BY TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
You've all been there.
Late for work. Stopped dead. Staring at a sea of brake lights. Blood pressure rising. Diet Coke can empty.
Freeways. Freeway exit ramps. Downtown streets. Once-country roads turned suburban. It doesn't matter what route you take anymore. We're all stuck in traffic in Greater Cincinnati.
The time you sit in gridlock increased 200 percent between 1982 and 1994, the second-biggest increase in the nation. Plain and simple: Commuting in a town that a Sierra Club report recently said "has one of the worst traffic problems in the country" is not fun. Traffic headaches probably rank second only to the weather as Cincinnati's favorite daily topic of conversation.
So, The Cincinnati Enquirer -->decided to chime in with me, your new Commuting columnist.
I'm qualified.
I've racked up more than 95,000 miles in my four years here.
I hate traffic.
I'd drive 20 miles out of my way to avoid jams.
I no longer enjoy driving as much as I did when I was 16.
But, I have spent enough time in my car to learn a foreign language. I also have a couple of confessions to make.
I drive too fast, having earned my license on the hurry-up-and-honk roads of Chicago. (I also blame my genes. My mother once got off with a warning for doing 80 mph in a 55-mph zone, even after the cop told her he had a hard time catching up to her.)
I have been known to read the newspaper on the way to work, although usually while stopped at a traffic light.
I eat a granola bar and drink a Diet Coke in my car every morning. I eat some form of lunch or dinner in the car at least twice a week. I'm also a reporter who loves to talk with people, dig for facts and chase good stories.
So let's get started.
Here's what I've learned digging for a better understanding of driving habits:
In 1995, you and I averaged 4.2 car trips daily.
The average trip to work was 11.6 miles in 1995, up from 8.5 miles a decade earlier.
Commuters averaged 33.6 minutes daily in their car in 1995. Having driven around this town since 1994, I can draw on considerable personal experience.
In Chicago, I learned that if you didn't go 70 mph in a 55-mph zone, you are road kill. The only hand gestures used are threatening. Cincinnati driving was culture shock for me.
People here do the speed limit.
They follow the car-length-apart rule.
And the hand gestures are usually ones waving you into traffic. I've slowly adjusted my driving techniques over four years. After nearly a decade of driving, I got my first speeding ticket courtesy of a Hamilton County Sheriff's deputy.
That took care of my lead foot. (Well, OK, I'm in the "reasonable" zone anyway.) The niceness of people letting you into traffic has rubbed off on me. I find myself doing the same. I've even been known to smile at fellow drivers.
So, with your help and interest, I'm ready to cover the commuting life in Greater Cincinnati each week in this space.
Next week I will be writing about problems we have merging into traffic.
At the same time, I'd like to hear your ideas and questions for this column.
Complete the following sentence: "The thing that bugs me most about traffic in Greater Cincinnati is . . .
Put your response in writing and send it to me via the mail, fax or e-mail. I'll share some of the responses and follow up on your ideas for future columns. Please include your name, the neighborhood or town you live in, and your daytime phone number.
Tanya Albert's "Commuting" column appears each Monday in the Metro section. Contact her at tmalbert@enquirer.com or phone: 768-8389; FAX: 768-8340; mail at 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati 45202.
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