Inducing sprawl and driving

I was reading an issue of Planning Magazine from 2002 with an excellent article on parking, "Putting on Their Parking Caps." It said that Cambridge, Massachusetts passed a zoning-land use law requiring transportation demand management planning that required property owners to induce a 10% reduction in auto use from 1990 to 2000. See the Parking and Transportation Demand Management webpage from the City of Cambridge.

So this question by Michelle D. Horne in yesterday's Dr. Gridlock in the Post definitely caught my attention:

My husband and I will be relocating to the Washington area in December and are trying to decide where to live. He will be working in the District. I found a house I love in Annapolis and used MapQuest to plot a route for him that uses Route 50 to get there in about an hour.

What is a realistic length of time for that drive during morning and evening rush hours say, at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m.? I am from Maryland originally and don't recall reports of heavy traffic on Route 50.

Who logically thinks this way? She must really hate her husband.