Rush hour

A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday—once in the morning and once in the evening, the times during when the most people commute. The term is often used for a period of peak congestion that may last for more than one hour.

The term is very broad, but often refers specifically to private automobile transportation traffic, even when there is a large volume of cars on a road but not a large number of people, or if the volume is normal but there is some disruption of speed. By analogy to vehicular traffic, the term Internet rush hour has been used to describe periods of peak data network usage, resulting in delays and slower delivery of data packets.

Definition

The name is sometimes a misnomer, as the peak period often lasts more than one hour and the "rush" refers to volume of traffic, not rate of its flow. Rush hour is from 6–10am (06:00–10:00) and 4–8 pm (16:00–20:00). Peak traffic periods may vary from city to city, from region to region, and seasonally.