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Despite having the excellent SkyTrain and a decent bus system, traffic in Vancouver proper is easily one of the worst I've ever driven on the West Coast and rivals LA despite a much smaller population. Something that can be driven in 15 minutes in Seattle proper at 6pm on a Saturday will take an hour in Vancouver. The surface arterials are especially maddening as the left lane is full of cars trying to make a left turn (and not succeeding) and the right lane is full of buses. This happens intersection after intersection. Literally there could be zero movement after two light cycles. All this idling is also terrible for the environment.
Why doesn't Vancouver do what Seattle does which is to ban left turns on major arterials (like Denny Way) and only allow left turns on certain intersections that are wide enough for left turn only lanes? With just that small traffic management change, I can blast through 5 kms of the busiest, most developed and densest parts of Seattle in less than 10 minutes on surface roads. Did the same thing this weekend in Vancouver and Granville, and it took 2 hours. Insane. Surely someone in the department of transportation knows this?
Dude, BOTH metro areas are atrocious. My sister just got back from a week in Seattle and she's native. She was appalled at how bad it was and she lives in Dallas. Vancouver easily has better public transportation that Seattle. They both suffer from larger water boundaries and failure to spend more tax dollars on car mobility.
Location: In a perfect world winter does not exist
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Good Lord, the traffic was beyond horrible today in Vancouver. Took almost 45 mins to in gridlocked traffic to go from Cambie where the Kia dealer is to South end of Richmond in rush hr.
Vancouver is imho the most beautiful city in the world scenic wise but the traffic is just brutal.
Good Lord, the traffic was beyond horrible today in Vancouver. Took almost 45 mins to in gridlocked traffic to go from Cambie where the Kia dealer is to South end of Richmond in rush hr.
Vancouver is imho the most beautiful city in the world scenic wise but the traffic is just brutal.
Hahahaha ! No surprise there if you check the date, it's the beginning of the Victoria Day long weekend.
It's a very, very important long weekend holiday for most Canadians. Especially this year here because we are having such fantastic weather for the next week and a half ahead. For some people Victoria Day is only 3 days holiday, but for many others who advance schedule extra time off work for the Victoria Day weekend it's a 4 or even a 5 or 9 days holiday. On Thursday afternoon immediately after work scads of people are in a panic to get out of town early on Thursday evening to get a head start on all the other traffic that will be getting out of town early on Friday morning and Friday afternoon.
The line ups at all the ferry terminals in the province and lines of traffic heading away from any location in the lower mainland and other parts of the province will be phenomenal on Thursday and Friday. So too will the lines of traffic from other distant cities outside of the lower mainland who are heading south into the lower mainland, Vancouver Island or Vancouver City for the long weekend. Then on Monday night or Tuesday and Wednesday all that traffic will heading back home to where they came from.
Location: In a perfect world winter does not exist
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So that explains it thanks. I live in Seattle and totally forgot about the Canadian Holiday. As I was sitting in the car I thought to myself, should I just park my car and walk around the neighborhood. Good to know that wasn't the norm!!
So that explains it thanks. I live in Seattle and totally forgot about the Canadian Holiday. As I was sitting in the car I thought to myself, should I just park my car and walk around the neighborhood. Good to know that wasn't the norm!!
Instead of making traffic, why don't you take public transit instead??
Location: In a perfect world winter does not exist
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trojan1982
Instead of making traffic, why don't you take public transit instead??
I'm not taking Greyhound for a one day trip to Vancouver. I would be in the bus more than in Van.
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No surprise there if you check the date, it's the beginning of the Victoria Day long weekend. 
