When driving around the DC beltway I found it indispensable. But I did not follow it blindly. I used it over the course of months to find what routes had potent

When driving around the DC beltway I found it indispensable. But I did not follow it blindly. I used it over the course of months to find what routes had potential and which did not, and a lot of times I got stuck unnecessarily in side road traffic. This taught me a few viable routes for when the beltway really was gridlocked. It also taught me how to gauge the level of traffic reports for how early I needed to bail from the freeway onto side roads, or stick it out if it would clear up.