TOEIC Vocabulary - driving & traffic

Traffic is an uncountable noun. It means ​the number of vehicles moving along roads, or the amount of aircraft, trains, or ships moving along a route.

If there are a lot of cars on the road, we can say "traffic is heavy/bad/busy" or "there is a lot of traffic". Don't use "crowded" to descirbe traffic. The traffic was very crowded. → Wrong sentence。

• Traffic was bad this morning.
• Traffic was heavy this morning.
• Traffic is usually busy on holidays.
• There was a lot of traffic on the road this morning.

If there are not a lot of cars on the road, we can say "traffic is light" or "there is little traffic".

• When traffic is light, it'll only take Charles 10 minutes to go from his house to reach his office. 
• There is very little traffic in the area, even this is right in the center of the city.
• There is very little traffic on the coastal road (Sea-to-Sky Highway) between Vancouver and Whistler. With the blue waters on one side, soaring cliffs on the other, and nothing but open skies ahead of you, you really feel like you've left civilization in your rearview mirror.

If you commute, you travel a long distance every day between your home and your place of work. The word "commute" can also be a noun, meaning the journey that you make when you commute.

Commute as a verb

Commute as noun

More example sentences related to working from home

A commuter is a person who travels to work over an appreciable distance, usually from the suburbs to the center of a city

A commuter plane or train is a plane or train where people typically use to commute between work and home.

If the taffic is jammed/congested/backed up, it means the traffic is bad

• Traffic is congested because of the bridge construction.
• Traffic was congested heading into and out of the city this morning.
• The traffic in San Francisco has gotten awful. Most of the time, it's bumper to bumper and noisy. The worst stretch of road appears to be on I-80 between Potrero Avenue and the Bay Bridge toll plaza, which is at its most congested 8:00 A.M. on Thursday mornings with an average speed of 14 miles per hour.

Get some gas = ​Fill up the gas tank = Top off the tank

• Get some gas.
• Fill up the gas tank.
• ​Top off the tank.
• I need to fill up the gas tank. I wonder if there's a nearby gas station. I'll stop and get some gas.
• Oh, I just noticed we're low on gas. Let me know if you see a gas station. I am going to get some gas.
• Andrew and his family decided to take a trip to the mountains for the weekend. Before getting on the road, Adam went to the gas station to fill up his tank.
• ​​Before we return the rental car, we need to top off the gas tank.

Run a red light = Pass through the traffic light when the red light is on.

• I got pulled over for running a red light on my way to work.
• Ma'am, are you aware that you just ran a red light?
• We were heading north on Cambie, and then this minivan came out of nowhere, ran a red light.
• The vast majority of people run red lights because they're in a hurry or feeling impatient, or when they think they can “beat the yellow” and misjudge the timing.

Get some gas = ​Fill up the gas tank = Top off the tank

• I need to fill up the gas tank. I wonder if there's a nearby gas station. I'll stop and get some gas.
• Oh, I just noticed we're low on gas. Let me know if you see a gas station. I am going to get some gas.
• Andrew and his family decided to take a trip to the mountains for the weekend. Before getting on the road, Adam went to the gas station to fill up his tank.
• ​​Before we return the rental car, we need to top off the gas tank.

Back up = congest

If the taffic is jammed/congested/backed up, it means the traffic is bad

• The traffic is backed up for six miles on the road to the coast.
• Traffic was backed up on Interstate 90 Sunday near the Division Street exit.
• There's an accident on the freeway and traffic is backed up for miles.
• Traffic accidents on Maple Road have caused vehicles to back up for at least five kilometers. City authorities said the delay might continue for another hour or so. Drivers are advised to use alternate routes.
• Traffic was jammed all the way to Main street this morning. It was brutal.

If the traffic is bumper to bumper, it means there are so many cars being so close that they are almost touching each other

• By six o'clock the traffic had gotten really awful. In fact, the traffic was bumper to bumper all the way home.
• The traffic in San Francisco is terrible, bumper to bumper and noisy.
• The cars on Route 19 are bumper to bumper right now—there's no way we'll get there on time.

Congestion = The state of being congested (Uncoutable Noun)

• Heavy downpour causes waterlog and traffic congestion in Delhi, India.
• Boston has the second-worst traffic congestion in the U.S., according to a new study.
• The Taipei city government hopes to ease traffic congestion problems by setting up bicycle rental points at MRT stations.

kerb (UK) or curb (US) = the edge where a raised sidewalk or road median/central reservation meets a street or other roadway.

• Two cars are parked along the curb. 
• A white Chevrolet I had never seen before stood at the curb across the street.

kerbside (UK) or curbside (US) = the area near where a road and the raised path next to it join

• At the Burrard bus station, a row of buses sat idling along the curbside.
• During the lockdowns, curbside pickup has emerged as many retailers' best strategy for long-term survival in the e-commerce age.

Gridlock = a situation where roads in a town become so blocked by cars that it is impossible for any traffic to move (Uncountable Noun)

• A car breaking down at rush hour could cause gridlock across half the city. 
• An accident caused gridlock at rush hour yesterday.
• Generally, the traffic in my city is not too bad. Though during peak hours, there are parts of the city that basically have gridlock. The bigger problem for me is finding parking. If you're driving to busy areas, be prepared to pay for metered or garage parking because street parking can be awfully inconvenient or non-existent.

If a place is gridlocked, the roads are blocked with a lot of traffic so vehicles cannot move.

• Chicago is one of the most gridlocked cities in America.
• Jakarta traffic is the most gridlocked in Southeast Asia, perhaps among the worst worldwide.

If the taffic is jammed/congested/backed up, it means the traffic is bad

• Traffic is jammed because of the bridge construction.
• Traffic was jammed heading into and out of the city this morning.