How Geography Affects American Traffic

[@pummer]

It’s called Beaver Geography bc this guy gets soo many chicks from these vids

[@timmmahhhh]

Giggedy giggedy...

[@RedPaganNetwork]

@@timmmahhhh alllriiiiggght!!!

[@MrChilili]

Exactly I know for a fact

[@citizenx2369]

😅😂

[@lightfeather9953]

The geographic constraints are a big part what makes Madison a very well liked city. The forced urbanization of the core land constraint and the exteneive waterfronts give it very high demand and quality of life. Such constraints are actually good for public transit since it funnels routes through a small area, making their bus system great for a city of its size. It would be disastrous to have a highway going through the isthmus. There's a reason many of the highly regarded cities in the world have unusual geography. The land scarcity at a choke point makes it inherently high value land which increases the quality of it. See Manhattan, Venice, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Boston, etc.. Compare to Houston or Dallas which have huge populations but don't have a core that draws people in the same way because there's an endless amount of usable land to spread out into.

[@1000rogueleader]

Land value is high simply due to natural scarcity, regardless of actual quality of life. This leads to high cost of living, which prices out the poor and middle class, leading to these cities becoming primarily playgrounds for the rich.

[@bruhbutwhytho]

This is why we need more public transportation options because sometimes building more roads doesn't work.

[@GISWIZ99]

Building more roads has never worked over the last 3 decades. Mass transit is definitely the way to go if we actually wanna solve congestion issues.

[@Finkaisar]

More roads never work

[@TheRandCrews]

I know man I was on the I-15 from Temecula to San Diego they keep adding more lanes while I was on the way to the airport and almost missed my flight. Legit if I have to take public transit I would have to go to Anaheim and take a train which the trip takes 8 hours compared to 1.5 hours driving.

[@K.B.Williams]

Blame the oil and car companies. Or somehow convince people in your town/city to vote for better public transportation. Good luck with that L.A.

[@trevorthefoamer220]

Sometimes doesn’t fit, because building more roads NEVER work

[@DavidLopez-rk6em]

This channel is gonna be big in a couple years. Urban youtube channels are starting to gain interest. The best thing about this channel is that you cover unique topics. If you make yourself different from other urban channels you'll stand out and people will want to see the unique topics you cover. Some advice to gain subscribers; every once in a while cover cities on different continets to get the attention of people in other countries. I noticed that North Anericans like learning about how bad their cities are designed compared to good ones.

[@gaigetoberman6018]

As a Wisconsinite who regularly visits and drives through Madison I’m happy to finally have an explanation to why this city is ALWAYS busy when I come through

[@artificial_S]

for those that want trasit, stick to trains, not buses. Buses use roads and yall hate roads

[@glennso47]

Fortunately they fixed US 18 where now at certain times of the day they have an express lane going in each direction. And they have a new exit for I90 both on and off. 🎉

[@dZaq]

I think for NYC, it would be worth mentioning that the width of the Hudson River is not the only boundary/obstacle. The fact that Manhattan borders NJ on every single crossing of the Hudson is extremely significant. That's when you get into the Port Authority, and other public-private partnerships that create literal barriers to construct better connectivity between the two states. I'm pretty sure that these two states have the highest interstate commuter traffic than any others in the country. State boundaries and governments are definitely a huge issue.... We could have already had a second Hudson Rail Tunnel if it weren't for politics between states (*cough cough* Chris Christie). Also, the density of Manhattan Island is more of a factor than the width of the Hudson.

[@shanekeenaNYC]

The density creates a barrier because the residents of the island won't allow cross-borough expressways as have been built in the Bronx, Queens, and parts of Brooklyn. That's the epitome of holdout mentality and it's a recurring trend that frankly holds back the construction of a much smoother and quicker system overall.

[@eriknovak496]

@@shanekeenaNYC some cities were built for cars (mostly newer cities), others weren't. NYC by and large wasn't. It's very hard to change a city that wasn't built for cars into one that is without razing down entire neighborhoods. Similarly, it's hard to change a car-dependent city into one like NYC without razing neighborhoods and densifying them. Manhattanites didn't want their whole city upholstered, much like people in Houston wouldn't want to evict an entire neighborhood and move into mid-rises. I personally HATE car dependency, and would have to be paid a huge premium to live in such a city. So, I'm happy NYC remains as such; there remains a refuge for those like me. However, my dislike of cars holds no bearing on my understanding that a city is either built for cars or not, and there really is no switching between the two. NYC with a Manhattan freeway would not have become like Houston, and adding those weak irrelevant light rail lines in Dallas doesn't make it like NYC. Car-dependent cities don't benefit much from public transit, and NYC wouldn't benefit much from a freeway. I CAN see the appeal for a freeway connection underneath Manhattan linking Long Island to NJ, but the US is too politically gridlocked to build large infrastructure today, so that's not happening. It would basically in a sense be a freeway that "avoids" the city, though, so is different to what you propose.

[@shanekeenaNYC]

@@eriknovak496 I'm not saying that NYC has to basically become houston, or vice versa, but each type of city can learn a thing or two from each other. My point is that at some point someone has to give. Also, the suggestion that any certain type of city wouldn't benefit from a type of transportation solution that isn't prevalent within its own limits is being subborn, complacent, and unimaginative, to put it mildly.

