Traffic — the grueling aspect of commuting — now accounts for an entire work week’s worth of time over the course of a year, said a national study released on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

The study done by the Texas Traffic Institute revealed that drivers were stuck in traffic delays for a total of 4.2 billion hours in 2005, more than the four billion the year before. This translates to about 38 hours per driver.

Sitting in traffic for 38 hours per year equals to a waste in gasoline of up to 2.9 billion gallons of fuel nationally and 26 gallons a year per driver the study also revealed.

The study showed that the Los Angeles area had the biggest congestion of traffic, delaying drivers 72 hours a year. It was followed by Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington and Dallas.

For Biola students situated in the most congested area of the U.S., dealing with traffic is something that is to be expected. Whether commuting to Biola, leaving for an off-campus job, or going somewhere with friends, traffic is something Biola students are not strangers to.

Katie Boer, a broadcast journalism major with an off-campus internship at ABC located in Burbank, said she has occasionally been late because of traffic.

“I usually leave an extra half hour early just because you can never depend on what the traffic is going to be like,” Boer said.

Although the study reveals that the problem of traffic congestion has grown too complex for a simple solution, it is still not unsolvable if enough resources pool together toward lessening the congestion. For now, students at Biola and drivers across the nation can still anticipate the drone of traffic and plan ahead.