Rush hour traffic crawls along Highway 101 into San Francisco, California on Thursday morning, March 30, 2023. (Photo: Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

There’s a new mystery thousands of Bay Area commuters are trying to solve. Downtown offices that were once teeming with techies and lawyers are deserted. BART’s ridership is down 60% after many passengers fled the system three years ago and never returned.

So why are the freeways full again?

Radio stations ping with morning traffic jam updates: The MacArthur Maze is a mess, I-880 a nuisance, and the 101 a zoo — though remote working has led to a colossal shift in travel patterns and taxpayers have spent billions of dollars providing buses, Trains and other alternatives to driving. Ultimately, the long-term solution to resurgent congestion is perhaps the least-common idea yet: making it even more expensive to commute by car.

“It’s a paradox, isn’t it?” said Alexandre Bayen, an engineering professor at UC Berkeley who studies traffic patterns. “We’re busy. It may not be the exact same times, under the same circumstances. But we are working at full capacity.”

Commuters travel across the Bay Bridge towards San Francisco on Thursday, March 30, 2023 during the morning commute in San Francisco, California. (Photo: Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Perhaps nowhere is this more visible than at the Bay Bridge. While overall bridge traffic is still down about 10% compared to 2019, morning commutes from Oakland to San Francisco are often worse than before the pandemic. Riders fill the bridge during rush hour, and morning travel speeds are 32% slower than four years ago, according to congestion data tracking speeds from Treasure Island to the Fremont Street exit in San Francisco. But the afternoon commute is still easier for many — speeds at the Bay Bridge average 34% faster exiting San Francisco.

Even reverse commuters feel some pain. Ian Brown, 47, is driving from San Francisco to Los Gatos for a job at Netflix. “You kind of got used to putting it in cruise control and going 75 mph,” he said. “Maybe three or four months ago you’ll turn the corner and the traffic will stop. It’s all about reactive driving again.”

RELATED: Bay Area drivers face DMV registration bans amid mounting express lane debt

Regional data shows the return to traffic chaos. INRIX, a traffic analysis company, found that Bay Area congestion has fully returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2022. The region ranks 15th in the world for traffic congestion, with drivers spending an average of 97 hours in traffic last year. There is a caveat to the study’s conclusion: congestion on the city’s roads remains low, while the freeways have filled.

Increasing highway congestion is particularly confusing when you consider not only remote work but also historically high gas prices and recently increased bridge tolls, factors expected to discourage driving.

“I think traffic will only get worse,” said Bob Pishue, author of the INRIX study. “There’s a lot of demand and not enough street supply.”

Rush hour traffic crawls along Highway 101 into San Francisco, California on Thursday morning, March 30, 2023. (Photo: Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Traffic patterns also underscore a new system of winners and losers – at least when it comes to road transport – brought on by the pandemic. People who work from home, more often employees who can shop at lunchtime or hit the gym, see far less congestion. Workers who have to do their jobs in person — like plumbers, nurses and teachers — are back on congested roads.

But why do autobahns fill up so quickly?

Michael Manville, a professor of urban planning at UCLA, said Californians find many reasons to keep driving even as they commute less. One reason is that driving became even easier when COVID-19 and remote working emptied the streets. That only enticed drivers to fill the freeways until the congestion returned.

“Traffic jams aren’t just annoying — they’re a deterrent,” Manville said. “When the traffic eases, people will see that the freeway is empty and they will get in their cars and go somewhere else.”

At the region’s most notorious bottleneck, the Bay Bridge, commuters pack their journey into too few hours, exacerbating congestion. East Bay drivers driving down the peninsula from the Bay Bridge witness some of the region’s worst morning commutes, with westbound I-80 speeds dropping 44% compared to 2019 as they approach Highway 101 .

If upside-down work patterns can’t end traffic congestion, is there an answer to the region’s traffic woes?

Rush hour traffic crawls along Interstate 280 into San Francisco, Calif. Thursday morning, March 30, 2023. (Photo by Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

One solution to highway congestion is to get people out of their solo driving habits and into trains and buses, or carpooling. In 2018, voters across the Bay Area voted to increase their bridge tolls to now $7 on promises of freeing highways from congestion. Funds are flowing to send BART trains to San Jose, expand ferry service, and build a network of express lanes. These measures are intended to make the region’s ailing local transport system a viable alternative to car travel.