[@GI4JESUS]

I'm sure, the NYC Metro as with many metros in the USA would have better roads and commuter infrastructure if it wasn't for yay-nay politrics

[@dZaq]

@@GI4JESUS Exactly, and that circles back to my main point. NYC is unique in that it literally borders NJ. The subway links the boroughs (somewhat), but the connectivity from Jersey to Manhattan is poor.

[@Connie.T.]

As somebody from Indianapolis, there's definitely a trade-off. When a city is constrained geographically, it is forced to be more dense. That means that, even if it's hard to get there, everything you need is right there once you're in the urban core. To go between destinations is either 10 minutes walking or 90 driving and there's no in-between. In Indy, everything is a 45 minute drive, with no walking. It's so spread out that specialty destinations like major hospitals, schools, theatres, etc are usually about 10 mi away, and the unbounded sprawl makes traffic from congestion and constant construction on main roads a minor nightmare, even in the suburbs.

[@CortexNewsService]

Chicago has the worst of both worlds. The lake forces a lot of the freeways in one direction, north to south. It's why the Dan Ryan and Kennedy freeways can have heavy traffic even after midnight (I've been stuck in that traffic myself). But west and south there aren't any barriers, it's all plains. So you get an incredibly dense urban core where the freeways themselves become barriers, but then also a massive sprawl going out 50 miles. Even if you're staying within one part of Chicago, say the north side, you have to assume a minimum of a half hour. North side to south side? If you get on Lake Shore Drive at the wrong time of day we're talking an hour because half the city is using it. And to the suburbs... I once lived in Edgewater, a Lakeshore neighborhood in the city, and worked in Rolling Meadows, a suburb that was maybe 20 miles as the crow flies. I NEVER made the commute in less than 50 minutes.

[@Golden63]

Great video! One thing I wanted to point out: although geography is an important factor, cities that can expand evenly at all directions can still have chaotic traffic. Just look no further than Houston.

[@scpatl4now]

...or Atlanta

[@joseaguirre744]

It is cheaper to build that convoluted infrastructure system though.

[@GeneaVlogger]

Taking the Fort Pitt tunnel at night is my absolute favorite view of Pittsburgh. Seeing the city pop as soon as you leave the tunnel is just amazing.

[@PokeTube]

As someone who lives in Pittsburgh, thank you for mentioning this

[@paulmentzer7658]

Pittsburgh has several problems, first is Mt Washington and the Pittsburgh seam of coal. The Pittburgh seam starts in Mt Washington and goes south into West Virginia. The coal from the Pittsburgh seam is among the best coal to make steel with (steel is Iron with a high Carbon content, carbon that comes from coal). Some of the first inclines on Mt Washington were gravity incline designed to use the weight of coal going down the cliff side of Mt Washington (The north side of Mt Washington is a steep cliffside eroded over thousands of years by the Mongahlia river). Later on passenger and vehicle inclines were installed to haul people and goods up and down Mt Washington. As the mines under Mt Washington were mined out, coal mines were opened further south. Given Mt Washington was in the way, these mines hauled they coal to either Carnagie on Chartiers Creek (which empties into the Ohio at McKees Rocks down steam from Pittsburgh) or to McKeesport, up the Mongahlia River from Pittsburgh. This also meant the main roads in the 1800s in the South Hills of Pittsburgh also headed for these two cities NOT to Pittsburgh. You did have two Stagecoach lines, the first was up Sycamore Street to the top of Mt Washington, the second a "flatter" route to Brownsville. The problem with both these routes is the terrain made them horse killers so most people in the South Hills went to Pittsburgh via the Mongahelia River or Chartier's creek. In 1869 an attempt to solve this problem was tried. The effort started with a narrow gauge railway from Castle Shannon to what is now South Hills junction, then through an abandoned coal mine under Mt Washington, then down a gravity incline to Carson street. Unlike the present transit tunnel, this tunnel was fairly flat and ended where Vinecliff street and Sycamore streets intersects, half way upthe mt Washington cliffside. Then the coal hauled by the train and any passenger took a gravity incline down to Carson Street. The above system lasted just over ten years. Till 1905 the narrow gauge railroad still hauled coal throgh the tunnel but in the 1880s passengers were no longer permitted to go through the tunnel. Instead a new Vehicle Incline was built net to the older gravity incline to haul passengers and wagons to the top of Mt Washington. At the top passengers would take a Cable Car down the other side to the Narrow Gauge raulway. In the 1890s, using the then brand new electric trolley pole electrical system, the Pittsburgh Railway Company built what is now Arlington Avenue. That opened up the Knoxville Area to people to move to (The knoxille Incline was also built to haul wagons to Knoxville). The streetcar line was extended down Warrington Avenue (Then know as Washington Road), then to present day PA 51, then to present day West Liberty Avenue, then to Brookline, Dormont and Washington road in Mt Lebanon. In 1905 the present transit tunnel was drilled and the old narrow gauge tunnel was closed and sealed off. Pittsburgh Railway converted the Narrow Gauge railway to Streetcar and rerouted the line to the present transit tunnel. Pittsburgh Railway also built the line to Beechview. While the above was going on people living in Donora and Charleroi build a line from those two boroughs to Castle Shannon then to Mt Lebanon. From Mt Lebanon that streetcar line could run on the streetcar tracks installed on a Public Street, they had to pay a fee set by the then New Pennslyvania Public Utility Commission but Pittsburgh Railway could NOT prevent them fro running on those tracks. Now the Pittsburgh Railway could FORBID such streetcars from runninng on any exclusive right of way owned by the Pittsburgh Railway, which by 1905 included the old narrow gauge railroad route and the Transit tunnel. Thus the Chareroi, Donora and Washington (Another Narrow gauge between Washington PA and Castle Shannon taken over and converted to a Streetcar line) had to use what is now West Liberty Avenue to present day PA 51, then up Warrington Avenue, then down Arlington Avenue, then across the Smithfield Street Bridge (which had an exclusive streetcar section but the Bridge was City owned thus Pttsburgh railway coul not prevent other streetcars from using the bridge). The above only lasted a few years, the lines all merged into the Pittsburgh Railway and Chareroi, Donora and Washington lines were all converted to using the old narrow gauge line and the transit tunnel thus avoiding West Liberty Avenue, Saw Mill Run, Warrington Avenue and Arlington Avenue. The above finally opened up the South Hills to sububan housing for for the first time you had a good, quick way to go from the South Hills to Pittsburgh. You still had roads going to Carnegie and McKeesport ut Mt Washington was no longer a barrier. In 1927 the Liberty Tunnel and Bridge opened up the South Hills to Automotive traffic. In 1939 both Banksville Road and Saw Mill Run Boulevard were completed opening up een more of the South Hills. In 1952 the Washington Streetcar line was cut bak to the Drake loop and the Chareroi and Donora routes were cut back to Library PA. Both routes survived for they went on mostly their own Right of Way which meant both were often faster then driving (which is amazig given how many stops these streetcars do to pick up and drop off passengers). 40 years ago there was a 'race" between a driver in a car and a passenger taking the Library streetcar from Library to the City County Building (this was when the streetcars ran on the Streets of Downtown not the 1980s subway tunnel). The automobile driver arrived at the City-County building first (the driver did not have to look for a parking space in this Race) but within two minutes the streetcar passenger arrived. You will read that the "Average Speed" of Pittsburgh Light Rail Vehicle is only 13 mph but given the traffic and traffic lights on PA88 and PA 51, the "Average Speed" on those two highways is not that much higher. I wen into the above to show that getting "Around" Mt Washington was difficult and took decades to be achieved. Mt Washington is still the biggest impediment to travel in the Pittsburgh area but it was easier and cheaper (and even may provide faster movement) to work around Mt Washington using Streetcars then Automobiles. In many ways the history of transportion between Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh's South Hills shows if you want to speed up traffic flow in that area, work on Light Rail Systems that go on their own right of way.

