As is the case with many other urbanized states, traffic congestion in Maryland is getting worse. According to the Texas Transportation Institute, congestion measures in Maryland metropolitan areas have increased steadily since 1982, when comparable quantitative measures of congestion were first calculated for American cities. Table 1 shows trends in Maryland’s two major metropolitan areas since 1982 as compared to the same measure for 75 of the top U.S. metropolitan areas. While the D.C. area’s congestion is worse, Baltimore’s has been worsening faster and now nearly matches the national average.

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