I learned to drive in open fields and country roads. When the time came for our children to learn to drive, I took them out into the country, away from traffic. Both of our children, when they took driver’s education classes, had a day when they went away from town into the country. Their instructors told both that they were very good at driving on narrow gravel roads. It was because that was the only place I had let them drive. Then, with their learner’s permits in hand, I had them drive in an empty parking lot, going from space to space, pulling between the lines and stopping in the right place going forward and backward. They are both excellent drivers. I’m sure they have learned more from experience than from my teaching, but I am proud that they had a good start in their driving.

Another factor in their driving skill is that they both learned to drive in Rapid City, South Dakota. The Black Hills play host to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally early in August each year. The rally is going on this week. For our children learning to drive, their early experiences with heavy traffic involved thousands of motorcycles. They learned to look carefully and maneuver cautiously in traffic.

I learned about driving in traffic from our years living in Chicago. I remember the first time I experienced bumper-to-bumper traffic on the freeway. I had been advised to turn on my radio to get traffic reports, so I knew that I was driving directly into an area of heavy traffic. However, I didn’t have an alternate route planned. The only way I knew to get to my destination was to drive right into the traffic. I remember driving stop-and-go for several miles. Urban traffic surges. It will slow, at times, to a complete stop. Then there will be some motion. Sometimes the traffic will move at a faster pace, up to 30 or 40 mph. Then it slows again, often suddenly. You have to be paying attention to the brake lights ahead. As a result of the surges, rear-end accidents are common, creating more congestion. Drivers then have to be skilled at changing lanes.

I have driven in heavy traffic in many cities. After Chicago, I have driven in New York, Washington, DC, Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Melbourne, and other cities. I am, however, still a small town boy at heart. I prefer to stay away from traffic. I enjoy the open road with few cars in sight. I often choose country roads over the Interstate. It mtight take a bit longer, but the driving is less stressful.

Yesterday was a heavy traffic day for us. We left home a little after 1 pm, heading south. That got us into Seattle traffic before 3. In the summer, however, workers in downtown Seattle are heading out of the city by mid-afternoon, and the traffic was bumper-to-bumper from Everett to Olympia. That is about 80 miles of heavy traffic. If the traffic had been light, it would have taken an hour and a half, but yesterday it took twice as long. When the traffic began to open up, just being able to go 50 mph was a relief. From Olympia to Portland, Oregon, we were able to go 60 to 70 mph.

I saw plenty of examples of dangerous behavior from the drivers. Passing on the median, cutting off other drivers, changing lanes, causing others to brake suddenly - there were lots of examples of what not to do in heavy traffic. Fortunately for us, we were able to negotiate the traffic safely and arrive at my sister’s house at about the time she was expecting us.

We will be visiting family in Portland, and going out to the Oregon coast before heading east at the end of the week. I’m looking forward to driving across less populated areas of Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. We’ll be arriving in South Dakota after the heaviest motorcycle rally traffic. It will be good to have some time on open roads driving at speed.

The world is becoming more crowded. In the United States, transportation systems have not kept up with the population growth. There are other places in the world where dense populations can move about in different ways. We have visited Japan twice. Both times we flew into the Tokyo area, where there are two International airports. Traveling about the city is easy, however, because the train system works so well. Outside of the city, high-speed rail takes people wherever they want to go. We didn't need a car in Japan. We purchased rail passes and were free to travel wherever we wanted. Navigating the rail system is easy even for folks who do not speak Japanese.

There is a train service between our home and Portland. Family members have found it to be a good alternative to driving in Seattle traffic. However, that is the only portion of our current trip that would be practical by train. There is no passenger train service to Rapid City, South Dakota. It is possible to travel by bus, but the times are not convenient and it would take much longer than driving our car. So we drive in traffic and put up with all of the other drivers who have places to go.

For much of yesterday’s drive we were in areas that have high occupancy vehicle lanes. A high-occupancy vehicle in Washington is any vehicle with more than one person. Two of us made us eligible to drive in the HOV lanes. Only a small fraction of the traffic was able to use those lanes, however. At least 80% of the vehicles on the road had only one occupant. Ride sharing could reduce urban traffic by 40% or more.

I am not an urban planner. I am not a transportation authority. But it is easy to see that many problems with urban traffic need to be addressed. So far, however, it doesn’t seem to be a priority for those in power.