Fewer Cars on the Road. Really?

The other day I found myself in a most bizarre situation -- behind the steering wheel out in the exurbs of greater DC.  From the short time I was out there I could see no indication that people out there realize the disaster that is to befall them.

The one piece that really got my attention was just how bad the traffic was.  This corresponds well to my drive home from Shenandoah National Park a month or so ago.  The studies and news reports all indicate that Americans are driving less this year.

Really?

The roads are crowded.  If this is fewer cars on the road just how wretched was it last year?  I have no capacity to comprehend how people could put up with that type of  commute with that much traffic day in and day out.

I hope to make another trip out to Shenandoah later this year, if I am lucky.  It will be interesting to see if I notice a change in traffic, especially if we hit $5/gallon by then, which could easily happen.