New Animated Beltway Traffic Map Takes Guesswork Out Of Commute

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WUSA) - There's a new tool to help take the guesswork out of the grueling commute around the Beltway.

Rahul Nair with the Center for Advanced Transportation Technology at the University of Maryland says this is the result of billions of readings from speed sensors on cars.

Each bar represents a section of the Beltway - with black representing speeds of less than 15 miles per hour - red meaning 15 to 30, orange 30 to 45, yellow 45 to 60 and green anything faster than that.

For instance take a look at what the map looks like around 5 p.m. on a Friday and you can see where things to start to almost come to a standstill right around Bethesda.

But fast forward to Saturday night, and you can see drivers are just flying on the highway.

To check out the map yourself - just click here