FAIRFAX, VA — (WMAL) Welcome to the party, Arlington! Nice to see you, Alexandria! Close the door behind you, Fairfax County!
With Labor Day now in the rear view mirror, the final few local jurisdictions in the D.C. area re-opened to students Tuesday, adding hundreds of school buses to the daily traffic patterns and putting Summer 2016 to bed once and for all.
The phenomenon has a particularly depressing name – Terrible Traffic Tuesday.
“More people are leaving at the same time, which gives you that uptick in traffic,” says Ben Hampton, a planner with the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board. “It’s present on that first Tuesday after Labor Day, and really extends on through the month of September,” he adds.
While the day after Labor Day has traditionally marked the beginning of the school year in the DC area, that date has been and continues to be in flux across the region.
Virginia has had its so-called “King’s Dominion” law in place for decades, mandating the post-holiday start, but school systems have sought and acquired waivers to the law in recent years. Prince William and Loudoun Counties are among the local Virginia jurisdictions which have opened in August in recent years, and Fairfax County, the state;s largest school system, plans to follow suit next year.
In Maryland, Governor Larry Hogan signed an executive order just last week that will bring the state in line with Virginia’s law, establishing a school year that must fall between the day after Labor Day and June 15th, subject to waiver.
23 of Maryland’s 24 school districts currently open before Labor Day.
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