Boston traffic is a perfect storm of misery. Gas is up by more than 30 percent since last Memorial Day. Rush hour is an all-day affair. Often, road maintenance will ruin the off-hours. There are no shortcuts anymore, because everybody has GPS.
Instead of sitting and stewing in traffic, the Globe recently parked itself on the rooftops of several Boston parking garages and just chilled. The journey to the top of the Hub’s parking garages is a lot like the complexities of life.
Nauseating.
You loop round and around until you finally reach the top and see light.
Underinflated tires squeal, and the cars heading down, desperate to escape, often make too wide a turn. There’s head-on crash potential on every floor.
But surprisingly, the journey is rewarding and fun. It offers unique views of the city, and it’s relaxing up on the roof in the fresh air.
Traffic is not an easy problem to fix, despite the Commonwealth advocating for more public transit and the city attempting to time traffic lights.
Bicycles rule some roads, are pollution-free, and a healthy alternative. But bike lanes have made traffic worse, and some of their patterns look like they were designed by Dr. Timothy Leary. (The late Harvard lecturer was famous for his advocacy of psychedelics.)
Also troubling is that you can rent bikes at various locations, but not with helmets.
It’s not just the roads that are problematic. Delivery scooters are on the sidewalks and go the wrong way on one-way streets. Pedestrians are fixated on their mobile devices instead of watching where they are going. Their ears are stuffed with ear buds, their thoughts elsewhere.
Still, for all the distractions and congestion, people love to drive.
On Memorial Day weekend, AAA forecast 1.08 million travelers in Massachusetts, 972,000 by car, even with gas at $4.50 a gallon.
“For sure, congestion is worse,” says Mark Schieldrop, senior spokesperson of AAA Northeast, in an email. “There are more cars on the road these days, less working from home and more in-office days for people. There’s a ton of construction projects creating bottlenecks all over the state. Our driving culture is bad — people follow each other too closely, are impatient and don’t let other people merge, which creates congestion."
He notes other impediments, such as “speeding and aggressive driving that snarl the morning and afternoon commute.”
And oh, those start-and-stop rideshare and food-delivery vehicles.
“More rideshare/app-based drivers and delivery services in the city zipping around on ebikes and scooters is another factor,” Schieldrop says.
Hope springs in the promise of school getting out soon for summer.
“There’s always a noticeable improvement in traffic in the morning once the buses are off the road,” he says.
Until then, just ride it out.
Beware of breaking the rules. Last Wednesday,18 cars were pulled over by three state troopers in the HOV lane on Interstate 93 south for driving solo.
Better to be an eye in the sky on a garage roof.
The music to play up here is an oldie but goodie. “Up on the Roof,” by the Drifters, co-written by Carole King.
“When this old world starts getting me down/ And people are just too much for me to face/ (Up on the roof)/ I climb way up to the top of the stairs And all my cares just drift right into space (Up on the roof)/ On the roof, it’s peaceful as can be And there, the world below can’t bother me.”
Yes, the hourly parking fee can be outrageous in some places. But there’s plenty of room up there, and some parking garages are even free or have a short grace period for a quick look.
More than half a dozen garages toured are all different. The Clarendon Street Garage has the top floor blocked off for cars, but is accessible by foot. It offers views of Copley Square and the sea gulls like to glide along the wind currents around 200 Clarendon (Hancock Tower).
The Dock Square Garage has sweeping views of the Custom House, Faneuil Hall, and the North End, and a peek-a-boo look at the Zakim.
The best bet?
The Museum of Science parking garage, which has a picture-postcard view of the Charles, and stays open until midnight.
The South Bay Center garage’s top floor was mostly empty on two recent visits. There is no charge to park there.
A father and daughter had a cheese and garlic pizza to go from Sally’s Apizza. Another couple in a truck sat laughing with their stocking feet perched on the dashboard.
There was a Tesla charging station with several cars plugged in. A car with “Seniors” scrawled in crayon on the back window was parked farther away, and its windows were steamy.
Chris Fernandez has been up here before to photograph his shiny Renaissance red Toyota GR Supra against the skyline. Now he’s just hanging out.
“It’s nice,” he says. “You see, basically, all of Boston. I’m surprised that this is free because they have a gate, but they don’t charge anybody.”
Now, if we could only figure out a way to make the Expressway live up to its name again, we’d all be better off.
Stan Grossfeld can be reached at stanley.grossfeld@globe.com.