While the reason that commute times to work stayed relatively the same between 2000 and 2003 was not good for workers (lack of economic growth), not having commute times increase
helped save commuters money.
The average daily commute time remained steady at 24.3 minutes from 2000 - 2003 according to a new report released by the Census Bureau. This coincides with an employment peak in early 2001 which then decreased until late 2003. The findings end at 2003, the lat year the information is currently available, but with an upturn in employment at the end of 2003, commute times may be increasing again.
A trend of "extreme commutes" of 90 minutes or more each way on both the east and west coasts continue to exist. Many of these commutes come from areas where public transportation is frequently used which usually takes longer than driving a car. Another growing reason is that employees have been priced out of housing near their work. New York and Baltimore have the highest extreme commutes in the nation with 5.6% of workers making a 3 hour or more round trip commute while the west cost has several areas where 5% or more are making these trips for housing price reasons.
Even with the extreme commute trend, some places still have commute times most people would dream of. Residents in both North and South Dakota have average commutes of only 15 minutes while Wichita claims title to the "large city with shortest commute time" at 16.3 minutes.
Extreme Commutes On The Rise