[@Alligatchomp]

You should start this like whole series where an entire video details like one city and explains all the geography and history behind it, i think that would be cool.

[@alexg6446]

The George Washington Bridge is actually the busiest bridge in the world seeing a quarter million cars cross every day

[@Ibelikemj]

They also charge like $20 a toll crossing coming from New Jersey

[@DingoXBX]

yeah i live only 10 miles from the bridge in New Jersey but it could take up to 40 minutes just to cross the bridge

[@tompeled6193]

Madison needs a Waunakee Freeway just south of SR 19 to complete the north part of the beltway. It starts west at US 12, cuts through Westport, crosses SR 113, and finishes east at I-90/94.

[@MassiveChetBakerFan]

These cities need proper sidewalks shaded by trees and cycle lanes, plus mass transit (trams, trains, BRT, subways, etc.), surrounded by high-density, mixed-use buildings. Carving even more freeways through the heart of a city is a recipe for a horrible city and the expanded capacity induces even more demand.

[@danman7903]

I know it’s not the USA but a very notable traffic situation like this is how you can only take one non-tolled highway (401) to go east/west across Ontario, so locals in Toronto, the largest city in Canada end up having to share the busiest highway in North America with thousands of semis who have no other choice when going through Montreal and Detroit or just the GTA in general. If you aren’t familiar with Ontario take a look at a map and keep in mind the 407, which was created to act as an effective by-pass to Toronto is now a privately owned toll road with some of the most expensive fees on the planet. The 407 becoming less expensive would be an absolute game changer for the industrial areas responsible for exporting a large share of the traffic (especially for Brampton, Vaughan, Mississauga) but until that happens the 401 will remain the overpacked monstrosity that its been allowed to become

[@jerodstanley3752]

DFW mainly sprawls to the north. Also, the Fort Worth side has some sprawl to the south. It is interesting to point out that downtown Dallas is located on the north side of the Trinity River while downtown Fort Worth is located on the south side. The locations of the original towns had a great influence on the development as metro areas tend to sprawl uphill and upwind.

[@V15lol]

Id say Ft Worth has the exact same sprawl to the north as well, as it extends basically all the way to denton

[@vincegay986]

I’m surprised the mountain passes in the Los Angeles area aren’t mentioned here. In any case, these are all great arguments, among many, for reducing car dependency, and building more mass transit.

[@nicholasselke5214]

I always viewed these as arguments for not living in a major city. I can say firsthand though, even with downtown construction closing an entire section of the interstate right now, getting around Indianapolis isn’t that bad

[@vincegay986]

@@nicholasselke5214 Seems like suburbanites spend at least as much time stuck in traffic as city dwellers do.

