On Driving - Part 1: The Saga Commences
Ah yes, driving. It's that thing we love to hate... "if only there were decent public transport," we say... only to consider it a huge inconvenience when we find ourself without a vehicle for an afternoon. There is a solution to this problem: nuclear weapons. I say we start over and build Phoenix from the ground up around multiple public transit systems (just like I think we should build ASU from the ground up again with a 1 mile x 1 mile underground parking structure underneath it), however that may spark controversy so I'll leave that debate for another more appropriate time.
I've decided to write an n-part series about my experiences while driving over the past year or so that I've actually been driving (I only got my license last November). My driving experience is almost exclusively contained to Tempe and Chandler. From my house, ASU is an almost straight shot down Rural and church is an almost straight shot down Ray-both are arguably the most main roads in Tempe and Chandler respectively.
So, I've decided to pit Tempe and Chandler against each other, picking out the nuances of the Tempinians and the Chandlites who frequent my commutes. Why make semi-amusing names for the people of Tempe and Chandler respectively? It makes them seem less human when I poke fun at their horrible driving. And yes, we live in Arizona, so the drivers in both cities inherently suck from the outset.
In this saga, I will refer to four distinct entities: Tempe, Chandler, Tempinians, and Chandlites. Tempe and Chandler will refer to the city itself, and anything that's dictated by the government. This includes traffic light timings, road conditions, road work, and anything else that drivers themselves have no control over. Tempinians and Chandlites (aren't those great names?) are the drivers themselves, complete with inherent stupidity.
I have compiled my thoughts over the past couple of weeks (I've been meaning to write on this for about a month now), and I decided it was time to devote all of my blog-worthy energy towards this topic, so for the next couple of weeks (or until I finish the series, basically), I'll write on nothing but driving. So, sit back, relax, and brace yourself for an overly analytical look at something we all take for granted.
General Observations
Having made upwards of 100 trips up and down both Ray and Rural in the past few months, I've realized some glaringly obvious differences between the overall driving experience in Tempe and Chandler:
Light timings: To put it simply, Chandler needs to get its act in gear and take a lesson from Tempe. Tempe's light timings are impeccable; sometimes I wonder whether Chandler's lights aren't controlled by a potent combination of preschoolers and DDR-like traffic control mats (how's that for a mental picture of Chandler's traffic control center? wouldn't surprise me...). Nine times out of ten (depending on traffic), I can drive on Rural (or McClintock) from Warner to University and not miss a light. In fact, when there's relatively few Tempinians around, one can set his cruise control at around 48 and not take it off until he has to turn onto Knox six and a half miles later. Tempe's light timings are consistent and very, very accurate. Chandler, on the other hand, may as well not time its lights at all. There is a groove that will get you through two or three lights at once down Ray, but that's only granted that you can get into that groove and stay at about 50mph the whole time. The thing that bugs me most about Chandler's lights is that when you are sitting at a red light and it turns green, there's about a 95% chance that you'll miss the next intermediate light(s). The major lights are relatively well timed, but when you bring intermediate (a.k.a. between major intersections) lights into the equation all goes to heck very quickly. One of the later installments of the driving saga will touch on light timings exclusively, but that'll give you some clue as to how I feel about that.
The Optimal Lane: I have the firm belief that driving anywhere can be quantified based on a handful of variables and that patterns emerge when doing so, but one of the things that bugs me about Tempe is that the Optimal Lane Theory that I developed in driving to and from church before I started commuting to ASU on a regular basis falls flat on its face. Here's the basis of my theory: when driving on a two-lane road (with a shared middle lane and/or separate left-turn lanes), the left lane will always move faster. This is because of the middle lane's functionality-anyone turning left should not slow down traffic behind it (significantly, at least), because they can join the left-turn lane and wait to turn there. Similarly, people joining traffic from the left have room to accelerate to nearer the flow of traffic before joining, thus reducing the number of times traffic in the left-hand lane have to slow down. On three-lane roads, the center lane should be the fastest. This one's more obvious-if you're in the center lane, you're not turning left or right, so the center lane should just be through traffic exclusively. If only Tempinians realized this...
