Why is rush hour worse in the evening?

Their explanation: There may be many reasons, but the biggest one is that in the morning, people usually have a single destination in mind: getting to school or work. In the evening, people leave work at different times, and often run errands, go to dinner, shop, etc., driving more total miles.



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Largely because schools get out around that time. Put together the school and after school activity with the end of the work day for people who work 6:30 to 3:00, plus shoppers, and you can get more chaotic traffic than when most of the traffic is either coming from or going to work.

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Usually, more drivers are on the road between 6 to 8 in the morning and 4 to 6 in the evening in heavy rush hour traffic. You should also expect traffic jams along busy expressways and during holidays and game days.

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Rush hour traffic, typically, lasts a few hours, peaking in the morning from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and in the evening from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. or later in larger cities. Drivers in a rush tend to drive more dangerously, which increases the likelihood of causing an accident.

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Today, it's best to get on the roads before 7 a.m. and tomorrow before 11 a.m. As for the weekend, the best times on Saturday and Monday are in the evening, around 6 or 7 p.m. Experts say that Sunday is statistically the lightest traffic day so that might be a good time to hit the road, as well.

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New York City has the worst rush hour traffic in the U.S., according to a TomTom study. TomTom recently published its 12th annual Traffic Index, which measures rush hour traffic in 389 cities in 56 countries on six continents.

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Largely because schools get out around that time. Put together the school and after school activity with the end of the work day for people who work 6:30 to 3:00, plus shoppers, and you can get more chaotic traffic than when most of the traffic is either coming from or going to work.

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1 U.S. city with the worst traffic: Chicago, IL. Chicago ranked as the U.S. city with the highest traffic delays in 2022.

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New Jersey is the worst state to drive in, as it has the highest road congestion nationwide and the second-worst road quality, a new study by MoneyGeek finds.

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The nation's least congested roads are found in North Dakota. The average morning commute time there is only 19 minutes, eight minutes shorter than the national average of 27 minutes.

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But hey, at least we climbed a spot from the cellar of 2022 Clever's study of the best and worst U.S. cities for commuters in 2023 pegs Atlanta as a bottom-five finisher in terms of hellacious, expensive, time-consuming commutes—one spot worse than, gulp, Los Angeles.

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