They are in denial about it too when I moved to Baltimore and found out other regions don't have 24/7 parking lots instead of roads, and then mentioned this fact on a forum full of Northern Virginians. Everybody started bringing up 495 around Bethesda, but like, yeah, that's technically still the DC metro region even though its MD, not VA. The further you get from DC, the more normal traffic becomes.
I fucking dread it when I have a jobsite in VA, because then I always have to add an hour and a half to a trip that should take 45 minutes.
I think in 20 years we are going to see some detrimental effects on the local economy of that place if nobody can get anywhere anymore in a reasonable amount of time in a place where public transportation is absolutely shit. The Metro needs to extend down to Fredericksburg and out west all the way to Manassas, but that'll never happen. Some people deal with up to 3 hour commutes, that's fucking bananas.