Can't figure out why some days my commute to work is through heavy traffic and some days, like this (Friday) morning, it's all smooth sailing. I enter the Hefner Parkway off 122nd and drive south to the I-44 exit and head east. Generally very heavy with numerous stops and starts. Sometimes it's just heavy volume and then of course the occasional breakdown or wreck. But generally there's no rhyme or reason why some days it's heavy and some days it's light. Anyone else experience this on your commute?

I don't commute in that area but my wife works at Chesapeake and on Fridays they go in at 8 instead of 7:30. Might change traffic patterns up a bit

Funny, just this morning we were talking about the same thing. We travel Hefner Parkway between 23rd and Britton each day to take our kid to school and have noticed that some days it's nearly at a standstill, while others—such as today—it seems like a Sunday morning. We can't figure it out, either. It's frustrating, too, because it can make a huge time difference in when we arrive at school.

I don't know the answer but I know what you mean. I either get on I-44 at NW 122 and go all the way to the airport. Or if I take the wife to work I go NW Exp to I-44 to Santa Fe then after dropping her off I hit I-235 to I-40 to I-44 to the airport. Either way we are on the road at the same time every day. Sometimes it's almost deserted and sometimes it's pretty heavy. I've always wondered why. The heavy days especially since we leave home at 5:30AM so we aren't in the normal "rush hour" traffic.

What Are Traffic Waves and Why Do They Happen So Much? | The Lowdown (http://blogs.kqed.org/lowdown/2013/11/12/traffic-waves)

I find that a variation of as little as ten minutes in my departure time can make a huge difference in the commute. In my case, it's better for me to start out a little late in order to be on time (or early).