Massachusetts Near Top Nationally for Grueling Commutes
Monday, March 12, 2012
Massachusetts ranks behind only Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois, and New York in the amount of time commuters spend in cars, trains and buses, according to a new survey by Suffolk University’s Beacon Hill Institute.
In fact, some of the longest commutes can be found among residents of Central Massachusetts towns who have to fight their way to work past the I-495 beltway to 128 or Boston.
“The Worcester to Boston corridor can get pretty jammed,” notes Jonathan Haughton, a Suffolk professor and a senior economist at the Beacon Hill Institute.
And the traffic congestion is only going to get worse as the economy picks up and more drivers hit the highway, said David Begelfer, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts, a trade group for developers across the state.
“If people are upset right now, just wait,” said Begelfer, who has been outspoken in pushing for more spending on transportation infrastructure, from highway repairs to trains.
Right now, the median commute in Massachusetts is 27.6 minutes – meaning it takes roughly a half hour for half the state’s commuters to get to work in the morning, Haughton said. The numbers come from a larger survey BHI does ranking the business environment of states across the country.
And when you factor in people working out of home offices or the lucky few who live around the corner from the office, the numbers start to look even more miserable for the average Mass commuter.
“It means there are a fair number of people who are taking an hour to get to work,” Haughton notes.
Still, while commutes are bad here, they could be worse. You could be living in metro Washington area, where government growth has fueled the local economy and packed local roadways.
Top honors for the most miserable commute goes to Maryland, where it takes the average commuter 31.8 minutes each day. Commuters in New York, Illinois (Chicago) and New Jersey also all have it worse, but that’s it.
By contrast, in the fine state of North Dakota the median commute is just over 16 minutes, BHI reports.
But long commutes are not only tough for workers, they are also bad for the state’s economy as well.
If you are spending two hours a day in the car, that amounts to 10 hours a week, or more than a full day’s work. If half that commute is due to clogged highways and stop-and-go traffic, that is $5,000 in lost wages for the average worker, Haughton said.
“We don’t rank well and it’s not getting better,” he said.
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