Slow Down!

OK Bob,
Thanks for the offer. I can use a few more eyes looking and some more brain cells devoted to maximizing my efficiency. My commute is 27 miles each direction.

Going to Work


Comming Home

 

Yup. 5 days a week for me. Audiobooks keep me sane. I reset the info screen and logged 52.1mpg on the commute in. That's 97miles on the freeway (Avg 70mph) and 3 miles city driving.

 

Do you have any way to test "NE Sandy Blvd" as a direct and hopefully, slower route to work?

Any route has to 'work for you' and Sandy Blvd may have other problems that make it impractical. However, it should be a much slower, average speed and cut a few miles out of the commute. The key is whether you can put up with that traffic pattern and you may need to add time to your commute to save fuel and reduce gasoline costs.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

 

Hi All,

While I have yet to apply this to the grand scale of my commute, there was two areas of my commute that I checked out with Google's Satellite map. In one area there were a bunch of lights on a 40 mph road, that I found a bypass for. The new route went from 5 lights, timed to catch everybody, to two lights and a stop sign, and a 25 mph road in one area, and a 35 mph limit downhill coast (I typically get up to 40, then the road just slopes perfectly for 2 miles for gliding around 37 mph). The middle light in this new route is a left turn, that sometimes I hit the left turn arrow on. As this route is between the gas station and home, I make it a habbit of seeing what the MFD says after refueling. My best so far on this has been 78 mpg, and even in the winter its up in the mid 60's.

Another portion that links onto this route but to a different designation had six stop signs. Using the satellite view, I could see the white lines on the street where stops were. Counting the white lines for alternate routes I found a way with four stop signs and longer glides.

Since these are routes I do weekly or biweekly, it will pay off in the long run to have analyzed them.

 

Yes, I have tried Sandy Blvd. Thank you for the suggestion. Problem with Sandy is that it has some major congestion tie ups of I have marked in Red on the map. These are the type where you sit through two or three changes of a single light before getting through, and the metering lights to get from Sandy to I205 are to commit suicide over.

Most of the birds I know do follow pretty close over Sandy when flying from Beaverton to Camas, but then when Sandy gets to I205, they just keep going in the same direction as Sandy, strait toward Camas.

In my ideal world, Sandy would have an upper deck added for commuters express that would fly over all the intersections, straight over I205 and the Columbia River. The bridge over the river would gradually rise to allow shipping traffic to pass under and terminate at 650 ft with a tunnel through the top of Prune Hill, where I live, marked in Green on the map, Green/Black alternating for the tunnel portion. THen when this is completed I would have them do a similar project on the Beaverton end. THen I would likely change jobs.

 

You might check some the N-S, E-W streets to see if they are less subject to traffic blockages. If they let you keep your speed under 42 mph, ideally ~38 mph, without excessive traffic light grid-lock, you could save some fuel. But as the for "metering lights," I can't help you there and that may be the actual 'show stopper.'

GOOD LUCK!

Bob Wilson

 

Make a poster of a trailer and stick it on the back. Maybe they won't notice the lack of 3D

In CA? I lived there for years and have been back now and then. Rarely have I seen anyone pulling a trailer going 55 unless they couldn't make the hill at 65 (or 75 or ..). Of course, other than in traffic jams, rarely did I see anyone driving speed limit either. Same thing here. The 'limit' on the posted 65 MPH Interstate is generally believed to be "anything under 75". I've been passed by cars on a 50 MPH parallel road when I was doing 65 on the Interstate.

 

You also need to do the reverse to account for elevation change.

 

Bob...

your ability to take a pat simple question and examine it from all sides just blows me away sometimes!!

your input to this site is a major reason why i am here

 

60-65 just won't work in southern Califiornia. It is either stopped dead, or 80 mph. There isn't much in between. This morning I was tailgated by a PT Cruiser at 75 in the HOV lane! The other day, a motorcycle cop passed me as I was doing 75 on the 210. In LA even most of the "slow" hybrids have to drive pretty fast or become speedbumps in the freeway of life. MPGs or not you have to go with the flow. BTW I still get 50+ on my 90 mile R/T commute!

 

What audiobooks do you have? I have "Hitch Hiker Guide to the Galaxy" and "The Davinci Code". Finished them all in two weeks.

 

I suspect there are moving vans and heavy trucks that drive all day long at those speeds. It becomes just an art to see the pacing traffic . . . if you want to travel at 65 mph.

This is not just good enough, it is perfect! When you get the mileage you want, enjoy and move on to new problems.

Bob Wilson

 

Commuters can whip through audiobooks like mad!

I average about 1 small book per week and I only commute 2 days/week. If it's a large book like The Omnivore's Dilemma or http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/140004006X then it may take 2 weeks of commuting.

In the last month I did:

1491 - Charles C. Mann
http://www.amazon.com/County-Almanac-Outdoor-Essays-Reflections/dp/0345345053 - Aldo Leopold
http://www.amazon.com/Future-Life-Edward-O-Wilson/dp/0679450785- Edward O. Wilson (E.O. Wilson to you ecology people)
http://www.amazon.com/Thoreau-Emerson-American-Philosophers-Editions/dp/1572700424- Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'm starting on Karen Armstrong's http://www.amazon.com/Great-Transformation-Beginning-Religious-Traditions/dp/0375413170

I'm addicted to audiobooks.

 

definitely. I'm guessing it's about 7-10 mpg less on the way home. It seems like a long descent to LA and a slow climb back home. As long as I'm over the 40mpg mark going 70-75mph, it's all good.

Nice! I just finished the Davinci code a few weeks ago and my friend just sent me Hitchhiker's Guide.

The first one I listened to was I Am Legend and right now I'm currently working my way through the Chronicles of Narnia while taking breaks to relearn spanish along the way with podcasts.

 

I bought the Davinci Code used and copied Hitch hiker from a friend. I wonder if the local library has any? Also, where can I download some?

Thanks,

 

i dont do audio books, but i do do podcasts...

Sci-am (scientific American)
Science Friday (NPR News)
Bob Rivers (Northwest Talk Radio on KZOK... they have been around since the mid 80's....very cool)

free, plus short... many segments are anywhere from 10 to say 40 minutes. makes it easy to hear a segment start to finish. great way to keep up on a whole host of topics...

btw, if what i mentioned does not float your boat, i think you will find thousands of topics available... (i only do the free ones, if you want to pay for them, they have millions to choose from. a Mac is not required. podcasts can be installed and maintained on a PC...)

 

We're taking this way off topic, talking about audio books and podcasts. I go to the library, which has hundreds of audio books on CD, and import them into iTunes, then sync my iPod and have both audio books, podcasts, and music anytime I want. I noticed in iTunes you can set spoken word/audio books to be excluded from selection in shuffle mode, so I can listen to music without random book sections thrown in. You can also set them to "remember" the last play position, so you can pick up listening where you stopped last time.

Slow down and enjoy the audio book/podcast!
:focus:

 

Project Gutenberg

 

Reset the mfd last night and as I suspected, I got 42.3 mpg on the return trip. I didn't really make an attempt to get the best mileage, I just drove home averaging 70+mph. Nothing slower than 65 and nothing over 80. I'm happy. Between the two trips thats 47mpg going 70mph.

 

Where is the cartoon on your avatar from?