Photo by anokarina

Sequestration is having its fair share of local impacts from furloughs to no more tours of the White House. But there’s one impact that may be cheered by some: less traffic. WTOP reports that the spending cuts have apparently taken motorists off of area roads:

Jim Bak, co-author of the INRIX Traffic Scorecard, says the sequester has definitely impacted traffic in the nation’s capital.

“In its first three months of 2013, traffic is up across America 4 percent. But in the D.C. area, it’s actually down 5 percent,” says Bak. “Just last month, compared to March of 2012, traffic in D.C. is down 11 percent.”

It’s not a surprise, really—Metro also warned that ridership would take a hit with sequestration.