[@eriknovak496]

@@nicholasselke5214 indeed, obviously living a car-centric lifestyle can either be done in a car-centric city like Houston or out in the rural. The shifty, inconsistent scenario that Americans dub the "suburb" aren't particularly inviting to me in general, but certainly even less when I can actually live car-free in a real city. If I have to drive everywhere, then I'd rather live out in a very rural location. While that life isn't for me in general, it is at least logically consistent and I can understand the appeal. The odd middle ground of suburbia, however, remains an odd anthropological choice to me as a non-American. Personally, there only really exists one liveable city in the US: NYC. It does the walkable 5-city concept well enough. Chicago, Boston, Philly and SF are also survivable. If I can't live in these cities and thus ditch a car entirely, I might as well distance myself from society. You can't make a car-dependent city into a walkable one, I don't think. All you can do is create half attempts that help little. A city is either dead or alive, and I'd rather live rurally than in a dead city, while of course preferring to live in an alive one first and foremost

[@vincegay986]

@@eriknovak496 I’m American, and I feel the same way about where I prefer to live, having lived in urban cores, rural areas, and suburbs. If I must be in a ‘burb, at least let it be one with good rail transit to the metro’s hubs. I hold a little more hope for the core areas of some of our more car-centric metros, but something-shortages? high prices?-will have to make people in those areas want to become less car-dependent.

[@williamhild1793]

Just discovered your channel last night, and subscribed right away. Thank you for exploring an esoteric, yet fascinating subject of roads and traffic. You are doing a great job with your channel.

[@matthewluecke3704]

I visited Salt Lake City once and came away with the opposite impression. I thought the downtown had way too many lanes of traffic for how few cars there were.

[@komischeskind]

I'm learning quite a lot about the quirks of the US road network here, so I'm really happy to support you! Keep up the good work!

[@BeaverGeography]

Appreciate you so much dude

[@ayeeeeeeee6240]

building light rail, commuter rail and subway might be able to help this!!

[@markmoreiras7649]

Note about new york, the main issue with the George Washington bridge is that it is the only way to go through the city to new England and the nearest detour on the tappan zee bridge is about 15 miles north. So it not only takes on all of the northern NJ commuters but also all of the through traffic on i95 which is a mess in the city

[@oaxtec765]

Great video! A part 2 would be so great, I loved all the cities you mentioned would be in it at the end of the video, I would add the 2 largest cities in New England (Boston + Providence). There 2 very old designs (horrible street network for traffic), major body's of water (Charles river and Boston harbor in Boston and seeconk river and Narragansett bay in Providence), hilly topography, high bluffs, and just general layout have very large impacts on traffic that are worth looking at.

[@MrChilili]

If only they knew how big their cities would grow

[@vincegay986]

Or if only development and transportation planning hadn’t assumed that individual private motor vehicles would work well as a primary mode of transportation.

[@Jfxkxdvrvr]

@@vincegay986 keep eating up the social media propoganda. You will own nothing

[@bluecyclone7077]

@@Jfxkxdvrvr you can own a car and still take a train when you want to genius

[@Jfxkxdvrvr]

@@bluecyclone7077 and deal with crackheads? I’m good bro lol. Why do that when I can drive right to my destination?

[@thesharinganknight]

@@Jfxkxdvrvr it'll only make you a tougher person

[@nb2008nc]

How can you not mention DC? It is bottlenecked to thru traffic by the Potomac River. You almost have to take 95 there, and there are only two river crossings to thru traffic, both using the beltway.

[@marsgal42]

(He's going to talk about Seattle, isn't he?) Yup. I-5 is nuts. Twelve lanes (plus I-405 if you want the scenic route) and totally inadequate.

[@bonecanoe86]

In a good chunk of eastern Pennsylvania traffic is largely constrained by Blue Mountain, which is a huge geographic barrier in the state. To make a road through it you have to do one of three things: Go over the top (like 309 or 183), tunnel under it (like 476), or use one of the rare water gaps (like 61 or 248). This creates some pretty bad traffic snarls, particularly at rush hour in the Lehigh Gap as a lot of people in Carbon County commute to the Allentown area to work and have to all squeeze in a tight area to go home.

[@praxedes2]

As a Summit Hill native, I absolutely understand the geography challenges you're discussing. However, having lived in Delco for a while now, I had a good chuckle at this. I've never had an experience from the Lehigh Valley going either North or West, that is even mildly comparable to commuting the Blue Route from 95 to Plymouth Meeting, or taking the Surekill Expressway through the city out to the Main Line, or on occasion crossing the bridges from Jersey, let alone trying to get from Newark, DE to Philly on a Friday afternoon, or the Atlantic City Express or DE-1 on a summer weekend. The biggest traffic concerns I had living in Carbon County were snow and ice rather than volume; oh and staying away from Pocono on a race weekend.

[@jjcnpa]

It's a factor in Harrisburg as well as all traffic toi the northwest is funneled through 322 west due to Blue Mt. On Penn State football weekends it is a nightmare.

[@stenbak88]

It’s fun to watch through history how cities used to be placed in essential places and over time they figure everything out. However over the last 100 years any new city is placed wherever bc of technology and modern amenities

[@Son_Of_Atreides]

I feel so ... vindicated to see I-24 through Chattanooga make the list. Whenever I have to go through there I always add time to the trip estimate. There is never not a problem except late at night or early in the morning.

