Jed Bernstein rents a house for the season in Water Mill. But he quickly got off the Long Island Expressway, pulled into a movie multiplex and saw The Phantom Menace during the theater's dinner-hour lull. I beat the traffic and the line for Star Wars . Gaines, the best-selling author, has compiled a little chart showing how to save time in heavy traffic by darting between the LIE and the parallel frontage roads. Loring Bolger spent so much time watching the exits crawl past that she's publishing a book on what motorists will find at each exit if they veer off in frustration.
Many people spend the trip on the phone.
Cell chatter got so loud on the Hampton Jitney that the luxury bus line now restricts passengers to essential calls of less than three minutes. In some parts of the country, you don't have to be a billionaire to enjoy your weekend commute. Carol Lentz of Portland, Ore., actually looks forward to the drive to her house in Oceanside, a scenic 90-mile trip through the Cascade Mountains with traffic moving about 55 mph. But in the crowded Northeast Corridor, travelers need strategy. Wes Combs doesn't even try to dash off to the Delaware shore from Washington after work Friday afternoon, because the rush starts too early.