4 ms·

Afternoons are the new rush hour in the suburbs

40 points by burlesona 5y ago

hprotagonist 5y ago
My habit has been to have my usual 09:50 standup and then run errands at 10:01–??. World’s real quiet then, don’t tell nobody!
- Leherenn 5y ago
  I live in a city center, and I have the opposite impression. Now that I'm working from home, I sometimes go out during the day to run an errand, and every time I'm impressed by how busy it is.
FourthProtocol 5y ago
Same is true where I live (just north of Frankfurt Germany). Problem solved by aquiring a Bakfiets (cargo bike). I now cycle my boy to school and back, which is just below 50km/day. Lots of cycle paths here make this easy, although no where near the quality the Netherlands have. The only wait I experience is waiting for the odd S-Bahn at a rail crossing.
- _pgu 5y ago
  I have a feeling that must be the Berkersheim crossing. :-) Outside of Frankfurt getting along by bike is great, but once inside i really have to control myself...
ericabiz 5y ago
https://archive.is/Lvm9M https://archive.is/Lvm9M
burlesona 5y ago
I thought this was interesting. I’ve noticed the same pattern in Austin, although I’ve only lived here a few months so I can’t compare to pre-pandemic. But locally the traffic has been very light in the mornings and very heavy in the afternoons.
timerol 5y ago
Where I grew up in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia, this phenomenon was well known and referred to as "soccer mom rush hour". It was a completely different set of congested streets than normal rush hour, as it was based on the types of errands that get run around the end of the school day, instead of being focused on commutes into and out of the city.
- duxup 5y ago
  Yeah this seems like less a 'new' phenomenon as much as something contributing to an existing one. I've experienced it in every suburb I've been in.
mariojv 5y ago
Texas never really fully shut down except for a few weeks at the start of the pandemic, but a lot of office workers were or are working from home. I can definitely see leisure trips contributing to some of the traffic patterns noted in this article. I think this impacts intercity travel as well. A trip from San Antonio to Austin on I-35 used to take around an hour in the early 2010s. Now, it's an hour and a half minimum, 2 hours if you're unlucky, even in the middle of a Friday afternoon back in March before vaccines were widely distributed beyond prioritized groups.
- bradknowles 5y ago
  Pro tip: don’t use I-35. There’s a reason why it is the most congested interstate in the country, and the most congested part of it is around Austin.
waltherg 5y ago
In the south of Italy where I am right now there appears to be a pattern of pre-lunch and pre-dinner rush hour. You get some pretty decent cycling paths along the sea between 1 pm and 5 pm which turn into what can only be described as death-wish-routes outside that time window.
deleted 5y ago
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40 points by burlesona 5y ago

My habit has been to have my usual 09:50 standup and then run errands at 10:01–??. World’s real quiet then, don’t tell nobody!

Leherenn 5y ago
I live in a city center, and I have the opposite impression. Now that I'm working from home, I sometimes go out during the day to run an errand, and every time I'm impressed by how busy it is.

FourthProtocol 5y ago

Same is true where I live (just north of Frankfurt Germany). Problem solved by aquiring a Bakfiets (cargo bike). I now cycle my boy to school and back, which is just below 50km/day. Lots of cycle paths here make this easy, although no where near the quality the Netherlands have. The only wait I experience is waiting for the odd S-Bahn at a rail crossing.

_pgu 5y ago
I have a feeling that must be the Berkersheim crossing. :-) Outside of Frankfurt getting along by bike is great, but once inside i really have to control myself...

ericabiz 5y ago

https://archive.is/Lvm9M https://archive.is/Lvm9M

burlesona 5y ago

I thought this was interesting. I’ve noticed the same pattern in Austin, although I’ve only lived here a few months so I can’t compare to pre-pandemic. But locally the traffic has been very light in the mornings and very heavy in the afternoons.

timerol 5y ago

Where I grew up in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia, this phenomenon was well known and referred to as "soccer mom rush hour". It was a completely different set of congested streets than normal rush hour, as it was based on the types of errands that get run around the end of the school day, instead of being focused on commutes into and out of the city.

duxup 5y ago
Yeah this seems like less a 'new' phenomenon as much as something contributing to an existing one. I've experienced it in every suburb I've been in.

mariojv 5y ago

Texas never really fully shut down except for a few weeks at the start of the pandemic, but a lot of office workers were or are working from home. I can definitely see leisure trips contributing to some of the traffic patterns noted in this article. I think this impacts intercity travel as well. A trip from San Antonio to Austin on I-35 used to take around an hour in the early 2010s. Now, it's an hour and a half minimum, 2 hours if you're unlucky, even in the middle of a Friday afternoon back in March before vaccines were widely distributed beyond prioritized groups.

bradknowles 5y ago
Pro tip: don’t use I-35. There’s a reason why it is the most congested interstate in the country, and the most congested part of it is around Austin.

waltherg 5y ago

In the south of Italy where I am right now there appears to be a pattern of pre-lunch and pre-dinner rush hour. You get some pretty decent cycling paths along the sea between 1 pm and 5 pm which turn into what can only be described as death-wish-routes outside that time window.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]