New Yorkers Say Traffic Is Getting Worse


New York - Drivers across the city are leaning on their horns a little longer these days.

Nearly half of Big Apple commuters say their traffic nightmares have become worse in the past three years as drivers careen with even more reckless abandon and roads fall into disrepair, according to a survey released yesterday.

Bottlenecks and congestion have become so bad, the IBM report said, that 19 percent of drivers have at least once abandoned their commute and turned around, asking bosses to work from home.

"People have been saying, 'Let's fix this problem,' but that shows they're taking things into their own hands," said report author Florence Hudson.

The respondents spouted off about their top roadway annoyances.

Ranked from No. 1, they are:

* Stop-and-go traffic.

* Aggressive drivers.

* Drivers who move too slowly.

* Not knowing how long it will take to get to work.

Road-tested New Yorkers had some special gripes, beginning with wild cabbies.

"They just don't care. They don't know how to drive," said Beo Rajkumar, a BMW mechanic.

"I ride a motorcycle now to get around the traffic faster, and cabbies have twice knocked me down," he said.

Others blame it on short-tempered motorists.

"Aggressive drivers give me road rage," said Carlos Negron, 30, of Harlem.

He told of an incident on the FDR Drive when a driver cut across three lanes without signaling.

"I tried to catch up with him so I could give him some words," he said. "I hate fast drivers -- because they never make it anywhere faster."

Other drivers blame pedestrians for increasing gridlock.

"It's chaos sometimes, there's no law enforcement," said Scott Mager, a consultant at Deloitte.

Past studies have shown that New York has some of the most congested roadways in the nation, with the Cross Bronx Expressway leading the way.

Nineteen of the nation's 50 worst bottlenecks are either in the five boroughs or nearby suburbs.

The researchers surveyed about 8,000 people worldwide, including 400 New Yorkers.

NY Post

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