This past week, in order to go on a trip I really wanted to go on (and really enjoyed), I had to put up with something I despise more than driving: driving on the beltway and the I-270 spur.
If I had been more intelligent, I probably could have gotten a car (Flexcar) that was already outside the beltway. Instead I opted for one near my house (since I was bringing a lot with me, this probably had some advantages).
It doesn't seem to matter what time of day it is, or if you imagine that you are most likely going against the flow of the majority of travelers -- it is just a disaster. Traffic just creeps along at a horridly slow pace. There are stretches where walking would be faster. My reaction, as those of you who know me would expect, was to go crazy, increase my blood pressure, yell and scream, and be a generally unpleasant person.
Now, I can understand that people sometimes need (or choose) to travel this way from time to time; I chose to travel this way for my trip (so far this year I think I have been on the beltway four times). And with a population as large as the greater DC area, that means that there is always going to be some amount of traffic. There is just a vast amount of people trying to get from their point A to their point B.
But the reality is that there are people that do this every single day (or every work day)! What is wrong with these people? Have they not heard that we have a Metro system? Do they have some misguided notion that it is better to live out in sprawl with a larger house, so they can pay more to heat their larger house and pay more to fuel their vehicles?
If you ask me, any of these people should just stay in their cars, continue down to St. E's, and check themselves in.
They certainly could use all the help they can get.
