There used to be a time when I could beat rush hour traffic heading towards New York. That time was pre-fatherhood for me, a time when leaving between 6 and 6:15 in the morning was a piece of cake. The responsibilities I had in the morning were less than in my current AF (after fatherhood) state. Now, even though my son is only 13 months old and not nearly ready for school, I find that leaving before 6:30 is a challenge. No matter how much I prepare in advance, no matter how much I try to rush in the morning, 6:30 is about the earliest I can get out of the house on a normal day. While that 15 to 30 minutes might not seem like a big deal to non-commuters, anyone who travels the I-95 corridor (which includes the Merrit Parkway) between New Haven and New York knows how much of a difference even 5 minutes can make. With my earliest departure being at 6:30, I can not make a trip that without traffic takes 35 minutes in less than 50 minutes. That is a good day. On most other days, the trek takes me at least an hour or more. If by some chance I don't leave till after 7, I might as well take back roads the entire way because otherwise I would be sitting on the highway for probably close to one and a half hours. No matter which way you look at it, rush hour traffic is a bear, especially when travelling alone. However, I do occasionally find ways of occupying myself. Most importantly for me is a good radio station, normally 99.1 WPLR, which has a talk show in the morning that is mostly comedic. Laughter definitely helps pass the time as I stare blankly at a serpentine line of red brake lights. A majority of the time, I just day dream while listening to the radio, vaguely paying attention to what is going on around me. There are other times however when I try and study traffic flow, figure out which lane is better to travel in, and decipher people's motives in choosing the lane that they do.
In terms of deciphering people's motives, I have come up with way to many to list here and they are, for the most part, mundane and trivial. The lane choice, however, is of more importance to me as it greatly helps my state of mind while driving. In general, I have found that there is no overall advantage to lane choice during rush hour traffic (at least on the Merrit in the morning). For those of you who don't know, the Merrit is a two lane scenic parkway (the first built and designated as such in the United States) that has a ban on large trucks, trailers, and commercial vehicles. I-95 on the other hand is a 3 lane highway, most times during rush hour a parking lot, that occasionally offers scenic views of the shoreline, but for the most part, is quite the boring ride (and there are big rigs). I find that the Merrit always moves a little quicker in the morning, while in the afternoon it is a gamble as to which one will move quicker. Lets stick with the Merrit in the morning, however, as that is the favorite part of my daily commute. I was talking about lane choice, which for the non-commuter probably seems like a stupid thing to think about. Take a walk (or drive) in my shoes, however, as I describe the advantages and disadvantages of both. The right lane on the Merrit is a tricky one. For the most part, it seems to move a little bit slower than the left lane, however, having travelled in both lanes extensively and also having tracked cars in opposite lanes to see if there really is an advantage, I have found that there really isn't. You might get lulled into thinking that the left would move quicker almost continuously due to the fact that no one is exiting or entering the parkway from that lane, however, you would be wrong. A major factor that goes into keeping the left lane in tune with the right is the amount of people who think that it moves faster and as a result move from the right to the left. With enough cars on the roadway, however, all this does is slow down the left lane to a similar speed to the right. At times, it almost seems like the right lane is cursed when you witness a mad exodus of cars fleeing the dreaded right lane for the left. With all the cars moving over to the left lane, one might consider moving over to the right to get a slight advantage in traffic. That is normally not a good idea as you still must deal with all the traffic entering the highway on the right. That in and of itself slows everything down leaving you with no choice but to stay in the lane you are in. The right lane, at least for me, is the more aggravating of the two to drive in. On almost every on-ramp, there are a slew of impatient and hurried individuals who must try and get as far ahead as possible before merging in, even if it means driving onto the grass. When I am in the right lane, I have a rule that I always let one car in front of me and say screw off to all the others. This brings about the frustration as I feel that if everyone let one car in front of them, traffic would move a little more smoothly. It never happens though, which leads me to move into the left lane. There are times, however, when the right lane seems appealing due to traffic exiting from the highway which leads to a little burst in speed in that lane. It never lasts long and before long, both lanes go back to being equal. The left lane, I have found, is good for spacing out while driving. If I leave enough room between myself and the car in front of me, I have can coast along pretty well at 5 miles per hour and letting my eyes wander to the scenery around me. Yes, traffic is complicated, but that's what I think about in the morning. I could go on and bore you with more insights and observations, but for now, I will relinquish my traffic detailing.
If you can manage not to get frustrated while driving in rush hour traffic and manage to look around a little, you might notice cool little occurrences that without traffic, you might never see. One such instance occurred this week during one of my drives to work, I can't remember which day because after a while, the morning drives seem to blend into one another becoming an amoebic blob. The instance I speak of occurred as I was coming down a slight incline on the Merrit and could see the string of brake lights extending in front of me for probably a half mile before they disappeared around a curve in the road. As I was making my way down this little hill, I noticed what looked like little LED lights flashing on the passenger side mirrors on all the cars. I quickly realized that the sun was dancing lazily through the barren branches of the trees as it rose from its slumber. With the sunlight dancing at just the right angle, it was being caught and thrown in reverse by all the passenger side mirrors. It was a really cool sight to see, little specks of sunshine blinking and flashing for all traveling to see. It is little moments such as the sunlight dancing that help to take the edge off of the morning drive. It drove me to think about how if I was even five minutes later, the sun would have been at a different angle and I wouldn't have seen the flashing light show. Even if I was traveling a month a few weeks earlier I might not have seen the show due to any remaining leaves on the trees that might have blocked the sun's early morning extravaganza. There are more cool instances, but for now, I must get my day started. My extended daily commute should be coming to an end soon as I am getting close to finishing a job down county, but till I do finish and my commute ends, I will continue to look for those little gems in the traffic that help to alleviate the extensive ennui that settles in during rush hour traffic.
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