Low Gas Prices Mean More Traffic, Safeco’s LEDs & More
The top Seattle news stories you should be reading today
By Lauren Mang January 21, 2015
Remember when gas was like super expensive and everyone was all “bro, don’t buy that Hummer H3!”? Frivolous car trips were a thing of the past and mass transit passes became de rigueur. Well, guess what: The party’s over. Now that the price at the pump has decreased, we can expect more gridlock as more people abandon fuel-saving methods. According to King 5, “The latest data shows in September and November, a $0.05 decrease in the gas price year-over-year corresponds to around 10% increase in traffic congestion. In October, a $0.20 drop meant a 30% bump in traffic.”
If you’re a superstitious Seahawks fan, you may want to knock on some wood. The 12th Man playoff flag flying atop the Space Needle, which experienced some serious wear and tear due to high winds, is set to be replaced by a new one for the Super Bowl.
More Seattle sports news: Our Mariners will play ball this summer in the first Major League Baseball stadium to boast energy-efficient LED lights. By making this switch, the Associated Press reports a whopping 60 to 70 percent lower energy consumption when Safeco Field is lit. http://www.komonews.com/sports/Mariners-to-have-1st-major-league-stadium…
Car2Go, watch your back: BMW plans to launch its DriveNow service to the Seattle area to compete with the Smart Car-based ridesharing system. The DriveNow fleet will include both “gasoline-fueled and electric cars” and is expected to begin in around three months, reports The Seattle Times.
The Seattle PI has rounded up some of the best memes that were floating about the Internet from the NFL’s Championship Week. See the hilarious goofs here.
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Getting Ghosted
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In their latest novel, Seattle-based author Kim Fu gets one thing right about the Pacific Northwest: the rain. Set during a particularly bleak winter, The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts tells the story of Eleanor Fan, an online therapist grappling with the recent loss of her mother, Lele. After Lele’s passing, Eleanor inherits money to put…
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