Well, Christmas is right around the corner and to a lot of us New Yorkers that means a ton of congested traffic is as well. During the holidays I try to get in the spirit. As part of my commitment to the holidays in New York I figured I would give you some pointers on how to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to your holiday transit. For those of you who are last minute shoppers, this might be worth reading if you plan on using your car to get your last minute shopping done.
Photo courtesy of redstaplerchronicles.com
Navteq, a company that deals in traffic and location data, released a report back in November that cites the most congested cities and freeways in North America. New York City’s Brooklyn battery Tunnel and Washington Bridge ranked first and second place for “Freeways with the slowest Typical Rush Hour”. New York City also ranked first for U.S. cities with the worst rush hours. For New York City residents this paints an awfully grim picture of what the holiday traffic is actually like, even outside of rush hour. Since we can’t exactly predict how the traffic is going to be on any given day there are still precautions one can take to make it easier on themselves.
Plan Ahead
The best way to avoid holiday traffic is to plan ahead. This means organizing your time accordingly before you venture out for the holiday season. You don’t want to cut your time short. If you plan on visiting the relatives and need to drive, try to leave a couple days before you would have originally. If you can, try not to commute on the weekend which I know is tough to do but if you can avoid the flood of traffic that ensues on the Sunday after the holiday, the better off you’ll be.
Fill Up That Gas Tank
In New York City, especially during the holiday season, traffic can come to a stand still and can do so for an unpredictable amount of time. The last thing you want is to be stuck in traffic and run out of gas. In the city this can be a nightmare for some. Always make sure you’re tank is full. Also keep enough cash on you to refill your tank just in case. If you want to be really ahead of the game than keep a plastic gas tank filled up and in your trunk so, in case you run out of gas before you get to the gas station, you can promptly get some gas in your tank and move onward.
Pay Attention to New York Traffic and Weather Reports
A lot of people make the mistake of not paying attention to these when they really should. If you listen to your local New York city traffic reports throughout the holiday season, you can get a good idea of what routes will be congested and you can begin planning an alternate route to your destination. Also paying attention to the weather report can help you avoid any bad weather that might affect your transit. This coincides with my first tip: Plan ahead. Oh, and be sure to have your snow tires on people!
Keep Your Cool
The holidays are usually associated the joys of sharing and giving, but most of just plain get stressed out! It’s important to keep your cool in these crazy holiday times. Staying calm and collected is key to helping yourself get through holiday traffic. Weather conditions can get bad during the winter and this can lead to an accident especially if you are not thinking clearly. We all know that feeling of urgency when all we want to do is get to our destination. My advice is to stay calm and go the speed limit. You can receive a maximum $600 fine for going more than 30 miles per hour over the speed limit and spend up to thirty days in jail! It may be the holidays but that’s some money I don’t want to share!
Since it is the holiday season, I’ve seen an increase of New Yorkers, like you, come to me with their cars. Hey, we all need some cash once in a while but especially during the holidays! We buy used cars and if you need some cash for yours, stop on by. Maybe you’re a New Yorker who doesn’t want to deal with that crazy traffic whatsoever. In which case, this would make perfect sense. Anyway, I hope everyone has a happy holiday. This is Buddy Evans signing off.
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