Rock Hill/Charlotte commute: A long-time driver is asking a really important question.
Ron Auvil lives in Rock Hill and for years lived the commuter’s life. He’s retired now.
He recently was willing to be interviewed about his life as a commuter and he asked a tough question: “What are they going to do? It’s impossible to build their way out of this.”
Auvil, 67, was a bona fide commuter.
He commuted in the Washington, D.C., area before coming South.
He drove a service van which, by definition, carried him on drives from Rock Hill to various parts of Charlotte. And now, he commutes (quite often) to the Huntersville area of Mecklenburg County to spend time with his twin grandsons. He says he and his wife sometimes stay in a hotel to avoid commuter traffic.
“It really bends your whole life,” he said of commuting.
He says he has seen a lot.
“I’ve seen people on cell phones. I’ve seen people doing makeup, reading the newspaper or a book...What’s up with that? And of course I’ve seen rude drivers.
And he has witnessed tragedy.
Auvil said he has seen two fatal accidents -- experiences he says remain in his mind.
“The first was two people in front of me on the Celanese ramp to I-77 (in Rock Hill). I saw the two people. I could see their faces in the car’s rear view mirror. The car went out of control and across all the lanes and hit the bridge abutment. I later found out both passengers had been killed.
“And then I saw a lady in front of me on Celanese Road, hit by an impaired driver. She was killed.
“All of that makes you thoughtful of what happens on the road.”
Auvil is talking about roads that thousands of people travel daily. And if you extrapolate based on the region’s growth pattern of the past decade, the number of the cars will continue to increase.
The Herald has started a series of articles focused on commuters in the region between Charlotte and Rock Hill. The articles focus on real-life decisions, challenges and experiences faced by people who decide to commute. If you have thoughts or tips, please share. Send them to assignmentdesk@heraldonline.com.
Auvil cited a concept called the “Rule of 72.” Now, the concept generally is applied in finance to determine how long a specific investment will take to double in value. But he applied it to commuter traffic.
“If traffic continues to go up at say 5% a year, it’ll double in 14 years,” he said.
Experts, and readers, can do their own projections. But Auvil’s point is worth considering. And that gets us to his original question: “What are they going to do? It’s impossible to build their way out of this.”
Millions, and probably billions, of dollars are spent each year on planing roads, road maintenance and building new roads. You see the orange and white barrels, and barricades, marking road work -- almost everywhere.
There are limited efforts at mass transit in this region. There’s talk of more on the way, but that’s years into the future. So what can we commuters do now?
Again, Auvil offered insight:
“Try to get flexible work hours,” he said. “People have learned they can work from home and I don’t think they’ll ever go back to offices. People will leave jobs rather than work in offices.
“Start early and end early. Rather than working 9-to-5, that’s just awful. Start at 7 and end at 3....I see all those people (commuting), they’re the true heroes because they’re still doing it.”
This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Rock Hill/Charlotte commute: A long-time driver is asking a really important question.."
