Commuter tales of woe are becoming more frequent in Cascadia. Yet they're not unique, according to an article Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal.
As traffic worsens, commuters are hitting the roads and trains far before sunrise, stretching the traditional "rush hour" and spurring businesses to meet the extra demand. In 85 U.S. urban areas, congestion occurred an average of 7.1 hours a day on major urban roads in 2003, up from 6.2 hours a day in 1993 and 4.5 hours daily in 1982, according to the Texas Transportation Institute.
Some commuters to downtown Seattle leave home as early as 4:15 a.m. in order to beat clogged freeways. Sound Transit's earliest commuter train from Tacoma to Seattle now leaves at 5:45 a.m., a change from 6:20 a.m. when the service started in 2000, the story notes. The first daily West Coast Express commuter train into Vancouver leaves at 5:27 a.m.
One result is longer hours for service businesses. According to the story, more than 90 percent of McDonald's restaurants in the U.S. now operate on extended hours -- opening at 5 a.m., closing at midnight or are staying open 24 hours. McDonald's restaurants generally used to open as early as 6 a.m.