A report released by a Seattle-based traffic information provider was full of bad news and not so-bad news for Washington, D.C. area drivers.
According to the The INRIX National Traffic Scorecard, the metro region moved down from fourth in 2007 to fifth in 2008 as the cities with the worst congestion — behind only Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Washington flip-flopped positions with Dallas-Fort Worth, while the top three remained unchanged from 2007 to 2008.
There are also no segments of road in the Washington area listed in the nation’s top 100 worst congested bottlenecks. The worst bottleneck in the area, according to this study, was the Interstate 395-George Washington Memorial Parkway intersection in Arlington at No. 176.
A number of factors are used in rating roads, including the number of hours roads are “congested” (where speeds are half or less than what they are during uncongested times), the length of that stretch of road and the average travel time for drivers.
The I-395/George Washington Parkway averages 13.2 miles per hour during “congested” time, with 34 hours of “congested time” each week.
The worst place in Prince William? The Interstate 95 southbound segment of road next to the Va. 123 exit. It ranked 19th on the list, with an average speed of 23.8 miles per hour and 24 hours of “congested” time.
The second worst was at the Interstate 66-Va. 234 bypass (rated No. 23) with a speed of 18.1 miles per hour and 17 hours of “congested” time.
One of the more interesting findings of the study dealt with the busiest traffic days of the week. In 2008, Thursday between 5 and 6 p.m. trumped the same time Friday as the busiest hour of the week on Washington area roads.
The INRIX National Traffic Scorecard was created through extensive analysis of nearly 50,000 miles of primary roadways, using INRIX’s traffic data warehouse of the most recent and accurate data available anywhere.
Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-878-8062.
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