Was Rush Hour Ever " 1 Hour "??

[jd_1984]

The expression "Rush Hour" suggests an hour of particularly heavy and congested traffic almost certainly due to commuter and school run traffic.
I commute from my village to Liverpool city centre every day, a distance of 19 miles on mainly A roads. Even when I start at 7.30am I am usually in traffic jams. There also now seems to be a lunchtime rush hour where the roads are jammed up between 11.30am and 1.30pm and the rush hour home starts at 3.30pm and it is still chocker until almost 7pm.

So was it ever just " 1 hour " ??

[janzman]

No more than 'Happy Hour' was just one hour.

[aelmpvw]

never understood why it's called rush hour, should have been called go slow hour

[jd_1984]

TRUE!

[pixie373]

I think it gets longer as people commute further. And yes, "rush hour" seems a silly name!

[Old_Geezer]

It's probably rush hour because everyone is in a rush to get somewhere but they can't.

I think it may be an hour in some places at some time. Commutes seem much longer these days. I think it was assumed folk'd leave work and everyone would take a whole hour to get home and clear the roads.

[DJHawkes]

I had a thought last night whilst watching Tim McGraw on Who Do You Think You Are, how long exactly would '2 long years' be?