[@TheWolfHowling]

I was almost waiting for an Alan Fisher style train montage because the answer to "fixing traffic" isn't more roads, it's less cars. For example, Seattle is spending tens of billions to expand their Link LRT network

[@TheTikeySauce]

The fact that Link already has higher ridership than pre-pandemic (as of Sept 2022) shows how important alternate modes of transportation is. Combine that with a new regional BRT system in the next few years that overlaps with the existing regional express bus system and Link, I do think that we can make serious strides to reduce congestion in the region overall while also getting the next generation acclimated to riding transit as the norm.

[@CartoonDrama44]

No city is "destined for bad traffic" with help of some good urban planning. Look at Tokyo metro area, almost 40 mil people living there and still the traffic and people flow, whereas in the US, sub-1 mil cities are choking in traffic because of the crazy car dependency.

[@doitperfect9420]

Their subway trains still get severely packed during rush hours lol. Just a different type of traffic that still sucks.

[@jasonhsu4711]

@@doitperfect9420 At least people who use the subways instead of the cars/SUVs/CUVs/pickups to commute get more exercise and don't have to pay attention to the road.

[@ChrisStargazer]

Oddly enough, some of the worst traffic in the country is in Hawaii (Honolulu); just horrible! Everybody trying to get into the city but few options other than to join the slow-moving herd on H1 or H2. I can’t wait for flying cars… As usual, awesome video presented in an easily-understood, personal manner. Great job! 👍🏼

[@Ibelikemj]

Route H1 is one of the worst highways I’ve ever been on, narrow lanes. Tight and windy, going through downtown. It’s awful. It caused me the most stress by far in Hawaii during the 10 days I was there.

[@ChrisStargazer]

@@Ibelikemj I can sympathize, H1 is the most direct route for my morning commute to work. There have been tjmes when it’s taken me 45 minutes to move 2 car lengths! You may also notice that while drivers here tend to use their horns way less than on the mainland, they’re also some of the least-knowledgable drivers on the planet. As was mentioned in the video regarding other cities, I don’t think those who planned H1 and H2 in the 50s and 60s (and to a lesser extent, H3 in the 90s) thought traffic would get *that bad* especially on an island.

[@GenericUrbanism]

If only hart could come soon enough.

[@vincegay986]

Honolulu is a big city, with lots of visitors, squeezed between mountains and ocean, with no real rapid transit. Not surprised that its traffic is a nightmare, or that building, widening, or extending more highways won’t really help. All it would do is maybe move the induced demand and the bottlenecks.

[@tudorjason]

Especially during the on-season, I imagine. The state has about 1 million people. But 8 million visit HI every year. I think HI probably experiences the greatest increase in population because of its tourism compared to any other state.

[@Anouyz]

Very nice for a video that talks so much about interstates and highways to not harp on about highways being bad and bicycles being good instead of just talking about the CURRENT situation.

[@timholland1764]

Great video. I would love to see a video dedicated just to the New York area traffic. Seeing it on a map and driving through it fairly regularly Just shows how crazy and chaotic it is

[@jasonreed7522]

NYC is basically the definition of what a real city is, and as such it will always have congestion issues even with good public transit. (Which NYC should basically never stop expanding, but as others have said state level politics get involved when dealing with NJ and CT connections, but mainly its NJ - Manhattan connections that get affected)

[@chefssaltybawlz]

Houston grows to the west but it looks circular. The eastern half is rural and/or industry, warehouses, Houston ship channel factories. The west side never ends 😫

[@danieldaniels7571]

Katy has entered the chat...

[@chefssaltybawlz]

@@danieldaniels7571 In high school when me and the homies went to San Antonio I remember us stopping at Katy mills mall for food because we waited to get “away from the city” now that area is packed 😂

[@grantorino2325]

Fun Fact: NASA's *Johnson Space Center* is located less than 5 miles east of the city. Because of this, the very first word ever spoken on the Moon was........... "Houston." 🚀🌙🇺🇸

[@chefssaltybawlz]

@@grantorino2325 Yes I love that one. We actually go to the space center as a field trip. Or at least we did when I was in school many many years ago 😂

[@rackss1661]

@@chefssaltybawlzHouston actually has more suburbs to it’s North and East

[@tom-four]

do one on Charleston SC, where many roads converge on a small downtown on a flood-prone peninsula. I started typing this before you said Charleston at the end! I used to live there. side note I live in Lex KY now and was tickled to hear it on your "cities with no suburbs" video! I love your work! i have a hyper fixation on roads/maps/geography and you feed my brain thank you

[@Ibelikemj]

This is a smaller city but Portland Maine is on a thin strip isthmus surrounded Casco Bay with really only one or two ways out which is I-295 or Route 77 into South Portland.

[@Kylora2112]

The positive sude is that Portland isn't that big of a city and there's enough access via I-95 to get you to the north/west side of the city without a lot of fuss. I'd certainly rather drive in and around Portland than I would Manchester, Boston, or Hartford.

[@jamierayg]

I would love to hear your thoughts on how New Orleans is affected by the factors you mentioned in this video!

