Extreme commuting

As defined by the United States Census Bureau, an extreme commute is a daily journey to work that takes more than 90 minutes each way. According to the bureau, about 3% of American adult workers are so-called "extreme" commuters. [ [http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/004489.html US Census Press Releases ] ] Not surprisingly, the number of extreme commuters in the New York, Baltimore, and Los Angeles metropolitan areas is much greater than the national average.

Midas sponsored an "America's Longest Commute" award in 2006. The winner drove 372 miles (about 4 1/2 hours) to and from work each day. [http://www.theregister.com/2006/04/13/cisco_commute] Assuming he commutes 5 days a week for 50 weeks a year, and assuming a 25MPG average, the winner uses approx. 3720 gallons of gas a year for commuting alone, and uses nearly 15 gallons of gas a day. Also, for every year said commuter spends 6 weeks worth of time every year in the car, putting 93000 miles on the car (requiring 31 oil changes annually assuming one every 3000 miles).

References

External links

* [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/16/070416fa_fact_paumgarten "There and Back Again: The Soul of the Commuter" (from The New Yorker)]
* [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_08/b3921127.htm "Extreme Commuting : More workers are willing to travel three hours a day. But what is the long-term cost?" (from BusinessWeek)]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-11-29-commute_x.htm "Think your commute is tough?" (from USA TODAY)]
* [http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/06/extremecommute.asp "Extreme Commuting: Is It For You?" (from INVESTOPEDIA)]