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.
Traffic is starting to rebound, will look different post-pandemic
By Sierra Fox
As the pandemic begins to subside, traffic is starting to pick back up in the DC area.
WASHINGTON - As the pandemic subsides, are you noticing traffic returning to normal where you live in the Metro D.C. Region with rush hours and congestion? We may be rounding a corner – literally – in our response to the coronavirus pandemic as restrictions are being lifted and more people are getting vaccinated.
The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) has been monitoring COVID-19 travel since the start of the pandemic.
Tim Canan, Planning Data and Research Program Director for the MWCOG, said there is a 25% increase in traffic levels across the Metro DC region, but still lagging compared to what they used to be before COVID-19. He adds DC is nowhere near the typical traffic patterns, but surrounding counties like Montgomery in Maryland and Fairfax in Virginia are quickly picking back up.