Hate Your Morning Commute? Tips on How to Deal with Traffic

We have all experienced it, no matter how early you leave for an appointment in the city, it always seems to take longer than you anticipated due to traffic, lack of available parking or construction delays. Learn why traffic is so bad, what cities have done to alleviate traffic, and what you can do to deal with your commute.

IT'S NOT RUSH HOUR - WHY IS THERE ALWAYS SO MUCH TRAFFIC?

Simply, most cities were not built to accommodate so many cars on the road, especially vintage cities that have narrow streets. Some cities, such as Los Angeles have over four million cars on the road. In a study of seventy five cities it was estimated that the collective economic cost and damage of traffic due to construction delays, traffic jams and people "circling the block" searching for a parking space and the resulting wasted hours caused an economic loss of $70 billion a year.

WHAT CITIES HAVE DONE TO COPE

Some cities attempt to build more roads, but this often does not reduce rush hour traffic congestion, and traffic gets worse for the duration of the construction.

Globally, various ideas have been implemented to alleviate the traffic. Singapore limits how many cars that each person can buy. Many historic cities in Italy ban cars during the day. London is going to implement a "congestion fee" sort of toll or tax for a car to enter the city. Others cities are considering doing so as well. Some cities limit the days you can use your car to enter a city.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT A BAD COMMUTE

If you find yourself stuck in traffic, it is hard to keep calm. It is too dangerous a world to vent one's feelings to a stranger about being cut off in traffic or someone getting your parking spot. It is important to remain calm to drive safely. Some ideas to avoid a bad commute:

1. Try walking or biking for short distances

2. Use public transportation

3. Few people carpool but it can greatly reduce traffic

4. Try to leave earlier or later to skip rush hour when possible

5. Listen to traffic reports for bad delays and if possible use Map Quest or other such free services to try to find an alternate route to your destination.

If you get stuck in traffic and the traffic does not move at all, try to bring something to read to distract yourself. Bring good CD's or an audio book so you have something to think about other than traffic. This is a great time to devote to a how to book or learning another language, something you can do in short bursts and once the traffic subsides, return to it later. Another thing you can do is simple stretches or exercises such butt crunches that you can do sitting in the drivers seat. Several exercises can safely be done in a seated position in the car, either yoga or Pilates like stretching or small weights and arm curls, etc. This way you have accomplished something while you wait and maybe can gain time from not having to exercise later that day.

If traffic is not at a complete standstill but people keep cutting in front of each other, it is rarely useful to honk the horn unless someone else is about to hit your car and you need to alert them. People won't move if they don't want to, and often they cannot move much anyway. If you can't even see ahead of you to what is causing the traffic jam, they will never hear your horn anyways and probably cannot help the delay.

When I was a kid, I remember My Dad always let people honking their horn and yelling or driving erratically cut ahead of him in traffic. When we were running late once, I asked him why. He said, "I rather have an upset driver way ahead of me and drive away from me than driving right behind me, because he might hit us and having to stop to take care of that will take even longer, the car could get damaged or even worse we will could get hurt." You don't gain much time cutting off a car or two, so try your best not to lose your cool during a commute and eventually you will get where you are going in one piece, which is the most important thing.