More to come
Obviously, there's much, much more to come; the two topics I touched on above just scratch the surface of what I have to say. Any comments are welcome, and I'm very interested to hear anyone else's personal experiences driving in either or both city... or some other city in the valley which has its own quirks and annoyances.
So, the saga hath begun... exciting, isn't it?
I've decided to write an n-part series about my experiences while driving over the past year or so that I've actually been driving (I only got my license last November). My driving experience is almost exclusively contained to Tempe and Chandler. From my house, ASU is an almost straight shot down Rural and church is an almost straight shot down Ray-both are arguably the most main roads in Tempe and Chandler respectively.
So, I've decided to pit Tempe and Chandler against each other, picking out the nuances of the Tempinians and the Chandlites who frequent my commutes. Why make semi-amusing names for the people of Tempe and Chandler respectively? It makes them seem less human when I poke fun at their horrible driving. And yes, we live in Arizona, so the drivers in both cities inherently suck from the outset.
In this saga, I will refer to four distinct entities: Tempe, Chandler, Tempinians, and Chandlites. Tempe and Chandler will refer to the city itself, and anything that's dictated by the government. This includes traffic light timings, road conditions, road work, and anything else that drivers themselves have no control over. Tempinians and Chandlites (aren't those great names?) are the drivers themselves, complete with inherent stupidity.
I have compiled my thoughts over the past couple of weeks (I've been meaning to write on this for about a month now), and I decided it was time to devote all of my blog-worthy energy towards this topic, so for the next couple of weeks (or until I finish the series, basically), I'll write on nothing but driving. So, sit back, relax, and brace yourself for an overly analytical look at something we all take for granted.
General Observations
Having made upwards of 100 trips up and down both Ray and Rural in the past few months, I've realized some glaringly obvious differences between the overall driving experience in Tempe and Chandler:
Light timings: To put it simply, Chandler needs to get its act in gear and take a lesson from Tempe. Tempe's light timings are impeccable; sometimes I wonder whether Chandler's lights aren't controlled by a potent combination of preschoolers and DDR-like traffic control mats (how's that for a mental picture of Chandler's traffic control center? wouldn't surprise me...). Nine times out of ten (depending on traffic), I can drive on Rural (or McClintock) from Warner to University and not miss a light. In fact, when there's relatively few Tempinians around, one can set his cruise control at around 48 and not take it off until he has to turn onto Knox six and a half miles later. Tempe's light timings are consistent and very, very accurate. Chandler, on the other hand, may as well not time its lights at all. There is a groove that will get you through two or three lights at once down Ray, but that's only granted that you can get into that groove and stay at about 50mph the whole time. The thing that bugs me most about Chandler's lights is that when you are sitting at a red light and it turns green, there's about a 95% chance that you'll miss the next intermediate light(s). The major lights are relatively well timed, but when you bring intermediate (a.k.a. between major intersections) lights into the equation all goes to heck very quickly. One of the later installments of the driving saga will touch on light timings exclusively, but that'll give you some clue as to how I feel about that.
The Optimal Lane: I have the firm belief that driving anywhere can be quantified based on a handful of variables and that patterns emerge when doing so, but one of the things that bugs me about Tempe is that the Optimal Lane Theory that I developed in driving to and from church before I started commuting to ASU on a regular basis falls flat on its face. Here's the basis of my theory: when driving on a two-lane road (with a shared middle lane and/or separate left-turn lanes), the left lane will always move faster. This is because of the middle lane's functionality-anyone turning left should not slow down traffic behind it (significantly, at least), because they can join the left-turn lane and wait to turn there. Similarly, people joining traffic from the left have room to accelerate to nearer the flow of traffic before joining, thus reducing the number of times traffic in the left-hand lane have to slow down. On three-lane roads, the center lane should be the fastest. This one's more obvious-if you're in the center lane, you're not turning left or right, so the center lane should just be through traffic exclusively. If only Tempinians realized this...
More to come
Obviously, there's much, much more to come; the two topics I touched on above just scratch the surface of what I have to say. Any comments are welcome, and I'm very interested to hear anyone else's personal experiences driving in either or both city... or some other city in the valley which has its own quirks and annoyances.
So, the saga hath begun... exciting, isn't it?