My colleague Ariel Hart had a great piece in Thursday’s edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution breaking down traffic data from the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority’s annual report on metro Atlanta’s transportation system. The one piece of information that I found most interesting involved afternoon rush hours and morning rush hours.
The data by GRTA showed that in 2009 during p.m. drive (5-6 p.m.) traffic was slightly heavier than during a.m. drive (7:30-8:30 a.m.). The same pattern has held true since the project began in 2002.
We in the traffic-reporting business can confirm this from our day-to-day reporting of the traffic grind. The question is — why?
Jim Basile, traffic reporter for Channel 11, thinks it’s because people would rather be at home than at work.
“I think some people have the mind-set that ‘if I’m late to work, I can just tell the boss that traffic was bad.’ Where in the afternoon you have to maybe get home and pick up the kids or something to do, you put more emphasis on your personal responsibilities,” Basile said. “People would rather be late to work than late to pick up their kids or other parental responsibilities.”
Talking to commuters confirms Basile’s theory. When I ask most people if they would rather have a smoother drive to work in the morning or back home in the evening, a huge majority preferred a lighter evening commute.
Al Tejada commutes from Canton to Midtown and he confirms that traffic is heavier in the afternoons.
“I do agree. It’s definitely slower. It takes me an hour to get to work in the morning, but an hour and a half to get home at night.”
Tejada offers this explanation for the difference.
“I think that a lot of people try to get to work early to beat the traffic into work. But most people, even the ones that come in early, tend to leave work at 5 o’clock. It’s a lot of people getting on the roads at one time.”
While I agree with Basile and Tejada, I personally think the increase in volume during the p.m. drive also can be attributed to vehicles that aren’t commuting, but rather out-of-towners.
Some good news from GRTA. Traffic in 2009 is the lightest it’s been since the project began in 2002.
The worst rides in town, according to the GRTA project:
1. I-75 /85 southbound from Brookwood to I-20 during the p.m. drive.
2. I-285 eastbound from Ga. 400 to I-85 during the p.m. drive.
3. I-285 southbound from I-85 to U.S. 78 during the p.m. drive.
4. I-75 /85 northbound from Langford Parkway to I-20 during the a.m. drive.
5. I-285 westbound from Ga. 400 to I-75 during the p.m. drive.
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Mark Arum’s column appears Mondays. Listen to his traffic reports daily on AM 750 and now 95.5FM News/Talk WSB, and see him each morning on Channel 2 Action News. Connect with Mark by e-mail at mark.arum@coxradio.com; Twitter @markarum; or Facebook: markarumWSB.
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