As if we needed another study to tell us D.C. area traffic is awful and getting worse — a report released yesterday has pushed us into a solid three-way tie for second place in the contest for the Worst Traffic in the Nation award.

So congrats, D.C. You are tied with drivers in Atlanta and the Bay Area as you burn time inching along I-395 in your car. Only Los Angeles can boast more congestion than this. And that’s bad.

Do we get a trophy out the deal? Nope. Just 91 million gallons of fuel – or $1,094 per gridlocked driver – wasted while sitting in traffic, reports The Post. And of course, Ryan Avent has the explanation for why this is happening to us in the first place.

It’s not just fuel and dollars going down the tubes as we listen to our radios while watching the bumper of the guy in front of us – we sit in traffic for an average of 60 hours a year, a solid two and a half weeks week and a half of time that could be used for other things, like vacations. Or preparing delicious and nutritious meals. Or knocking boots with a significant other.

The report contains very little good news on our traffic future. Many of the authors’ suggestions for bettering the situation center around measures officials have already been put in motion, like pushing mass transit, building new roads and installing HOV and HOT lanes. Traffic, they predict, is likely to just keep getting worse.

Photo by picture prefect