Metro Detroit is #8 in wasted hours stuck in traffic.

Metro Detroit remains among the 10 most congested places for spending time stuck in traffic, with drivers losing an average of 54 hours a year, up three hours from about a decade ago, a new study found.

Nationwide, drivers lose an average of 38 hours a year — about 4.2 billion hours total — inching along clogged roads and freeways, according to the Urban Mobility Report released Tuesday by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University. The report is based on data from 2005.

The Detroit area ranked eighth nationwide. But the long-term trend is clear: Detroit-area drivers spend more than twice as many hours stuck in backups and congestion than they did in 1982, when the average was 25 hours.

No big shock, Dean spends 10+ hours a week just commuting. There are ways to improve your drive time, thanks to the internet. I started doing this for my brother-in-law when I was watching Aidan. He would call and tell me what office he was at and I would go online check the traffic reports and give him the fastest route or alt route home. When Dean started working 35+miles away, we plotted his route and all possible alt routes. The plan is a phone call telling me that he is leaving in a minute and then I examine the traffic situation and tell Dean which way to go. Works pretty good, unless the weather is really foul. Fortunately, weather affecting all traffic/freeways is pretty rare.