With a dubious boost from the Beltway, Baltimore continued its slow rise among the ranks of America's most congested metropolitan areas as a national survey last year ranked it the 16th-most traffic-choked.

The annual INRIX National Traffic Scoreboard shows highway congestion in Baltimore, the 20th-largest metro area in population, steadily worsening since 2006, when it ranked 21st. By 2008, it was 17th.

Baltimore, with a 12 percent rise, was one of only three of the nation's 30 largest cities to post an increase of more than 10 percent in congestion from 2008 to 2009. Washington and Las Vegas were the other two, at a time when many cities were continuing to show declines in congestion because of recession-related job losses.

Matt McDermott of Hamilton said he sees the evidence behind those statistics every day he commutes to Hunt Valley.

"I haven't seen a noticeable difference since the recession hit in traffic. The traffic still seems to be a real brute," he said.

The survey identified the Baltimore region's 10 worst bottlenecks, and the Beltway accounted for eight of them.

According to INRIX, a national marketer of traffic information to mapping companies, the worst place and time to be driving in metropolitan Baltimore is the westbound Beltway at Harford Road (Exit 31) between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Wednesdays. At that hour, traffic there averaged 11 mph along a .79-mile segment of Interstate 695.

"I believe it. It's usually pretty ghastly, said McDermott, who said he takes Perring Parkway to the Beltway to avoid that stretch.

But commuters on the west side of the Beltway could also lay claim to the title of Baltimore's worst bottleneck as INRIX ranked southbound I-695 at Interstate 70 (Exit 16) the No. 1 bottleneck overall.

Heather Woolford, a working mother of two who commutes from Reisterstown to Locust Point, said she's not surprised.

"I usually spend 20 to 30 minutes just on trying to get from Liberty Road to just past I-70," she said. "Spending two to three hours of my day fighting traffic is not fun. I go from fighting traffic to fighting kids about homework."

Baltimore's creep up the congestion rankings apparently reflects the relative strength of its economy during the recession, which has taken a toll on total driving miles nationally because people without jobs travel less.

"There is definitely a correlation," said Jim Bak, spokesman for Seattle-based INRIX. "More traffic is actually better for the economy and my 401(k), but it isn't always the most pleasant experience for me every day." Bak attributed the Baltimore region's robust growth in part to the "halo effect" of its proximity to Washington, with its strong government employment base.

That economic strength has vaulted Baltimore's congestion level past that of several formerly booming cities of comparable size. During the four-year period when Baltimore climbed from 21st to 16th, hard-hit San Diego fell from 12th to 17th and similarly afflicted Riverside, Calif., dropped from 13th to 18th. Both areas rank just above Baltimore in population.

While Maryland commuters have it bad in some ways, their woes don't begin to match those in the nation's most congested areas.

None of the nation's 100 worst traffic bottlenecks are in Maryland, and none of the top 1,000 are in Baltimore. Los Angeles, New York and Chicago - which together accounted for 88 of the 100 - were the three most congested areas.

The Washington region ranked fourth-worst in congestion, up from sixth in 2008, but had none of the top 100 bottlenecks.

Of Baltimore's worst bottlenecks, only two were not on the Beltway - southbound Interstate 895 at Moravia Road and the northbound Baltimore-Washington Parkway at Canine Road near Route 32.

Jason Rashad, who lives in Baltimore and commutes to the Goddard Space Flight Center, said traffic generally slows to 15 to 20 mph during peak hours along that stretch. Rashad, who recently relocated from Detroit, said he can understand that happening in a snowstorm.

"But the rain? I don't understand why the traffic slows to a halt when it's just a little drizzle," he said.