Commuting

Commuting is the movement of people and vehicles between the place of work and the place of residence. Two peak traffic hours, at 7–8:00 a.m. and 5–6:00 p.m., correspond to the critical times of traveling to work and school in the early morning, and going back home in the evening.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the average travel time to work was 24.3 minutes in 2003. There are not significant differences between big cities—New York, NY, is 38.3 minutes; Chicago, IL, is 33.2; Los Angeles, CA, is 29.0; Miami, FL, is 29.0—but variation is remarkable compared to the cities in the last positions—Wichita, KS, is 16.3 minutes; Corpus Christi, TX, is 16.1. American workers of 16 years and over spend more than 100 hours commuting to ...