But changing driver behavior is a difficult task. A common refrain, supported by research, is that voters often approve public transit funding in the hope that others will use the system and make their commute easier.

Some public transport advocates say commuters’ reliance on one-person vehicles and aversion to public transit has hardened over the past three years. They point to concerns about the reliability and safety of BART, as well as an ongoing stigma that riding public transit poses a health risk. For others, commuting to work a few times a week means they’re more likely to grit their teeth in traffic, even as congestion mounts.

“People still commute,” said Emily Loper, vice president of the Bay Area Council, which tracks return-to-office trends. “You just choose to drive more than before.”

Now, transit planners in the Bay Area are landing with a controversial idea: Really reducing congestion is less about encouraging transit ridership and more about making it more expensive to drive.

At the heart of the plan is a two-year study commissioned by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission into imposing a per-mile charge for driving on freeways in the Bay Area. Some plans under study also include charging on roads adjacent to freeways or a toll for downtown access in San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland. The study should pave the way for the implementation of a new motorway toll system in 2035.

Without a new “stick” to add to the “carrot” of improved public transport, drivers will stay on the streets and the collective misery of congestion will only worsen, Anup Tapase, chief planner of the MTC, said during a meeting at the MTC Month.

It is a method of reducing traffic congestion that has gained traction among many experts.

But in the Bay Area, there are deep concerns about the potential impact of congestion charges on the region’s low-income communities. The move could also spark an uprising among voters who are already paying the highest gas prices in the country.

“The word freeway has a very deep meaning in Californian culture. People believe that driving on these roads is a right,” MTC committee member Frank Welte said at a meeting earlier this month. “Any motorist who now drives for free on a freeway, who starts paying a toll, will see it as treason and theft.”

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The much-anticipated Battery Bluff park in the Presidio opens to the public today.

The 6-acre site features gardens, picnic tables and a majestic view of the Golden Gate, and marks the second of three sections to be opened around the restored site at what was once Doyle Drive.

Seven acres of tidal marsh opened at Quartermaster Reach in December of 2020. The final 14-acre park atop the Presidio Parkway tunnels, Presidio Tunnel Tops, is set to open in July.

A view of Presidio Parkway underneath Battery Bluff.

Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE

“Yes, I’m wearing heels in a park,” joked Mayor London Breed at a clear sunny day at the site yesterday, in front of the old batteries. “I’m in awe of this view, and the magic of what I feel today.”

“People come from all over the world to experience the best that San Francisco has to offer. They come for the sheer beauty, access to green and open space, and to visit some of the best urban parks in the country,” Breed said. “Now, everyone will have more to look forward to and greater access to this national park with the historic renovation of Battery Bluff.”

A view of Battery Sherwood.

Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE

Built in 1936 as a New Deal project, the original Doyle Drive connected San Francisco to the Golden Gate Bridge, but by the 1990s it was deemed both an eyesore and one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the city. Before it was finally torn down, federal highway officials gave it a safety rating of 2 out of 100. The park project to restore the site has taken numerous agencies and more than 30 years. The park was designed by late landscape architect Michael Painter.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaks at the Battery Bluff opening celebration.

Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE

Four historic gun battery sites, Slaughter, Baldwin, Sherwood and Blaney, are now on view at the site for the first time since the construction of Doyle Drive began in 1936. Built between 1899 and 1902, the batteries were part of the US Army’s coastal defense system around the Golden Gate to protect San Francisco Bay.

The viewpoint for the Golden Gate Bridge at Battery Bluff.

Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE

“We are so grateful for the collaborative efforts of countless public servants and community members working together over decades to reimagine San Francisco’s northern waterfront,” said Jean Fraser, CEO of the Presidio Trust, in a statement. “Thanks to that work, the Trust was able to create more park amenities for the enjoyment of all visitors. We look forward to unveiling the final gem, the Presidio Tunnel Tops, later this year.”

A view of the Presidio Parkway from the newly opened Battery Bluff.

Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE

A view of Battery Slaughter, one of four massive concrete gun batteries that at one time defended San Francisco Bay from invasion, that were dug into the hills of the Presidio that are located in the newly opened Battery Bluff.

Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE

A view of Battery Slaughter, one of four massive concrete gun batteries, that at one time defended San Francisco Bay from invasion, that were dug into the hills of the Presidio that are located in the newly opened Battery Bluff.

Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE

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We all know Santa Claus as a “real jolly old elf,” but the man carries a well-stocked bag full of regrets.

He sat down with me recently to list some of the ways he wished his life had been different.

“I don’t regret real estate company Island of Misfit Toys per se, but I hate that we used an old nuclear test site. I’m cool with a water gun that shoots jelly – but not radioactive jelly. “

“I wish I had found a better managing director to protect my brand. My friends have good managers. You never hear of anyone playing Secret Tooth Fairy or Dirty Easter Bunny. “

“I’m sorry I quit my summer job as Whitebeard the Pirate. Granted, it has always been difficult to make the seasonal shift from 15 men on a dead man’s chest to 15 brats playing with the boxes instead of the toys. “

“Rudolph is great, but I would have been happy with one of those leg lamps from ‘A Christmas Story’ to guide my sleigh. Hubba Hubba. “

“I’m sorry I won’t bring up the chimney when I put a finger next to my nose. It just messes up my sinuses. And most of my pre-existing conditions already exist with the insurance company! “

“I’m sorry about the coal mine collapsing prematurely, but those hooligans in the Bronx really deserved a few lumps in their stockings this year.”

“I wish I had prescribed my OCD medication before everyone expected me to make a list and double-check.”

“I’m sorry I skipped all of these seminars and didn’t maintain my accreditation. My Uber bill is killing me. “

“I wish I hadn’t unleashed an exorcist on my visitors before realizing that they are just the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. The future, however, was ahead. “

“I’m sorry I didn’t get Mrs. Claus to sign this preliminary contract. It’s bad enough that my entire fortune is frozen. but she gets half of it when things go south. “

“Sure, the NFL is finally looking into the effects of soccer players, but nobody cares about the effects of beloved childhood characters clashing with Bert the chimney sweep.”

“I’m sorry I made a commitment to deliver toys to every child in the world in a single night. Actually, I should have set up a recorded message like “Your call is very important to us”. All of our little old drivers who are so lively and fast are busy with other customers right now. Please stay on the line until April, you little … ‘”

“The whole thing right on Santa Claus Lane was pretty selfish. At least it’s not the funny green giant’s valley. Come on and think about it, my manager let him tear down the Ho-Ho-Ho line. “

“I’m sorry I got caught up in the reason for the season debate. Bad planning. No cribs in August. I used to smoke a lot of camels, but I’ve become a wiser man … “

“I wish I could take an inconspicuous trip from the North Pole to a community without Springsteen babbling, ‘Saaaaanta Claus is coming to town!”

“My greatest regret? I’m really baffled by that one kid on my lap that I traumatized by saying, “Sure, I remember when your parents were kids … long before they were adopted … um … I mean, long before they conceived you the usual way, which means … I mean, your parents? Come on and think about it, Jack Frost replaced me on this route … “

Danny Tyree welcomes email replies to tyreetyrades@aol.com and visits his Facebook fan page, Tyree’s Tyrades.

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RED BLUFF – The Tehama County Board and Staff will attend Tuesday’s meeting to discuss the possible addition of a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system for the Red Bluff Prison.

The discussion of the new unit started early in the COVID-19 pandemic, although some issues arose between departments that pushed the vote back.

“The changes to the prison HVAC system were recognized as necessary by public health at the start of the COVID CARES Act funding discussions,” said County Administrator Bill Goodwin. “There was some confusion about which department was preparing the required contracts. The breakout has brought this to the fore and the project is now accelerating. “

This multilevel vote requires the board to vote on a cash transfer of $ 53,860 that requires a four-fifths vote. From there, a vote will be taken to purchase a packaged AAON roof top air conditioner priced at $ 43,860.

Different business

The Tehama County Health Department will request that the board approve another transfer of $ 150,000 from the Federal CARES Relief Fund to the Structure Improvement Fund for the department to install ultraviolet lighting systems.

If approved, a licensed contractor will be called in for the installation.

This point requires a vote of four fifths.

The Ministry of Agriculture will again bring its industrial hemp ordinance to the board of directors in order to forego the second reading and to adopt it.

The Tehama County Regulatory Board meets at 10 a.m. Tuesday at 727 Oak St., Red Bluff. The sessions are free and open to the public. However, due to the pandemic, certain guidelines apply. The number of members from the public is limited and all participants must wear masks.

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