[@kafn0912]

I gotta say that I'm addicted to your voice. It's so different, not robotic IDK...it feels like I'm having a conversation with a friend. Also, the way you ask people to like and subscribe is cool, especially the "Thank you" at the end...and of course, your video content is amazing.

[@BeaverGeography]

Love you

[@tudorjason]

2:07 - Seattle is built on and around an isthmus with river running through it. In the 90s, I played SimCity Classic and found a map with an isthmus and used it as the downtown. Then when SimCIty 4 came out, I created my own map that included an isthmus to see how traffic would work

[@bradwilliams7198]

Hopefully you had the good sense to build a rail system, rather than waiting 40 years like Seattle did IRL!

[@TN2ID]

I live in Chattanooga and I completely agree. It’s also growing so quickly that in the upcoming years it’s going to be horrible!

[@isaacsevan]

the salt lake metro has some interesting things going on…they’re expanding an existing expressway (which will be built out to a full freeway with hov lanes eventually) within the next couple years that will run south into utah county on the west side of utah lake. they’re also building a new freeway north of salt lake city that will run northwest into the suburbs by the great salt lake. until then, though, i-15 remains the only way up and down the metro. awesome video!

[@J523-j8m]

I didn't know this. That's awesome

[@isaacsevan]

@@J523-j8m right? utah’s got a bright future for freeways with all the population growth going on!

[@jeffs4483]

This could be expanded into a series. Well done.

[@spamwaits]

Funnily enough, it's not the Bay Bridge that is the main issue for traffic in San Francisco, it's the elevated highway that runs through SF between the Bay Bridge and US-101. Having only 3 lanes in each direction to manage the traffic flows(at points, it merges down to 2) can get hectic for not only the main route, but the side streets as well. At times, it would take 1 hour to go from the south side of SF to SF Downtown because of this choke point. Literally 1 hour to go about 5 miles.

[@smileyeagle1021]

Salt Lake City and Miami do have the advantage that the same thing that makes them a nightmare for building roads makes them a good option for building transit. The same thing that funnels cars onto one freeway can be used to transit riders to one rail line, supporting much higher frequencies than would be typical for a city of that size. And, Salt Lake has been pretty aggressive with adding transit (with three light rail lines, a street car line, and a regional rail line).

[@lamegaming9835]

imo urban planning is by far the driving force of how much traffic a city has

[@JPDcuber]

Great video. I'd like to mention Boston as a potential city if you make a part 2. I'm excited to see how big you are in a year or so.

[@RikSandstromCalifornia]

Great video! How about doing one on the highways in the Atlanta area. I was there on business in 2017 or 2018 and during rush hour it took almost 2 hours to go 8 miles.

[@andrewtaylor3167]

And then you have cities that actively grew towards their more difficult terrain. Birmingham grew to south because the difficult terrain blocked out the pollution back when it's industry was focused on steel mills and the EPA was yet to be enforced. The white flight suburbs were way more established because people had already been fleeing there well before the 60s and 70s.

[@madisonbunten3082]

I have a smaller city/town for ya: Missoula, MT. The traffic gets worse every year as more and more people move there. It may be MUCH smaller than ALL of the cities you have mentioned but it's road layout is exceptionally bad. There's a river running through town with traffic choked bridges, it's in a valley in the middle of the Rockies, and there are sections of the city layout where a chunk of MANY city blocks will be turned 45°. There are some truly awful and confusing intersections. Lots of fun.

[@TransportSimulatorNationTSN]

Atlanta all though spread out, but traffic is just horrible

[@sickofguysnamedtodd2293]

They have the MARTA for public transportation, but the problem with it is it doesn’t go very far outside the 285 perimeter. And most of the Atlanta metro population lives in the suburbs outside the perimeter.

[@FatManWalking18]

the nerve of city founders not thinking about horseless carriages, freeways, interchanges and suburban sprawl when they founded and laid them out over 300 years ago. the nerve i tell you!!!!! [sarcasm]

[@andrews8733]

Great video. Never would've thought of some place like Madison having traffic issues. Cool insight.

[@cjmorganwx]

I was born and raised in pittsburgh but have since moved to Sarasota County, FL. Traffic is bad here, don’t get me wrong, but NOTHING like I remember back home. The one thing i always hear when people go to Pittsburgh for the first time is “how the hell do you navigate this city” and man… thats the truth! The geography totally makes navigating the city by car frustrating and I never noticed that until I moved away and lived in an area that is so newly built up.

[@yulyeong9220]

You're the channel that probably mentions pittsburgh the most which I like because I love the city

[@briancatanzaro6053]

Oh yes. I have spent much time sitting in traffic at the Fort Pitt Tunnel and Squirrel Hill Tunnel on I-376.

[@its_sun7906]

I was wondering If you had a video on the interstate 10 is there one out there somewhere?

[@tomthedespoiler]

Asheville would be super interesting to see. I spent a couple years living in Old Fort/Black Mountain, and the Blue Ridge mountains really make settlement patterns in western NC fascinating.

[@coasteringkid]

It's also interesting how there are multiple rivers that cross the Appalachians, making it easier to build roads and train tracks through the mountains in the valleys.

[@spencerallison3196]

Beaver: Everyone has to take I-15 215 in that picture: Am I a joke to you?

[@JeffRozanVideos]

Great video as always

[@thetrainhopper8992]

We have this mystical thing called “BART” in the San Francisco Bay Area. You don’t need to drive to San Francisco proper from the East Bay. We rejected a second bridge and it’s not like there is anywhere to dump the traffic anyways.

