A new report may give us reason to rename rush hour, especially in the Washington, D.C. region.
The study by Texas A&M University ranked the D.C. region number one for the worst traffic in the country. According to researchers, drivers here lost about 74 hours on average a year. That’s more than three days sitting in traffic.
Chicago ranked second with 71 lost hours. And the city notorious for traffic on the west coast, Los Angeles, ranked third with 64 hours lost in traffic.
Researchers say our strong economy is actually a contributing factor to traffic. "The real problem with traffic congestion is we haven't built enough system, whether that's road or transit to handle the population and employment growth we've seen over the last decade or so, " said Tim Lomax, a research engineer who spoke with NBC News.
Another contributing factor, the condition of our roads and bridges.
"One in nine bridges is deficient. Every second of every day an American driver crosses a deficient bridge that's in bad need of repair,” said James Corless with Transportation for America who also spoke with NBC News.
Most people would assume much of the traffic jams happen during morning and evening commutes. But researchers say 40 percent of the delays occur in the mid-day and overnight hours. Who knew!?
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