Every time we venture out to shop or run errands and we wind up driving during the witching hour of 4-6 PM, we encounter monumental traffic on most highways and interstates, well in excess of what I recall from a few years ago pre-pandemic. Lengthy backups on roads that used to be minor byways.

My wife reported that morning rush hour had literally exploded when she was commuting which was a year ago.

I had a simpleton's thought on this.

One aspect of the current economy is that allegedly, full time jobs have shrunk considerably, and part time employment has exploded (which boosts the number-of-employed figures that get reported.)

I wonder if what I'm seeing on the roads is doubled commuting. IOW, workers who have to commute twice daily to shorter jobs. Doubling the number of home-work round trips.

I don't find much to counter this. It's definitely not retail activity driving this and my area hasn't grown 50% in the last two years.