[@ameliah708]

Awesome video!! I love your videos, they are so interesting and high quality:) + you put out a lot of content. :D

[@dylanlowers5236]

I have been lucky to live north of Pittsburgh so anytime I visit the city it’s from 279 but even then, I have been stuck in the worst bumper to bumper traffic from the 79/279 split in Cranberry Township to the North Shore which is like 18 miles

[@malikshabazz2065]

great stuff!

[@christiandevey3898]

In Canada, Ottawa/Gatineau has the problem of not enough bridges across the Ottawa river

[@dereku_09]

As someone from PIT, shocked u didn’t talk about route 28. Always has traffic.

[@ralphjames1211]

There's three cities you forgot to mention and their respected routes! I-25 thru Albuquerque, I-10 thru El Paso, and I-40 and I-55 in Memphis! Albuquerque is layed in a narrow valley corridor with mountains on the east and an uplifted plateau to the west with I-25 as the only major route thru it all! And as far as El Paso is concerned, if you ever been on I-10 thru El Paso, you know west of downtown is the infamous pass that I-10, the Border Tollway, Mesa Street and US 85 have to squeeze real tight thru, with a combined 22 lanes max in such a tight squeeze area due to terrain that connects Western El Paso to the Downtown area! You literally got mountains on one side of that area and Mexico on the other side! And the only other way around all that mess is to cross the mountains on loop 375 or take 2 lane NM hwy 404 for only a combined 6 lanes more! That is only 28 lanes total to cross from east to west in El Paso! And let's now get on with Memphis, Tennessee! Oh boy, only 2 bridges crossing the Mississippi river there to connect downtown Memphis with the western suburbs in Arkansas on only 10 lanes combined max!

[@sickofguysnamedtodd2293]

And they had to close the Hernando De Soto bridge on 40 because there was cracks in the structure that could’ve caused a collapse. I can only imagine the truck traffic alone on the 55 bridge, then add cars to the mix.

[@rackss1661]

Facts I live in Eastern Ark close to Memphis they definitely need to build a new bridge on the northside of the city and Memphis need another outer beltline. Memphis suburbs are growing

[@Imbored__2921]

About time I have an explanation for the traffic in Miami for the palmero there are like 3 alternate routes you can take all of them end before the end of the highway so it forces you to go on

[@jnieto490]

Yeah got tired of crossing the Bay bridge especially during holiday season so I took Bart and man that was nice 😅 way less stressful

[@cagedtigersteve]

Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton Roads, Newport News, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Williamsburg region.

[@MateodeJovel]

The limitations highlight how important is for some to cities to immediately improve their transit systems, because they reach the limits of cars at their current volumes

[@caseyjones5145]

Walking & biking should be integrated in such a way that it is just as fast to get to locations as it is by car. Also we need to seperate cars & not cars, so bikers getting plowed into is less frequent

[@Hectick]

This was a cool video! I'd love to see one for Canada cities too

[@jamesmoran8294]

Big point about NYC and traffic: There is no way to go from Long Island to metropolitan New Jersey without going through Manhattan, or taking huge detours. If you want to get to Newark from Jamaica, you'd have to take one of those three Hudson crossings, take the Verazzanno Bridge over to Staten Island, and then either the Bayonne or Goethals Bridges, or take the Tappan Zee Bridge several miles north. What NYC needs is a bypass tunnel to go completely underneath Manhattan, avoid congesting the island, and take some stress from the three existing crossings.

[@sfdjk]

widening the roads wouldnt make traffic any better becuase of induced demand

[@penskepc2374]

The hills in Pittsburg are absolutely nuts.

[@sfdjk]

a lot of these things would just be an intresting feature and not a problem if american wasnt so car centric

[@jlpack62]

We had choices about our cities a century ago but we basically went all-in on the car instead of thinking in a more complex way about development and transportation.

[@theconservativegamer_0485]

Beaver Geography please talk about Baton Rouge, Louisiana in your next traffic video it has worse traffic then Shreveport and New Orleans combined.

[@timthehistorian]

Usually unless it's rush hour it wasn't too hard to get to Saint Pete. I grew up in TPA but moved almost 2 years ago because all the northerners moving in was making rent prices too high.

[@Dim.g0v]

Austin Texas has an odd shape and terrible traffic management. Worth a look for the series.

[@mattdeeeezy]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Honolulu! Hands down the worst traffic I've ever been in throughout the US. H1 is both wide and narrow depending on where you are; in town, it's barely 4 lanes in each direction (they narrowed the previously three lanes to squeeze a fourth lane in), whereas on the west side through Pearl City it's almost double that but the traffic is just as bad.

[@jjcnpa]

Philly has horrific traffic and geography does play a part due to the Schuylkill and to a lesser extent, Delaware rivers. There is also a substantial hill just west of the Schuylkill River. That is why expanding the Schuylkill expressway is pretty impossible.

