Performance Collision Centers - Richmond

Fewer Commuters, Longer Commutes Poll Reveals

Every year since 2007, more and more people have joined the home-based workforce for a wide range of reasons. Some people work from home to raise their children while others do it for convenience or to be green.

At Performance Collision Centers - Richmond, we see this change in our society in Richmond, VA as the technology has enabled it. A blog published by the Washington Post recently revealed that did Americans who do drive to work now have longer and more draining, commutes than ever. But, if fewer people commute, how does that happen? Wasn't the idea of taking cars off the road would lead to easier commutes? It seems logical, but whenever human beings are involved, logic often goes out the nearest window!

A recent Gallup poll discovered that workers spending at least a portion of their working day from home increased by 5 percent in 2016. This means that 6.8 million people are able to avoid the commute that always hits twice every day all over the country.

So, we at Performance Collision Centers - Richmond  know that there are less people on the road, yet commutes are getting longer and longer. The 2015 U.S. Census found the average American's commute increased by 24 seconds to a new total of 26.4 minutes. That may not sound like a lot, but it equals a total of three hours and 20 minutes per year added to the average commute.

The main reason for this dilemma is that more people are now traveling longer to and from work. People that used to drive 30 minutes to work are now spending 45-70 minutes commuting, which is a whopping eight percent spike in one year. The percentage of workers with short commutes of 10 minutes or less actually dropped by about 3 percent. It might have to do with affordable real estate and rental rates in cities vs. smaller towns, but it's a fact that commutes are considerably longer overall.

On top of it, our commutes are becoming more dangerous than ever too. Fatalities on U.S. roads have drastically increased within the last three years. And last year was the first time crash fatalities rose above 40,000 within the last 10 years. This is caused by people driving too fast overall and especially in the evening and during inclement weather. If drivers all over the country can work to stay out of their vehicles more and drive intelligently while operating them, we can all commute with confidence and in safety.

Sources: USA Today, TIME and Dataquest