Paying The Price To Drive In D.C.

Traffic in and around Washington is the stuff of legend — for a reason. CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi and the Eye on the Road Crew rode right into it on Thursday morning — when they were still 50 miles outside of the city.

About 30 miles outside the nation's capital, Bonnie McGann had already started her drive to work.

"This was the area I could afford a home," says McGann, a teacher. The problem now: She can't afford her commute. McGann will spend $1,000 more on gas this year.

"It's a burden for me now, something I'm unable to absorb," says McGann, who has taken a second job tutoring. "It's very worrisome when the cost of gas keeps going up. There's really not another way to get to my job."

Unlike McGann, Laura Shielbelhut has options. She lives just eight miles away from the city — and across the street from a stop for the Metro, Washington's mass transit system.

But she drives to work anyway. Shielbelhut is one of millions of commuters who refuse to give up their car.

At 8:36, Alfonsi joined Shielbelhut as she left her house and headed for Capitol Hill, a trip that Shielbelhut said could take up to 45 minutes.

CBS News producer Jamie McGlinchy took the same trip on the Metro to see how much faster it is.

Twenty minutes later, McGlinchy was on his way — but Shielbelhut wasn't moving. "This is about an average traffic day," she says.

Shielbelhut is used to traffic like this. The car is her sanctuary, and she says she'll never give it up — not even if gas hits $4 a gallon.

Shielbelhut is at work by 9:07. It took her 31 minutes to drive just eight miles.

And McGlinchy? He arrives 25 minutes later. The Metro was just slow.

He says the folks on the Metro took it all in stride. "The only person freaking out was me," he says.

As for Shielbelhut, she says the time she spends in her car is about the only time she's alone all day — and that's something you can't put a price tag on.