[@andresgarcia1520]

Great video I’ve been watching all year best thing on KZbin rn I hope you do include a part two to this video in reference to the cities you mentioned in the ending 👍🏽🤙🏽

[@lakerskid2013]

Indianapolis is a pretty basic setup. I-465 is the loop around the outskirts while I-70 is mostly straightforward and I-65 does go briefly west on the north end of downtown but then turns northwest toward Chicago. I-65 and 70 do merge but for barely even 2 miles at that, actually a bit less. I-69 though is about to go around the outskirts like I-74 does (joining with I-465) once that portion is built from Evansville to here.

[@AlexDahlseid2002]

Sarasota which i would move to in couple of years which is geographically restrained by its proximity to Gulf of Mexico and Sarasota Bay respectively and this has its benefits such as compact spacing which allows for space for mom and pop stores and privately owned restaurants.

[@scpatl4now]

You missed another really big choke point for Chattanooga that is much worse than 24 coming from the west. It is 24 coming from the EAST and the Missionary Ridge cut. It is always backed up because you have an incredibly steep gradient (one of the steepest of any interstate). That causes lots of problems with 18 wheelers that have to move to the right lane only going down and they go really slow trying to make the climb...when I saw you mention Chattanooga, I was sure this was what you would be discussing. There really isn't much traffic coming from the west. There isn't much population there. All the population is to the east.

[@tysonstransitcam2190]

Can you do expansive NY coverage? There actually is a play in NYC now called Straight Line Crazy about the highway designer in NY. But the problem with NY is that Robert Moses never got to build the Bushwick, LOMEX, Claerview , or Mid Manhattan Expressways. Also no Long Island Sound Crossing

[@michaelhargus4316]

Visit the Hampton Roads of VA and try to get from the Hampton/ Newport News Area to Norfolk/ Virginia Beach, and one would learn real quick how geography affects traffic

[@sickofguysnamedtodd2293]

Oh yeah I grew up in that area I know all about it. I moved from there in 2004 and when I would come back I’d be shocked at how much growth has come to that area. Lots of places that used to be empty land now have shopping centers and apartments/houses. Which means more residential traffic and worse on the interstates and the geography of the area is limited because the water that surrounds and runs through it so them bridge tunnels are a nightmare.

[@michaelhargus4316]

@@sickofguysnamedtodd2293 I left back in 2015. My parents still live in Hampton and when I go back. the NC driver comes out of me. I've cut off more one former coworker of mine off and didn't realize it until afterwards. VA is finally widening HRBT and I-64 is a nightmare as a result. NC-42 through Clayton (NC) and dealing with all that construction there is nightmare enough for me

[@sickofguysnamedtodd2293]

@@michaelhargus4316 I’m also a North Carolinian who’s transplanted from Virginia, plus I’m a truck driver so I can commiserate with the construction nightmares.

[@developmentallychallenged]

Good job mr beaver man

[@linuxman7777]

I really think Geography has put a limit on how big the Pittsburgh Metro Area can get, At most, I doubt we can go beyond 3 million, the mountains and rivers make developmemt and expansion too difficult.

[@BobbyT.]

I’m honestly fine with that because one thing I really like about Pittsburgh is the size, it’s big enough that there’s plenty to do and see, but not overwhelming large with too many people. Also the geography keeping it from not having crazy urban sprawl makes it better for actually being able to get from one side of town to the other as it’s not as far away

[@marshalbarb]

great video that really explains things, but i feel you should’ve added in new orleans or baton rouge. driving through there is a nightmare because of the thin sliver of city.

[@rosslyn7697]

Excellent topic for discussion, original and interesting.

[@davidthompson184]

The icing on the cake is knowing that there is absolutely no solution of this problem. It’s only going to get substantially worse and there’s nothing we can do about it.

[@BlaineK]

Salt Lake is a growing issue, as the metro area has grown very fast in recent years. UDOT is trying to build new freeways, like the Mountain View Corridor through the west side of the valley, as well as the West Davis Corridor near the western side of the north Salt Lake metro, but they can't keep up with the growth in the area. To compound on these problems, the cities and towns on the other side of the front are sharing in Salt Lake's growth, and with there only being 3 major routes through the mountains, traffic could become a major factor in those areas as well.

[@EricaGamet]

A fairly large city that gets overlooked (since it has no real suburbs) is El Paso, Texas. The main route (I-10) is squeezed between the Franklin Mountains on the north and the international border with Mexico on the south. I lived there for a few years (before moving to the skinny isthmus of Seattle in 2017) and my house sat at one of the narrowest points between the border and the mountain. There is the Transmountain road that goes over the mountain and the border highway that runs along the border fence... but I-10 is what everyone takes and it's very rarely NOT a disaster. Maybe a consideration for Part 2 down the road... keep the videos coming!

[@FusionMonkey847]

And in those cities which have a major interstate running through them that involves a bridge to cross a significant body of water, if something major happens to that bridge, you're talking about a massive traffic issue as alternatives do not exist or are hopelessly inadequate. The Brent Spence Bridge crossing the Ohio River in Cincinnati comes to mind.

[@luis_zuniga]

A really interesting video, I would love a part 2.

[@milliog-man1858]

I remember new york city traffic was so bad 1 day I decided to go with friends the GPS kept tryin to take us to the highway (shore/belt prkwy) in BK I noticed it would be quicker and less of a headache to just ride thru BK to Manhattan

[@ChrisPlaysIC]

Back when they where planning for more interstates besides 90, 94, and 894, there was a book thing I found online from 1963 routes was a Madison loop which would of gone through the Isthmus.