WTOP traffic reporter Dave Dildine said traffic on the Capital Beltway near the American Legion Bridge last Friday peaked at the highest level since March 2020, surpassing the 2019 daily average.
“What that tells us is that not only was last Friday, a bad (afternoon) rush hour, it was slightly worse on the whole than your average old rush hour,” and drivers may need to readjust their expectations, Dildine said, because the “days of daylong free flow are pretty much over.”
The data is fairly representative of regional trends, he said.
(Source Maryland Department of Transportation)
The preliminary data from a Maryland Department of Transportation recorder also indicates that the rush hours are still somewhat different.