater tunnel...

To get out of town, the Trans-Canada highway is under extensive repair both to the east and the west. And most provincial roads are being worked on. City streets are just as bad. Last week, it took me about one hour to drive about 3 km...

[sapata]

Francois, I'm in favour for the next collaboration to be called "traffic" 

[charles binns]

Francois, I'm in favour for the next collaboration to be called "traffic" 

That's not a bad idea!  Anyway if you want to see traffic, head to Mexico City!!

[Late Developer]

Lara and my daily commute 55 miles each way, Monday to Friday, starts with the alarm ringing in our ears at 04:30 to 05:00. Cats fed, us showered, me shaved, shirts ironed and we're off to the station. We arrive in our respective offices at 08:00. That assumes the trains run on time and no snarl-ups. Yeah, right......!! We get home around 19:00 if we're lucky. Each of us pays £4,000 each year just for the privilege of catching the old, smelly and cramped train and rail costs are going up by an average of 8% per year (base inflation + 3%)

Weekends are for recuperation and, as much as I love being up at silly o'clock to feed my love of photographing a sunrise somewhere in the countryside, I also welcome a lie-in until 08:00 or 09:00 if there's one on offer.

The frustration is doubled by merit of the fact that despite the odd pocket of mediocrity, Essex (the county in which we live) is a vacuum aesthetically. Flat, mostly industrial, no spectacular coastline to talk of and, aside a few interesting rivers, there is VERY little of interest to me. So, the only option is to head to anywhere that is achievable in a 2-3 hour drive prior to sunrise. Ironically, this is more achievable in winter - but it is also bloody cold.

Our roads are some of the most congested in Europe and, due to the austerity measures we're suffering, the roads are not in great condition and fuel costs around £1.40 per litre.

[SLVR]

Its funny they JUST brought up all the time wasted while in traffic in Toronto just last week. People are now complaining about traffic. They say "what would you do with an extra 33 minutes a day". Personally i have a short drive to work so traffic doesn't bother me. However it sucks hard when going to the city to shoot some cityscapes. I dont drive downtown. I usually take the TTC for that reason when im in the city.

Sapata im down for that traffic idea!

[astrobeck]

I too feel your pain!
I used to live in Houston, Texas and the traffic there is insane.  When I worked there, my commute was a mere 26 miles, but it took me 1 hour and 15 minutes one way to make it to work.  It REALLY was a drag.
I actually started league bowling after work with a friend just so I wouldn't be on the freeway during rush hour a couple days a week.

I'm going back to Houston to visit family and friends over the long holidays this winter and I'm already having anxiety issues thinking of the gridlock on the freeways around Christmastime.  My stomach will be in knots.

The joy of living in the southwest like I do now is priceless.  There is no traffic to speak of in Albuquerque, and I can drive across town in about 10 minutes! 

[Sandeha Lynch]

Francois, I'm in favour for the next collaboration to be called "traffic" 

This, I like.  Nobody mentioned parking, another bane compared with 20 years ago now that the volume of vehicles has doubled.  If it weren't for holidays and the occasional portrait, when would I shoot? 

Lots of sheep, of course. 

[Jack Johnson]

Surprisingly, even congestion problems in the subarctic. Very few alternate routes on my daily commute and the snow is about to fly. Bad weather (for here) or a collision with a moose during rush hour can turn my hour each way to three.

But the more I read this thread, the more I see a collaboration topic.