[bobwaycott]

> What does a 1% increase in congestion mean for people in traffic?

Well, the article indicates the increase was 1% in amount of congestion, and 4.5% in duration. So, I suppose that means people in traffic are in traffic longer?

[bluGill]

A fair amount of people will adjust their working hours to get a reasonable commute. They would prefer to work 8-5 (because that is what the day is setup to be - at least one friend (or their kid's school!) is on a fixed shift that cannot change, so matching shifts makes sense as it means the most time outside of work. However if that ideal time is too crowded they will adjust to a more reasonable compromise for their situation.

That is why rush hour exists. In Des Monies it is more like 15 minutes, in Minneapolis it is several hours. The idea is the same though: the time when the most people are trying to get someplace at the same time.