Beltway morning commuters find time's a-wasting

Drivers on the Maryland stretch of the Capital Beltway have something new to complain about: Their morning commute is the third-most-sluggish in the nation. A new study from the Texas Transportation Institute shows that morning drivers on the 6.3-mile stretch on Interstate 495 from Route 1/Baltimore Avenue to Route 97/Georgia Avenue suffer through 1.8 million hours of delays every year, costing the region about $38 million in lost productivity and wasted gas.

Commuters driving the stretch are forced to more than double their travel time to ensure they make it to their destination on time, the report said.