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New York is known for its subway system, London for the Tube and Los Angeles for its sprawling freeway system.
If you’ve never experienced real freeway driving before, you will when you land in Los Angeles. Since the city is so spread out, there really is no other good option than renting a car when visiting the city. But when you sit behind the wheel in Los Angeles, you first need to know some basic rules about freeway driving; otherwise, you’ll find yourself spending a majority of your time stuck in the middle of traffic.
When is rush hour?
Unlike other cities (besides New York), rush hour determines when is the best time to leave your hotel to see the sites. Rush hour is not simply an hour or two of inconvenience in the morning and late afternoon like in other cities across the country. In Los Angeles, rush hour in the morning begins about 5:30 am until about 9:00 am. That’s when the freeways are the most jammed with people driving to work. What normally might take you 15 minutes to get from Universal Studies in the Valley to Groman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, would take you closer to 45 minutes. Rush hour in the afternoon starts as early as 3:00 pm and continues to 7:00 pm. If you’re hotel is in Bel Air and you’re planning to go Malibu for dinner, count at least one hour to make the trip (non-rush hour would take about 25 minutes).
How do I find out about the traffic?
Like all big cities, Los Angeles has radio stations that you can tune into for frequent traffic reports. Two of the best and most frequently broadcasted traffic reports are AM 640 or AM 1070. In fact, AM 1070 broadcasts these reports about every six or seven minutes. When you’re listening to these reports, you’ll hear a commonly used term, “Sig Alerts.” That means a major traffic jam. Stay away from these “Sig Alert” areas like the plague. If you have to, get off the freeway and either take the side streets (if possible) or get a cup of coffee and relax at the nearest coffee shop until the Sig Alert ends. After all, you are on vacation so take the time to relax if needed.
למידע נוסף על חבילות נופש בחו"ל תוכלו ללחוץ על הקישור
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