bizjournals: Where the commuting nightmares are: NYC is worst, but our study finds other areas that are almost as bad -- bizjournals.com

bizjournals: Where the commuting nightmares are: NYC is worst, but our study finds other areas that are almost as bad -- bizjournals.com


Where the commuting nightmares are



Members: Log in
Not Registered? Register for free extra services. Choose Another Market:

bizjournals Albany Albuquerque Atlanta Austin Baltimore Birmingham Boston Buffalo Charlotte Cincinnati Columbus Dallas Dayton Denver East Bay Greensboro Honolulu Houston Jacksonville Kansas City Los Angeles Louisville Memphis Milwaukee Mpls./St. Paul Nashville Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Portland Raleigh/Durham Sacramento St. Louis San Antonio San Francisco San Jose Seattle South Florida Tampa Bay Washington, D.C. Wichita

Home Online Edition Latest News Special Reports Business Advice Advertise Online Most Viewed Stories Most Emailed Stories Print Edition This Week's Contents Electronic Edition Subscribe to a Print Edition Advertise in a Print Edition Marketplace Subscribe to a Print Edition Book of Lists Sales Leads Reprints Business Resources bizwomen.com Real Estate Jobs Starting Your Business Sales & Marketing Building Your Business Technology HR & Careers Franchises Events & Networking Business Events Calendar Nominations Online Directory Event Registration About Us About Bizjournals Contact Us Advertising Services FAQ's

Search Search Archive News by Company News by Industry People in the News

Extra
Home > Special Reports Subscribe to a business journal Print this Article Email this Article
Where the commuting nightmares are
NYC is worst, but our study finds other areas that are almost as bad
bizjournals - October 8, 2007by G. Scott Thomas
America's traffic nightmares
• Main story
• 10 dream trips
• 10 nightmare trips
• Commuting highlights
• How 65 markets ranked
• Methodology
• Poll: Have gas prices changed your commute?




Americans love their cars, which is fortunate indeed.

U.S. workers spend plenty of time behind the wheel -- driving an average of 25.07 minutes to their jobs, then reversing the route at day's end. That equals 209 hours of commuting over the course of a year.

Many of those hours are far from relaxing. Traffic jams are becoming increasingly common on America's expressways -- as are boredom, frustration and road rage.




"Highway growth in the last 20 years has been less than 5 percent. It certainly hasn't kept up with population growth and urban sprawl," says Joe Reed, vice president of products and operations at Navteq Corp., which monitors traffic conditions in 108 markets.

"The result," he says, "has been much more volatility on the road. It adds up to a perfect storm in traffic."

Nowhere is this problem more severe than New York City, which ranks as America's worst market for commuters, according to a new Bizjournals study.

Nearly 6 million workers leave their homes in Connecticut, New Jersey, Long Island, the Hudson Valley and the city itself each weekday morning, clogging New York's intricate web of expressways, bridges and tunnels.

The typical morning commute in the New York City area takes almost 36 minutes, longer than anywhere else in America. Nearly 460,000 New York road warriors spend at least 90 minutes battling their way to work.

"New York can be a real challenge," says Reed. "An overturned truck can be catastrophic for commuters there. It can mean hours of delays. But most of the big markets have similar problems. They all have the same hub-and-spoke arrangement of highways. They all have congestion and volatility."

Bizjournals created a nine-part formula to rate traffic conditions in the nation's 65 largest metropolitan areas, searching for the places that offer the roughest and easiest commutes (see Methodology). The formula used 2005 data complied by the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

Pages: 123Continue Reading

Previous ACBJ Special Reports
Where the hottest job markets are
The best markets for female execs and women business owners
Where the best markets are to grow a small business

Go to full archives powered by onTargetjobsFeatured Jobs
Business Architect - USAA
Sr. Software Engineer I - Raytheon
Internal Medicine - Community Health Systems
Route Sales Representatives - The Standard Companies, Inc.
New Market Tax Credit Financial Manager - City of Phoenix
Search Jobs | Post Resume | More...
Employers - Post a Job Today






Use of, registration on, this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement. Please read our Privacy Policy A publishing partner with Portfolio

online:Home | Business News | Print Editions | Advertise | Marketplace | Business Resources | About Us | Search | RSS Feeds | Site FAQ | Contact Info
Print Edition:Subscribe to Print Edition | Advertise | Book of Lists | Download Electronic Version | Article Reprints Rights
Bizjournals:bizjournals | BizSpace.com | Jobs | bizwomen.com
Affiliate publications:portfolio

© 2007 American City Business Journals, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of bizjournals.