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Today's not so shocking news is that New Yorkers have the longest commutes in the country, not to mention the fact that many commutes across the boarder are getting longer. Duh: Think urban sprawl into suburban sprawl, developers trying to find places for all Americans to live...people wanting more space for their money (even in NYC, where it may be an impossibility). The Census Bureau, which did this commuting study, says that New Yorkers are also leading the "extreme" commuting trend, which doesn't involve dirt bikes or pre-teens competing for random caffienated beverage sponsorships, but actually anyone whose commutes clock in a higher-than-average times. For instance, 5.6% New Yorkers have 90+ minute commutes (in Staten Island, this number is over 10%), while only the national average is 2%. Anyway, the average commute time for a New Yorker is 38 minutes, which averages the Staten Island extreme commuter with the freelancer who walks downstairs to the coffee shop. But 38 minutes is actually a nice door-to-door number, from the moment you step out of your house to the moment you step into the office - Gothamist is lucky if we get 38 minute commutes. And about the MTA studying LA buses to make NYC buses faster by an ambitious 10% - good luck with that, because that'll only happen if: (a) Cars and truck don't double park; (b) tourists know how to cross the street; and (c) buses don't stop at every block.
Chicago is runner-up with a 33 minute commute; Newark, Riverside, CA, and Philly are also in the top five.
Photograph from the Death of the Q Diamond Party
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Longer Commute = More sleep on the train.
Ugh, Whats with the sissy pink Gothamist pages?
40 minutes on the subway was a bearable commute for me. But I really liked it when my commute was 20 minutes and three subway stops, or 40 minutes on foot as a backup.
My commute is an hour and 45 minutes, door-to-door, each way. That's over an hour on NJ Transit, plus walking to and from train stations, plus a little waiting time. Since I live in the city and go out to Jersey, trains aren't as crowded as the other way, but Friday afternoons are hell because of all the people heading into the city for the night, yapping about how wasted they're going to get.
The NYC average is somewhat misleading, because it combines the commute times of all five boroughs. Most people work in the city, so obviously someone who lives in Flushing will have a much longer commute than someone who lives on the LES.
How is that misleading? Someone who lives in Flushing is a New Yorker too, ya know.
Here's the link to the census press release with all the charts and whatnot.
That the four Outer Borough counties topped the list isn't surprising, but that New York County (Manhattan) came in 30th at 29.8 min kinda is. I guess all those Upper East Siders working downtown are padding the numbers but if you're paying Manhattan rent and still taking 30+ minutes to get to work, something ain't right.
FWIW, I'm paying below market rent and take 20 minutes to get to work door-to-door.