It's Working, It's Working!

The I-5 Construction and closure has been big news all over Seattle and it seems that people have taken it to heart.

On my morning commute from West Seattle to Greenlake I usually see 10 or so other bikers along first part of the route out of West Seattle. Today there was at least double that. I thought for a few moments that I was racing as I had to check my blind spot for other cyclists as I was riding.

From all accounts it sounds like people have heard the message about traffic and are finding alternative ways to get into Seattle from the South. Talking to another employee today who came into Seattle on Sound Transit, she said that they were experiencing double their usual ridership since the beginning of the week.

Yesterday I had to drive to work (needed to bring some demo wheels back from home) so my wife, who works in downtown Seattle, and I left about 30 minutes earlier to make sure to get her to work on time. We figured traffic would be awful and expected the worst. As we got on to the West Seattle Bridge we quickly noticed that traffic was better than it has been in weeks and we ended up getting her to work about 35 minutes early!

This is both encouraging and a little worrisome. Encouraging because so many people are finding alternative ways to get to work that during some of the worst traffic conditions possible the roads are actually very clear. But worrisome in that people may hear this and get back into their cars and start driving again.

What I'm hoping is that people will try out these alternatives, whether they be riding, carpooling, taking the bus, or the train, and find out that they are good choices and even enjoyable and stick to them throughout the year instead of just when there is the potential for really bad traffic. Just think, the roads could always be this clear if just half the people that have tried an alternative to driving this week kept on with their new routine.

What have your experiences been during this "Traffic Apocalypse"?