Calgarians get pretty riled up about traffic, but the Alberta Motor Association says a few easy moves could help get everyone moving.
The AMA says drivers in Calgary spend on average an extra 18 minutes stuck in traffic every day, making it a bigger contributor to delays than collisions, weather or construction.
A worst spots in the city are both on Crowchild Trail, one at 24th Avenue N.W. and the other between University Drive and Memorial Drive.
The AMA has a suggestion for drivers called the zipper merge. It involves drivers in one lane allowing another lane of vehicles to take turns merging together. Studies show the zipper merge can relieve traffic congestion by as much as 40 per cent, but only when everyone takes turns.
Here are more of the AMA’s recommendations:
- Remain patient and recognize everyone is in the same situation
- Drive according to both the official and unspoken rules of the road
- Use your signal lights
- Change lanes when it's safe
- Don't drive distracted
- Acknowledge when the other drivers let you into traffic
- Drive at a speed that's appropriate for the road and traffic conditions
- Be courteous and responsible
And when traffic is driving your crazy, keep in mind that that average commute time in Calgary is only 27 minutes, compared to the worst traffic delay city in Canada, Toronto, where commutes take 32.8 minutes.
