I've been in traffic jams, but THIS is insane...

[marillion]

Really? People have nothing better to do than sit on the highway and wait? Maybe not, I guess..

Chinese Traffic Jam

I realize their road system may not be as complex or winding as our is here in the States, but c'mon...

 

[Lindley]

Just don't take the Express Lane or the Macra will get you!

 

[chardman]

When I lived in the SF bay area in the mid 80s, severe traffic jams were sufficiently commonplace: I regularly encountered a guy who'd put a ping-pong net down the middle of his hood, and when traffic totally bogged down, he and his passenger would get out and play a game. Seriously.

 

[B.J.]

Reminds me of Gridlock.

 

[doubleohfive]

I remember years ago, back in DC I came home one night, flipped on the news, to find a report about traffic in L.A. having been backed up for 50 miles somewhere. I never really believed it possible. Then I moved here and had to deal with traffic on a daily basis and let me tell you -- it's sure as hell is possible.

 

[Rii]

You can't run a story like this without pics. That's just cruel.

 

[thumbtack]

I wonder how common this will become there.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I remember years ago, back in DC I came home one night, flipped on the news, to find a report about traffic in L.A. having been backed up for 50 miles somewhere. I never really believed it possible. Then I moved here and had to deal with traffic on a daily basis and let me tell you -- it's sure as hell is possible.

And LA has very little mass transit to speak of, don't they? Now THAT would suck.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Caught in a traffic jam

What is the longest you have ever been caught in a traffic jam? One thing I am certain of is that it is considerably less than this.

The end may now be in sight for frustrated drivers who have endured a nine-day, 100-kilometre long traffic jam on a highway leading into Beijing, state media reports.
The snarl-up has been caused by roadworks, which are not expected to finish for another month, state news agency Xinhua said on its website.
Drivers, mainly of freight-carrying trucks, have had to kill time playing cards, and have complained that local people are taking advantage of them by selling food at inflated prices, the report said.

rest of story here

Also, how do you pass the time when in a traffic jam?

The longest I have been in a traffic jam has been about 90 minutes. It was on a day that I was during jury service (in the middle of a trial). I heard that there had been an accident on the bridge and that people should expect large delays. Though I didn't have to start jury service until 10am I decided to catch the 8.20 bus instead of the 9.15. It was a good thing I did. The 8.20 bus got into the city centre at 9.55 and I was able to sprint down to the court and arrived just as the jury was being called in. I later found out that the 9.15 bus didn't get into the city centre until about 10.30.


During the traffic jam I spent most of the time speaking to other passengers and the driver. One woman was complaining about being late but she shut up when another passenger reminded her that some poor woman was dead in the accident on the bridge and that the passengers' inconvenience was trivial compared to that.

OOPS - I have been merged. I didn't even think about looking to see if there was a thread already on this as I don't think that clearly first thing in the morning.

 

[doubleohfive]

I remember years ago, back in DC I came home one night, flipped on the news, to find a report about traffic in L.A. having been backed up for 50 miles somewhere. I never really believed it possible. Then I moved here and had to deal with traffic on a daily basis and let me tell you -- it's sure as hell is possible.

And LA has very little mass transit to speak of, don't they? Now THAT would suck.

We have plenty of mass transit. The problem is most of the effectual mass transit are the bus lines. The subway doesn't though, and while it's great being able to take the train from Universal City to Hollywood, it's not good for much else, at least not for me.

 

[Trekker4747]

hone rings in an office building, boss answers:

"Yes?"
"Yeah, I can't make it into work today. I'm stuck in traffic."
"Oh? Well, I'm sure you'll make it in sooner or later, how bad could it be?"
"I've been stuck here for four days."
"... "

 

[RJDiogenes]

Re: Caught in a traffic jam

We had two Threads on this, so I merged 'em.

I've been stuck in some pretty long traffic jams, especially when I used to travel to Connecticut and New York a lot, back in the 80s. The worst traffic jam I've ever been in around here was probably in the winter of 1993 when I tried to get home from work in one of the worst blizzards ever. I was driving from Boston Medical Center to my house, normally a 15-20 minute drive, and it took about four hours.

 

[Lookingglassman]

Re: Caught in a traffic jam

I once got stuck in a traffic jam in Germany for 6 hours when is snowed. The snow really wasnt that bad, but for some reason the Autobahn was backed up for miles.

 

[Captain_Nick]

Two hours in Sydney once. It wasn't too bad. Traffic teaches you to be grateful for open roads.

 

[M'Sharak]

I remember years ago, back in DC I came home one night, flipped on the news, to find a report about traffic in L.A. having been backed up for 50 miles somewhere. I never really believed it possible. Then I moved here and had to deal with traffic on a daily basis and let me tell you -- it's sure as hell is possible.

Backed up 50 miles? Sounds like I-10.

And LA has very little mass transit to speak of, don't they?

See for yourself.

 

[doubleohfive]

I remember years ago, back in DC I came home one night, flipped on the news, to find a report about traffic in L.A. having been backed up for 50 miles somewhere. I never really believed it possible. Then I moved here and had to deal with traffic on a daily basis and let me tell you -- it's sure as hell is possible.

Backed up 50 miles? Sounds like I-10.

If I never have to drive down the 10 ever again it will be too soon!

And LA has very little mass transit to speak of, don't they?

See for yourself.

I CAN SEE MY HOUSE FROM HERE!

 

[ares93]

good lord, and i though the 19km pileup on Autobahn 7 this summer was a pain.

 

[Star Wolf]

I remember years ago, back in DC I came home one night, flipped on the news, to find a report about traffic in L.A. having been backed up for 50 miles somewhere. I never really believed it possible. Then I moved here and had to deal with traffic on a daily basis and let me tell you it's sure as hell is possible.

Considering the near suburbs are 20 to 30 miles out and many do comute in from the desert or San Bernadino mountains any stoppage near the East LA interchange can cause the normal heavy to become a 50 mile back up in minutes. It was not abnormal for my 25 mile commute to take two hours.

 

[marillion]

I commute from Albuquerque to Santa Fe every day, 100 miles round trip, give or take..

When the weather turns to crap or there's been a crash along the way, traffic becomes a nightmare.. Luckily, if you know your stuff, there are work arounds that can get you where you're going. I've cut through NA reservations, taken forest roads and the like.. I get traffic texts to my phone that make sure I don't miss any crash info.. They've saved my butt a number of times.

 

[FPAlpha]

Worst traffic jam i ever experienced was several years ago when, for some reason, i had to pick up my mother at the Hungary/Croatian border after her vacation (why she couldn't have returned by bus or train i don't know) and started at home Friday.

Unbeknownst to my father and me this Friday was the first day of school vacation in 2 states and the highways were packed. Naturally it was also one of the hottest days of the year.. pure torture.

For a distance that should have taken me about 6-7 hours i almost needed 12 and was tired as hell when i arrived. To top it off when i picked up my mom i totalled the car about half an hour later when i fell asleep behind the wheel for a second and ended up in a ditch.
Luckily i was going rather slow and we had seatbelts on so all that got seriously damaged was the car.