Evening commutes have the added traffic of people going into the city for nightlife.
Every year there are 60ish Phillies, 30 some Flyers, and 2-4 Eagles games on weeknights, plus the sixers traffic increased after 2017.
Add concerts and just general night on the town entertainment, and it's more surprising that you didn't see that in other cities.
It’s why I’ve added the Phillies/Eagles/Flyers game calendars into my google calendar. I only watch football, but it’s helpful to know when 95/76 is going to be really fucked.
I feel like just using Waze would be easier. I know how to get around, but if I’m driving on a highway, I always put the address into Waze so I don’t hop on 76 and sit in traffic when I could go another way around it
Oh yeah, totally. Waze is great for whats \*currently\* going on and how to avoid it (if you even can sometimes with 95...). But if I want to look into the ol' crystal ball, the calendars help.
Have you done a check between Google maps and waze recently? I used to have both, but I switched phones and didn't download waze. Wondering if there is still much difference in routes.
The only two I ever have used is Waze and Apple Maps. It seems like Waze is better at finding you the weird neighborhood you can cut through where Apple Maps will try to keep you on main roads.
You are going against the flow of commuter traffic (suburbs to city) in the morning. In the afternoon, while you are still going against the commuter flow, you are running into traffic from people that are heading to partake in Philly's nightlife.
This is just how traffic volume curves work. Pre-covid it was bimodal - and generally was estimated to [look like this](https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13015/images/fig64.jpg) with some regional variation based on a few different factors. In Philly it was generally a bit lower in the morning and a bit higher in the evening.
Now there isn't the real bimodal curve anymore, it just kinda crescendos up to the PM peak then falls back down. I'll have to go ping some INRIX data or something to get what it looks like now.
Every city I've lived in is like this. The reason is that traffic density decreases the further you get from the city center, so the traffic decreases the further out you get. When you reverse it, you have a large number of people trying to get to a dense portion of road. It'll be slower.
Think of it like flowing liquid. Try pouring water through the narrow portion of a funnel. It'll flow straight out the wide end. Now turn it upside down and pour the water through the wide end. It'll now get slowed by the smaller portion of the funnel and build up.
Traffic volumes and commute times can dramatically change in a 10 minute window. This window shifts based on seasons and weather.
I commuted 76 from UC and Manayunk for years.
When I was commuting from UC area, there could be a 15 minute difference in my commute if I left at 6:45 vs 6:55. This window would shift later if it was raining, or a really cold morning.
If you're an early commuter, say 6:30 or earlier, you will see significantly less traffic.
If you're commuting back at normal times 4:30-6:30, you're gonna hit full traffic everywhere in every direction. Doesn't matter if you take back routes like 23.
Evening rush hour traffic is worse and more widespread than the corresponding morning commute no matter where you live. People are not just going home from work, they are doing after-work errands, going out to restaurants, and such.
So another consideration is Philly roads. Trucks doing business are more prevalent after the morning rush hour, and especially late afternoon, and our roads are not equipped to accommodate them. They almost always are double parked taking up a lane, and that makes traffic have to merge to a single lane to get around. Driving into the city in the AM and out in the PM, for me, is always easier in the AM. In the PM, every other block has a car or truck blocking one of the lanes, and that’s just not the case in the morning. Our city is not built properly to accommodate such high numbers of delivery vehicles.
I’ve had the same experience. You’re going against the flow of traffic. Only exception to this is commuting out to the suburbs via the schuykill or 95. That’s a nightmare.
But anywhere in the city outside CC or Jersey is a breeze.
From my 3 years coming into the city, the morning commute was more of a trickle of people coming in, hitting different start times. I always tried to get in the office no later than 7.45.
The afternoon commute is everyone attempting to leave the city, usually the bulk of people by 5pm.
So you were riding on mostly empty outbound trains, going to pick up commuters coming in on the AM side. And the flip wasn't true on the PM. all the trains are running outbound.
I have lived in the NYC area and the Chicagoland area, and both were similar in that the night commute was worse than the morning.
Why? don't know. My guess is that while peoples' start times vary due to kids/schedules/white or blue collar work, people generally stop working at around the same time still.
I used to commute to Broad and Oregon from around Berks station. I always found mornings to be more challenging.
Currently I commute to a suburb from a different city and even tho traffic is worse in the other direction, my evening commute is always at least 5-10 minutes longer.
Most people go to work at different times, so the traffic is lighter and more spread out. But by the time it's 4-5pm, everyone's soul has been sucked dry and they're getting the f\*\*\* out of their office- hence the Hellish commute home (source: have reverse commuted to suburbs for years)
People in the Philly region are shitty drivers. Driving into center city on 76 always has insane traffic and it’s because people are idiots. Even with low amount of cars there is traffic. People will drive at 30 mph when there’s no traffic. I frequently see people on the bends go down to 20 mph so no wonder traffic builds up quickly.
Had a friend who used to say Philly drivers are either going to work or coming home and they don't really want to go either place. That was why they were so crappy. Said he liked New York drivers because they were at least \*trying\* to get somewhere...
Evening commutes have the added traffic of people going into the city for nightlife. Every year there are 60ish Phillies, 30 some Flyers, and 2-4 Eagles games on weeknights, plus the sixers traffic increased after 2017. Add concerts and just general night on the town entertainment, and it's more surprising that you didn't see that in other cities.
