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Sitting in Traffic Cost Us Each $800 in 2011

Commuters released 56B extra pounds of carbon dioxide: study

(Newser) - This may not do much to quell road rage: America's commuters each wasted an average of $818 in time and gas while stuck in traffic in 2011, a yearly study finds, for a total of $121 billion nationwide. That's up $1 billion from the year before, the AP...

Russian Drivers Stuck in 2-Day Traffic Jam

At its worst, backup stretched 125 miles

(Newser) - And you thought your commute was bad: Snow in Russia caused an insane traffic jam this weekend, with thousands of cars and trucks stuck on a major highway yesterday. Some had been stuck for more than two days, as they struggled to keep their engines running and their vehicles heated,...

New York Subway Rolls Again, Eases Commute Misery

Commuters line up hour before system opens

(Newser) - The majority of New York's subway rolled back into action today—and commuters can ride it, along with commuter trains and buses, for free, thanks to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's declaration of a transportation emergency, the New York Post reports. But it's not yet smooth commuting:
  • Subways weren'
...

LA Buckles Up for 'Carmageddon 2'

It's baaaaaack: The 405 Freeway closes again

(Newser) - Even Los Angelenos admit that "Carmageddon" ended with a whimper , but now comes the sequel—and some say it could be horrible, Reuters reports. A new 53-hour closure of the 405 Freeway north of the Getty Center starts at midnight tonight and drags on until Monday at 5am. So...

Traffic Deaths Jump Record 9%

First half of the year sees biggest increase on record

(Newser) - Traffic fatalities jumped 9% in the first half of the year, the highest first-half increase since the government began tracking the deaths, CNN reports. Motor vehicle crashes killed about 16,000 people between January and June, according to a statistical projection. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration didn't speculate...

2nd-Fastest Speed Limit in World Coming to Texas?

It's safest when everyone's speeding the same: official

(Newser) - A stretch of highway through Texas could soon have the highest officially posted speed limit in the Western hemisphere. State officials are considering an 85mph limit along a portion of new Highway 130 running between San Antonio and Austin. Critics say the speed boost will cost lives, but the state...

Tropical Storm Beryl to Make for Drenched Holiday

Made landfall in Florida early this morning

(Newser) - Tropical Storm Beryl is here, and it greeted the Southeast by walloping it with 70mph winds—nearly as powerful as a hurricane's. The storm made landfall just after midnight near Jacksonville Beach, Florida, and is set to move through Florida and Georgia. Though the storm's maximum sustained winds...

City Deploys Mimes to Tame Traffic

Apparently, odd method has worked before

(Newser) - In Venezuela’s capital, motorcyclists have been known to drive down sidewalks, and cars frequently speed through red lights. So the mayor is dealing with the problem by deploying … mimes. About 120 of them hit the streets last week in an attempt to shame drivers and pedestrians alike into...

Interchange Design Eliminates Left Turns

Meet the 'diverging diamond' approach, which is catching on

(Newser) - Traffic engineers hate left turns because they slow everybody down and are dangerous to boot. Solutions such as dedicated lanes or routing traffic over intersections don't truly solve the problems. What to do? Slate takes a look at an emerging idea called the "diverging diamond interchange," which...

Wrong-Way Drivers in Lagos Must Go See a Shrink

Penalty is part of city's effort to rein in traffic

(Newser) - Psychiatrists in New York would probably love to see this legislation passed in the US. In Lagos, Nigeria—where traffic has reached epidemic levels—if you're caught going the wrong way on a one-way street, you face a $160 fine, but you also have to receive a psychiatric evaluation,...

&#39;Carmageddon&#39; Commences
 'Carmageddon' Commences 
Jul 16, 2011 7:26 AM CDT

'Carmageddon' Commences

405 closes, construction begins

(Newser) - It's too early yet to declare victory over Carmageddon, notes the LA Times, but Los Angeles' normally traffic-choked Interstate 405 closed at midnight without incident, converting into what the AP calls a "ghost road." "When I left work, it was like a no man's land,...

Wary LA Braces for 'Carmageddon'

405 closure leads to crazy discounts, viral videos, possible flash mobs

(Newser) - LA residents are planning to flee or hunker down this weekend as a 10-mile stretch of the 405, one of the nation's busiest freeways, shuts down for 53 hours. For non-Angelenos: This is a big deal, hence the nicknames "Carmageddon" and "Carpocalypse." Some of the most...

Snow, Wreck Strand Hundreds in Western NY

'13 miles of bumper-to-bumper cars': trooper

(Newser) - Hundreds of motorists were stranded on a western New York highway today after an accident caused a backup and the idling cars became stuck overnight in heavy snow. A 10-mile section of Interstate 90 was closed in both directions in Buffalo's eastern suburbs, a state trooper said. The highway was...

Relax: 3 Thanksgiving Travel Myths

It's not as busy as you think

(Newser) - If you’re traveling this Thanksgiving, you’re likely bracing yourself for major delays on the road, rails, or in the sky. But take courage: your worries may be unfounded—or at least exaggerated. NPR provides some turkey-related travel myths:
  1. It’s the busiest time of year to travel. “
...

America's 75 Worst Commutes
 America's 75 Worst Commutes 
Dept. of Road Rage
Oct 3, 2010 9:46 AM CDT

America's 75 Worst Commutes

How does your 'highway to hell' rank?

(Newser) - We all know LA has a traffic problem, but Honolulu? It's No. 2 in the nation, finds the Daily Beast , which crunched the numbers to rank America's 75 worst commutes. Some of the highlights:
  • No. 3, Capital Beltway, Washington, DC: This slow moving route totals an average of 194 hours
...

62-Mile Traffic Jam Enters 9th Day

Chinese truckers playing cards, waiting around

(Newser) - A 62-mile-long traffic jam in China enters its ninth day today, and could continue for at least a month. The expressway leading to Beijing has been clogged with thousands of trucks since Aug. 14 due to construction, a jam made worse by accidents and broken-down cars, the Global Times reports....

Why Did the Turtle Cross the Road?

Reptile stops traffic on busy Boston road

(Newser) - A turtle trying to reach the safety of a riverbank literally stopped traffic yesterday in Boston, NBC affiliate WHDH reports . The elderly reptile strolled across a three-lane parkway at its own pace as some drivers stopped, some swerved, and two SUVs coasted right over the top of its shell. The...

China Plans Enormous Car-Straddling Bus

Giant public transport could ease traffic problems

(Newser) - The Chinese government has come up with a spectacular solution to Beijing's congestion problems: a giant bus that straddles the road, allowing cars to drive under it. The bus is designed to be 20 feet wide, 14 feet tall, and carry between 1,200 and 1,400 passengers. While the...

Paywall Drives Off 98.8% of Times Readers

Former employee reports that only 15K have agreed to pay

(Newser) - What has putting up a paywall done for the folks at the Times? Driven away most of their readers, predictably. Only 150,000 signed up for “Times+” accounts, and only 15,000 of them actually agreed to pay when their free trial ran out, according to an unconfirmed report...

World's Worst Commutes
 World's Worst Commutes 
Jul 2, 2010 11:31 AM CDT

World's Worst Commutes

Beijing and Mexico City lead the way

(Newser) - IBM surveyed drivers in 20 of the world's biggest cities to find the worst commutes. The bottom 5 (based on a slew of factors including time stuck in traffic and stress) in the commuter pain index are:
  1. Beijing (99 on a scale of 100)
  2. Mexico City (99)
  3. Johannesburg (97)
  4. Moscow
...

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