On the main Bay Area freeways, traffic congestion is back

How about widening the 1.3 mile highway 1 in Pacifica now, or is there just too much traffic to do that  (another excuse)?

Silicon Valley Mercury News/Mike Rosenberg, 9/4/12.  "As economy rises, so does Bay Area transit congestion."

Its so nice to get back to normal again

More drivers are clogging Silicon Valley's busiest stretch of freeway now than they did during the dot-com bubble. Bay Area trains are more packed than when record gas prices peaked in summer 2008. And the region's biggest airport is busier than its pre-9/11 high.

The reason? The workforce from San Francisco to San Jose is the largest it has been in more than a decade, while East Bay worker totals are at their highest since 2008. And while airports, trains and freeways are busier these days across the country, the trend in the Bay Area is even more pronounced.

"I guess you could say it's kind of exciting to see traffic again," said Jim Wunderman, CEO of the Bay Area Council business group. "If there's frustration -- gripping the steering wheel a little bit harder while sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic -- at least more people are employed."   Read article.

Posted by Kathy Meeh