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It's called traffic. It can make a 10 minute commute turn into a 3-hour commute. I lived on the East Coast for 5 years, and people there were flakier than the

It's called traffic. It can make a 10 minute commute turn into a 3-hour commute. I lived on the East Coast for 5 years, and people there were flakier than their West Coast counterparts -- even though traffic on the East Coast is more predictable and less congested. The difference? People on the West Coast try to make their commitments -- but run in to traffic. People on the East Coast leave late and blame the traffic.

ghshephard 17y ago
Traffic isn't really an excuse. I've lived in the Bay Area for 13 years, and our traffic ranks in national rankings as some of the worst. With that said, during rush hour, from Downtown Oakland to Downtown Mountain View (880, Dumbarton Bridge, 101), the variance on my Commutes over three years was 52 minutes to at _most_ 1 Hour 15 minutes. 95% of the time it was under 1 Hour. The 1 Hour 15 minutes occured during a flash flood in which most major roads were having water issues. A few accidents pushed us to 1 hour 10 minutes. Another way of saying this is if I planned to arrive 8 minutes early, I would have been on time 95% of the time for an appointment in Mountain View driving from Oakland.
JimmyL 17y ago
I call shenanigans. If the traffic is that bad on a regular and consistent basis, people could account for it by leaving their origin earlier.
- heyadayo 17y ago
  Read "If.... consistent...." -- There's your mistake. I lived in LA for 23 years. Consider: Traffic means that a sometimes-20-minute commute can take 3 hours. And while you can sometimes predict sort of when it will take longer than it should, you can't always. Everyone has to be a lot more flexible. The alternative is to be willing to show up at every appointment an hour or two early... but most people aren't. Who knows if this is the "root cause" -- I doubt it. But it certainly contributes to the "lets play it by ear" philosophy you find predominant in LA.
ohlol 17y ago
Fail. Most people in SF don't drive.

ghshephard 17y ago

Traffic isn't really an excuse. I've lived in the Bay Area for 13 years, and our traffic ranks in national rankings as some of the worst. With that said, during rush hour, from Downtown Oakland to Downtown Mountain View (880, Dumbarton Bridge, 101), the variance on my Commutes over three years was 52 minutes to at _most_ 1 Hour 15 minutes. 95% of the time it was under 1 Hour. The 1 Hour 15 minutes occured during a flash flood in which most major roads were having water issues. A few accidents pushed us to 1 hour 10 minutes. Another way of saying this is if I planned to arrive 8 minutes early, I would have been on time 95% of the time for an appointment in Mountain View driving from Oakland.

JimmyL 17y ago

I call shenanigans. If the traffic is that bad on a regular and consistent basis, people could account for it by leaving their origin earlier.

heyadayo 17y ago
Read "If.... consistent...." -- There's your mistake. I lived in LA for 23 years. Consider: Traffic means that a sometimes-20-minute commute can take 3 hours. And while you can sometimes predict sort of when it will take longer than it should, you can't always. Everyone has to be a lot more flexible. The alternative is to be willing to show up at every appointment an hour or two early... but most people aren't. Who knows if this is the "root cause" -- I doubt it. But it certainly contributes to the "lets play it by ear" philosophy you find predominant in LA.

ohlol 17y ago

Fail. Most people in SF don't drive.