In the area I used to work in (city and suburbs not far from NYC), rush hour used to start around 4. Where I live, about an hour north of that, rush hour traffic wouldn’t be until around 6. If you got up here before 6, you’d experience traffic but not really heavy traffic.

School bus traffic and parents picking up kids always started around 2 but nothing heavy on the highways until late afternoon.

However, spring of 2021, when more people started returning to work, I noticed there would be heavy traffic on the local roads and the highways starting around 3. I am wondering if it’s because since more people have returned to the office, they are not working a full traditional 8 hour work day, and instead leaving the office sometime in the afternoon.

Where I live, if I’m going to get on the highway to go shopping in CT, which is a ten minute ride to the CT border from my house, traffic starts getting heavy around 3. If I’m not on the highway by that time, I risk getting stuck in a major jam.

Is it like that where you live and work?

Topics: trips, cars, work, commute, road trips, roads, traffic, habits, day