A new survey has found what most Beltway travelers know to be true every day: Washington, D.C., has the second-worst traffic in the country.
A survey by TomTom, a map and navigation technology company, found that it took commuters 21 minutes and 20 seconds just to travel 6 miles in the Washington area.
In 2023, commuters lost 86 hours in rush hour and averaged an annual travel time of 205 hours in the car.
The city is ranked the third-most congested in the country. Drivers averaged $418 annually in fuel costs.
The survey also noted that the worst date to travel in the nation’s capital is March 26, which coincides with peak cherry blossom tourism season.
In a post-pandemic era, the district has gradually been increasing in more workers heading back into offices, increasing the travel time from 2022 to 2023 by five hours and 20 minutes.
The Washington, D.C., government announced in early January that they will be limiting remote working starting in March. The move was widely criticized as “giving criminals more targets” amid a crime wave of carjackings, robberies, and car thefts.
Unions have been rising up in opposition, calling the city not safe enough to cut remote working to just one day a week. While Mayor Muriel Bowser hopes more commuters will add to the local economy and help the fleeing restaurant businesses, unions are advising workers to pack their lunches to stay out of harm’s way on the streets.
The study found that the worst rush hour time is Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Workers who cut their commuting costs by remote working for one day a week saved 44 hours and $84 annually, while employees who worked from home three days a week saved 191 hours of driving and roughly $250 in fuel costs.
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The addition of more bus lanes in the district has increasingly made for a commuting and parking nightmare for drivers. Starting Monday, Jan. 30, the city began mounting cameras on buses to catch drivers using bus lanes. Now commuters can face a $100 fine if a driver is caught using a bus lane to get around the endless congestion.
The TomTom survey found the next major city of Baltimore in the region to get sixth place in worst traffic. It takes 17 minutes and 40 seconds just to travel 6 miles.