The grinding Atlanta commute is nearly as out-of-fashion as cargo pants these days, given the pandemic-driven habits many have assumed.

The back-to-school season is usually well defined. In a period of two or three weeks, most Metro Atlanta students rouse from the summer slumber and enter the early morning routine. Schools ring in mixtures of minivans, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians in a common ingress and egress like clockwork.

Summer storms are no surprise occurrence these days, and they undoubtedly dampen and slow the commute. But one such storm did more damage to the ride in Cobb County last Tuesday than it should have.

President Donald Trump’s most recent visit to Atlanta last Wednesday brought news that would help ease gridlock.