For those of you who have experienced Seattle area traffic, which I will generously extend to include everything on the west side of the Cascades, I'm sure at some point you have thought, "My gosh, this traffic is horrendous." Or more likely, something a little less family-friendly while being stuck in that traffic.
Seattle traffic ranks up there as some of the worst in the entire nation.
From jammed-up I-5 no matter what time of day, to 405 "S" curves that no one has figured out how to navigate, the traffic around here is horrible. Add to that deteriorating bridges that are largely ignored, like the one leading to Mount Rainier that was recently closed due to its extreme unsafe condition, or Highway 18 on which road "improvements" have continued for the last 30 years, there is very little to say about the traffic with a positive outlook. Even traffic lights are often out of sync so cars backup. Car after car after car. In the afternoon, it will literally take a half hour to get through one light near my house that allows cars across the overpass of a popular highway.
You might think there's absolutely nothing that can be done other than to bring along your favorite book to read while driving. I've actually seen that many times. It's illegal to look at your cell phone while driving but apparently a book is okay. Those drivers have it down perfectly. The book is held between both hands high on the steering wheel so it's very easy to read while creeping ahead, inch by inch.
Traffic. Often have I thought, "there must be a better way to get there." Hence the title, "There must be an app for that."
My favorite app is Google Maps. I use it all the time. I'll even use it to map directions to the grocery store. A recent evening, I picked my daughter up from a birthday party all of five miles from my house. Guess what I used to get there? Google maps. Its suggested route took me on quite a back roads adventure. I'm not really convinced it was faster but at least I was moving (along with four other cars that made every turn with me).
Despite definite times that I've disagreed with its directions, Maps usually does a pretty good job of picking a faster way to wherever it is that I'm going.
Google Maps, congratulations on being my current number one app. Thanks for getting me from point A to B faster than I could without you (most of the time),
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