I'd say my Silver-Spring-to-Georgetown commute this morning was a 50 out of 55 cars - it was conducted in a cheery convertible being driven by someone else, and traffic was fine. And did you SEE that weather? Zowie!

My commute was 45 out of 55. Weather was nice and traffic was relatively light since flex time let's me leave my house around 9:30. Minus 10 cars though becuase I actually had to leave the house.

Plus the route I take to Arlington let's me see a little of everything... the quaint old houses in SE, boats docked along the Anacostia, the Capitol, the Pentagon and the Rosslyn skyline.

My commute from Wheaton to Farragut N involves a not-quite mile walk to the Wheaton metro station, a 3-minute escalator ride on the longest escalator in the western hemisphere, the ever entertaining and sometimes unpredictable metro ride to Farragut N and a concludes with a 2-block stroll. Typically under an hour door-to-door.

OK, out of 193 cars - today was quite a good day at 168, and it breaks down like this:

The walk: 50 out of 50 cars for the nice day and no laptop to carry
Bonus! 10/10 - school is out and I didn't have to dodge cars at the Good Counsel H.S. driveways
The escalator: 50/50 - it was working
Bonus! 5/10 - only 1 of 2 was working but no one ran me down
The wait: 10/15 - longer than usual but I had time to hook up my MP3
The ride: 40/50 - a/c was working but it was very crowded in the front car
Bonus: 0/10 - I had someone's, er, derriere in my face
The walk: 3/3 - I caught the lights and didn't get hit

My commute used to stink but I knew lots of folks who had it worse so I couldn't complain. I live near Ft. Belvoir and have to go to downtown DC each day. I usually drive the GW Parkway which is fine in the morning (except for that darn ramp to get on 395 where people cut in at the last minute and create stop and go traffic - you people know who you are). Unfortunately, my commute becomes an absolute nightmare at night. The traffic waiting to get on the beltway from the parkway or Rt. 1 have officially made my 45 minute commute grow into an 1 1/2 hour commute. The funny thing is that since the new span of the Wilson Bridge opened up last week, the delays have gotten even worse. What the heck! Weather be damned, my commute is a 10 out of 55 either way you slice it. Erg....

52/55

Very light traffic (even at 8:30 on inbound Pennsylvania Ave SE), hit most of the lights, and the weather was great.

Bonus: Went shopping during lunch and got to try the new WW bridge, which was practically deserted.

My commute rates somewhere around a 45/55. Herndon to Fair Lakes via 7100/Fairfax County Parkway. <15 miles, <30 minutes.

During Summer, the rating goes up to a 50/55.
Convertible + not-much-traffic = happy me.

My commute was different today--home to Reagan Airport for a 6:45 AM flight to Pittsburgh. The DC end gets a 53 out of 55 because there was so little traffic that early (the trip to the airport was marred only by a slowpoke doing 15 mph on the airport roads). But the trip from the airport in Pittsburgh to downtown gets 15 cars out of 55 because the Fort Pitt Tunnel was snarled back over the top of the mountain and the Grant Street exit on I-376 was at a standstill. Pittsburgh built a nice road so that the buses can bypass the Fort Pitt Tunnel, but it's not open to taxis. Seems dumb to me.

Commute home--downtown Pittsburgh to the airport gets a 40 out of 55 because the traffic was flowing freely at 75 mph or so after leaving the tunnel. The rating is so low because the tunnel was backed up even at 2:30 PM! The DC end (Reagan Airport to home) gets a 20 out of 55. I went through Old Town and across Eisenhower Avenue to Van Dorn Street. Alexandria gets major demerits in my book for having so many unnecessary stop signs in Old Town. Traffic would move along nicely if they'd replace them with roundabouts so that you wouldn't have to stop every few seconds. Van Dorn Street, which I use every day, always gets demerits because VDOT gives no advance warning that the southbound left lane becomes left turn only at Franconia Road, so there's always some dingbat stopped there trying to shove his way over to the right.

But hey, I guess I shouldn't complain--I could have been riding a motorcycle, which I hear is not a good idea in the Pittsburgh area these days....

BTW, for user "H," I noticed earlier this week that the new Wilson Bridge was slow. I suspect that part of what is going on is the steeper upgrade compared to the old bridge. I've long noticed that drivers in the DC area seem always to slow down on uphill grades (I-395 north before Seminary Road being the biggest point where I see this--even when traffic is moving, people doing 75 to 80 seem to slow to 60 to 65 going up that hill). I wonder if the same thing is happening on the new bridge, since it suddenly opens up big-time right after you pass the crest of the bridge.

No doubt people are sightseeing as well.

Silver Spring down GA Ave to just over the DC line - 40 out of 55 'cause I only had to dodge one bus and one dump truck as they swerved into my lane avoiding parked cars in the right lane (always fun).

Foggy Bottom-Merrifield this AM was a solid 48 out of 55 cars. It'd be higher if the tour bus hadn't tried to run me over as it tried to cross from the left lane to the right lane on 50 in front of the Iwo Jima Memorial. Still better than my old Springfield-Merrifield commute on its best day though.

Today, from home to Reagan Airport to drop off a friend and then to downtown DC, I'd give a 45 out of 55. Traffic wasn't bad at all, but the HOV lane on Washington Street in Alexandria might as well not be HOV since nobody obeys it. Plus I got stuck behind a stopped bus and had trouble getting around. But those were minor. My big gripe is with US-1 at its interchange with the Beltway. VDOT apparently refuses to maintain roads that are in the middle of construction zones. The US-1 overpass at the Beltway is an absolute washboard that shakes your car all over the place and rattles your bones. I have to dock today's rating because the road was so bad.

30/55 today(Friday). There was un-anticipated back up on I-66 eastbound at the VA rest center. The back up lasted until Rt. 28. I bailed on Rt. 29, then jumped on Rt. 28 and flew like a bat to 7100. Yipppeeee!

I posted yesterday about my Sterling Park commute that involves driving to the Herndon/Monroe P&R, catching a bus to West Falls Church and then taking the Orange Line to Farragut West. Today was a -55 out of 55. My hours at work are not set hours as today I had to work the noon shift. I arrive at the P&R about 10:45 to catch the 11:07am 950 bus. However, seeing as they are CONSTANTLY working on the tracks going east of West Falls Church the Orange line is using ONE track. My normal hour and a half commute took over two hours today making me a half hour late for work. BOOURNS to Metro for taking what seems like months to repair the track between West Falls Church and Ballston.

My commute was a 50 out of 55: that's because I used to do the Tyson's corner to Maryland commute which sucked largely and was normally 2 or 3 out of 55. Metro is far superior and today's commute was only 50 because there were no really overt weird persons singing hymns or discussing their best friend's marriage/lovelife and/or birth/hysterectomy. Weirdness counts for at least 5 cars.

To the user from Sterling: Apparently today's Orange Line delays were due to a woman being hit and killed by a train at East Falls Church.

If that's the case, to which I have not seen or read anything to that nature at this point, I retract me previous statement and offer my sincere condolences and prayers to her loved ones.

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