The average time Americans spent commuting to and from their workplace is on the rise, the United States Census Bureau says.
According to the bureau, the average time Americans spent commuting has gone up by about two minutes since 2009, with an average one-way commute taking 27.1 minutes. That means that, in total, American workers over the age of 16 spent 225 hours—more than nine days—getting from their home to their place of work.
We should note that these figures, first brought to our attention by The Washington Post, aren’t just for those who drive to work. Those who take public transit and walk to work were also accounted for, although those who drive to work obviously have some of the longest commute times. In addition to increased congestion, some are taking on longer commutes by car as well, further contributing to the rising amount of time spent getting to and from work. This is being spurred on by a lack of housing in urban areas, which has forced many workers into the suburbs and communities outside of major metropolitan centers.
As Autoblog points out, the average American took 17.4 days off in 2018. That means most people spend more than half the time commuting than they do taking a vacation. Adding insult to injury is the fact that those who sit in their car for long periods of time are at increased risk of obesity and high blood pressure. Spending this much time away from home also puts them at a higher risk of divorce.
It’s not all bad, though. With an increasing amount of employees able to work from their desks at home, some folks can avoid the pitfalls of commuting altogether. This is also good for the environment and reduces the congestion experienced by those who are still forced to drive into work or ride public transit.
Studies like this are part of what’s driving companies like GM Cruise to develop self-driving vehicles. While it remains to be seen if AVs can actually contribute to reducing congestion (companies like Cruise want you to believe they will, but it’s impossible to say until they are actually implemented on a wide scale), manufacturers hope that self-driving vehicles take the stress out of commuting, giving workers the ability to eat, rest and enjoy a movie or book rather than driving.
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Source: Autoblog/Washington Post
Comments
No surprise when you have more people working you have more people on the road and in public transit. Self driving cars are only going to help in big cities if that is all that is allowed to drive around. Adding them to the amount of cars already in cities is going to cause a big mess. Self driving vehicles can’t understand what a human driver is doing or thinking about doing. Long drives they could help in driving closer in lanes but we are far far from it ever becoming practical.
Most people live too far from work. I drive 2700 miles a week for work. And I walk from home to work, and back.
AV is a big promise that they are selling but will fall short of the claims.
The problem is
#1 just how much time will most Americans gain in the daily commute? Couple minuets at best? Some none at all. Much depends on where you live and most people really have reasonable times.
#2 They show us photos of people sleeping or reading. The truth is most of us drive 20 min and just how much will you get done in 20 min?
#3 Crashes will still happen.
#4 The real risk is you will be giving your free will to drive when, where, and how to someone else. Who is that someone else? Most likely the government. They can and will in most congested areas tell you where you can go, when you can go and how fast you can go. Odds are you will be given slots of travel of when you can go and what roads you take.
Many don’t think this can happen. But then again in 2019 who thought people in California may be with out power for a week or more?
Remember there are many in the government that think they know better than you and feel it is up to them to take control of your life. That is why they struggle for power.
Who thought we would have to pay for TV and Radio when they promised us all the new programming back in the 80’s?
Also for all this to work you will have to give up your self driven car. No more Corvettes on long winding roads.
This seems to be sad but truth numbers. Most people should spend their lifetime on transport because their jobs are far from home and here is no good infrastructure. I like to drive my car but time is money.
Yes, and this is a big problem. I was late on my exam because of a traffic jam but I spend this time on https://studyhippo.com/mis-ppt-exam-1-24195/ and learning some stuff on the bus. This is not a normal situation.