As an Eastside resident of many years, I discovered a very simple pattern that can be used to predict westbound traffic:
Sports make traffic a mess.
Yesterday there was a Mariners home game. Yesterday you mentioned traffic hell. (Or was it two days ago? Doesn't matter; Mariners played then too.)
Today the Mariners had the day off. Today you mentioned an easy drive home.
Tomorrow there's another Mariners home game. I predict traffic will suck again; you might as well dawdle on this side until the traffic dies down. (Game starts at 7:05 pm, but traffic is likely to remain ugly later than that, I suppose because of people who wait out the baseball traffic.)
Next Monday the Mariners have a travel day, and the rest of the week they play away games. I predict traffic will be comparatively light.
Watching sports schedules doesn't reliably predict good days, since other events (major concerts, car crashes and stalls, etc.) can foul up traffic too. But it works really well for predicting bad days.
So, even if you're not a sports fan, it's a good idea to keep schedules for the big sports handy if you're stuck with a cross-lake commute. (If this is all obvious, never mind.)
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Date: Fri, Aug. 3rd, 2007 11:00 am (UTC)As an Eastside resident of many years, I discovered a very simple pattern that can be used to predict westbound traffic:
Sports make traffic a mess.
Yesterday there was a Mariners home game. Yesterday you mentioned traffic hell. (Or was it two days ago? Doesn't matter; Mariners played then too.)
Today the Mariners had the day off. Today you mentioned an easy drive home.
Tomorrow there's another Mariners home game. I predict traffic will suck again; you might as well dawdle on this side until the traffic dies down. (Game starts at 7:05 pm, but traffic is likely to remain ugly later than that, I suppose because of people who wait out the baseball traffic.)
Next Monday the Mariners have a travel day, and the rest of the week they play away games. I predict traffic will be comparatively light.
Watching sports schedules doesn't reliably predict good days, since other events (major concerts, car crashes and stalls, etc.) can foul up traffic too. But it works really well for predicting bad days.
So, even if you're not a sports fan, it's a good idea to keep schedules for the big sports handy if you're stuck with a cross-lake commute. (If this is all obvious, never mind.)
Congratulations on the paycheck.