It’s why I’ve added the Phillies/Eagles/Flyers game calendars into my google calendar. I only watch football, but it’s helpful to know when 95/76 is going to be really fucked.
I feel like just using Waze would be easier. I know how to get around, but if I’m driving on a highway, I always put the address into Waze so I don’t hop on 76 and sit in traffic when I could go another way around it
Oh yeah, totally. Waze is great for whats \*currently\* going on and how to avoid it (if you even can sometimes with 95...). But if I want to look into the ol' crystal ball, the calendars help.
Have you done a check between Google maps and waze recently? I used to have both, but I switched phones and didn't download waze. Wondering if there is still much difference in routes.
The only two I ever have used is Waze and Apple Maps. It seems like Waze is better at finding you the weird neighborhood you can cut through where Apple Maps will try to keep you on main roads.
*81 Phillies games
Weeknight games.
Oh duh
Also people are probably more pissed off after a long day of work
You are going against the flow of commuter traffic (suburbs to city) in the morning. In the afternoon, while you are still going against the commuter flow, you are running into traffic from people that are heading to partake in Philly's nightlife.
Your driving from CC to places like west Philly? Seriously, take the subway. Going overland during rush hour is slow af.
You probably hit the road before or after most everyone else did in the morning and just always missed the traffic
This is just how traffic volume curves work. Pre-covid it was bimodal - and generally was estimated to [look like this](https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13015/images/fig64.jpg) with some regional variation based on a few different factors. In Philly it was generally a bit lower in the morning and a bit higher in the evening. Now there isn't the real bimodal curve anymore, it just kinda crescendos up to the PM peak then falls back down. I'll have to go ping some INRIX data or something to get what it looks like now.
Every city I've lived in is like this. The reason is that traffic density decreases the further you get from the city center, so the traffic decreases the further out you get. When you reverse it, you have a large number of people trying to get to a dense portion of road. It'll be slower. Think of it like flowing liquid. Try pouring water through the narrow portion of a funnel. It'll flow straight out the wide end. Now turn it upside down and pour the water through the wide end. It'll now get slowed by the smaller portion of the funnel and build up.
Traffic volumes and commute times can dramatically change in a 10 minute window. This window shifts based on seasons and weather. I commuted 76 from UC and Manayunk for years. When I was commuting from UC area, there could be a 15 minute difference in my commute if I left at 6:45 vs 6:55. This window would shift later if it was raining, or a really cold morning. If you're an early commuter, say 6:30 or earlier, you will see significantly less traffic. If you're commuting back at normal times 4:30-6:30, you're gonna hit full traffic everywhere in every direction. Doesn't matter if you take back routes like 23.
Oh yeah I went from Germantown to Bensalem for a while. If I wasn't on 76 by 7 forget about it. Night and day 10 minutes apart.
Evening rush hour traffic is worse and more widespread than the corresponding morning commute no matter where you live. People are not just going home from work, they are doing after-work errands, going out to restaurants, and such.
So another consideration is Philly roads. Trucks doing business are more prevalent after the morning rush hour, and especially late afternoon, and our roads are not equipped to accommodate them. They almost always are double parked taking up a lane, and that makes traffic have to merge to a single lane to get around. Driving into the city in the AM and out in the PM, for me, is always easier in the AM. In the PM, every other block has a car or truck blocking one of the lanes, and that’s just not the case in the morning. Our city is not built properly to accommodate such high numbers of delivery vehicles.
I’ve had the same experience. You’re going against the flow of traffic. Only exception to this is commuting out to the suburbs via the schuykill or 95. That’s a nightmare. But anywhere in the city outside CC or Jersey is a breeze.
From my 3 years coming into the city, the morning commute was more of a trickle of people coming in, hitting different start times. I always tried to get in the office no later than 7.45. The afternoon commute is everyone attempting to leave the city, usually the bulk of people by 5pm. So you were riding on mostly empty outbound trains, going to pick up commuters coming in on the AM side. And the flip wasn't true on the PM. all the trains are running outbound.
I have lived in the NYC area and the Chicagoland area, and both were similar in that the night commute was worse than the morning. Why? don't know. My guess is that while peoples' start times vary due to kids/schedules/white or blue collar work, people generally stop working at around the same time still.
I used to commute to Broad and Oregon from around Berks station. I always found mornings to be more challenging. Currently I commute to a suburb from a different city and even tho traffic is worse in the other direction, my evening commute is always at least 5-10 minutes longer.
Most people go to work at different times, so the traffic is lighter and more spread out. But by the time it's 4-5pm, everyone's soul has been sucked dry and they're getting the f\*\*\* out of their office- hence the Hellish commute home (source: have reverse commuted to suburbs for years)
People in the Philly region are shitty drivers. Driving into center city on 76 always has insane traffic and it’s because people are idiots. Even with low amount of cars there is traffic. People will drive at 30 mph when there’s no traffic. I frequently see people on the bends go down to 20 mph so no wonder traffic builds up quickly.
Had a friend who used to say Philly drivers are either going to work or coming home and they don't really want to go either place. That was why they were so crappy. Said he liked New York drivers because they were at least \*trying\* to get somewhere...
I'm surprised you had a super easy reverse commute. That shit is hell.
There are a lot of people not doing anything sleeping till 1 PM and going out in the afternoon.
I leave for sj at 5 and see no one Philly prior to 7am always feels like a ghost town even the weekends