Moving up the start of daylight-saving time in the U.S. and Canada has spurred consumption of gas, according to a report quoted in the Globe and Mail. Maybe that explains the traffic too.

The time-change policy was supposed to save energy by reducing demand for electricity. Instead it’s grown, according to economist Peter Tertzakian:

“You are given an extra hour of daylight — you are going to come home and go out and do something. And in our society, ‘doing something’ more often than not means getting into a car and going somewhere.”