A Houstonian with a 25-minute commute spent 55 hours extra in 2001 -- a full work week plus two days -- creeping along in traffic instead of sleeping late, earning money or reading the newspaper, according to an annual study by Texas A&M University.Those whose commutes took longer than 25 minutes, the national average, wasted even more time locked in their wheeled cubicles.
There is some good news in these all-too-familiar statistics. The amount of time needed for a typical commute increased just 1 percent from 2000 -- a blip compared to increases in other major cities such as Denver, which recorded a 3.5 percent jump.
And I'm not sure the powers that be even care.
A few weeks ago, the city retimed the Dairy Ashford lights at Westheimer and Alief Clodine. This simple act resulted in two 1/3 mile stackups and added 15 minutes to my commute.
A call to 311 got Westheimer fixed but they won't budge on the other one.
Posted by: Charles M on October 1, 2003 12:33 PMCharles M: Did they give any reason why they won't budge on the retiming of the second? Maybe it's worth emailing Council?
Posted by: kevin whited on October 1, 2003 1:27 PMNo reason given. I'll try mailing council. The intersection is in District F but I've had better luck on Dairy Ashford with District G. Maybe he's hungrier.
tnx for the suggestion.
Posted by: Charles M on October 1, 2003 5:16 PM