Two articles were published recently about Washington, D.C., area congestion that have an interesting connection. The first concerns a study just published by FORBES magazine that ranks the D.C. area first in the nation for congestion, with over 28 percent of commuters spending more than 45 minutes on the road every day.
That same study found that Washington area drivers lose some 60 hours a year to traffic delays and also had the third highest gasoline costs in the nation.
In my own case, my 25 mile, one-way commute can take anywhere from 35 minutes (when I opt to leave home before 5:30 a.) to more than an hour during rush hour, even without an accident on
Interstate 66 or a spectacular (but blinding) sunrise as a distraction.
The second concerns the just-published 2008 AutoVantage Road Rage Survey that ranked the D.C. area fifth in the nation for rude drivers.
Not surprisingly, AutoVantage concluded that those with the longest commutes are the ones most likely to drive rudely, aggressively or make obscene gestures. And gasoline costing $4 per gallon
doesn’t help improve anyone’s mood.
This leads me to a suggestion for all of my fellow commuters: Instead of taking out our collective anger and frustration on each other, let’s redirect it instead toward those politicians who have been telling
us for years they are solving our transportation problems when in fact they have not?
For example, our current Representative, Frank Wolf, has been in Congress almost 28 years, including 10 years recently when his party was in the majority.
Yet, if you look at his congressional Web site claims of transportation success, you would never know that D.C. has the worst traffic congestion in the country.
This November we will have the opportunity to send new blood to Congress and elect public officials — including Congressional Candidate Judy Feder — who will bring energy and new ideas to solving our
region’s transportation problems AND doing something about fuel prices that have risen to astonishing levels without any reasonable explanation.
Maybe we’ll all feel better if we stop complaining about our transportation problems and start doing something about them.
BETH ADAMS
Haymarket
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