For many people, the commute back and forth to work is the worst part of life. They often sit in traffic while thousands of others try to do the same. If there’s construction…forget about it! According to a new survey, these commute times are no joke and they keep getting longer! It’s estimated that in a single year, the average person spends 225 hours behind the wheel during their commute.
How long is 225 hours? Just imagine spending nine full days driving. Well, actually, the average person does just that. This report has been released by the U.S. Census Bureau and it’s an eyeopener. A lot of the increasing drive time has to do with more people out on the roadway. Hey, we all wanted a better economy, and this is part of that.
According to the report, 4.3 million workers spend around 90 minutes during each transit. That number is up 10 million from 3.3 million just a decade ago. It proves more people are working. Now we each spend about 20 minutes longer getting to and from work. That adds up to 17 more hours than the year before.
Long Traffic Commutes Bad for the Health
We already spend enough time at work and away from our families. Having a longer commute doesn’t do well in getting us to a better state of mind. It also makes them less physically active. And when you’ve just had a crazy day and a long commute, you’re more likely to not eat well. In fact, fast food is on the rise. More people are stopping to grab a quick meal on the way to and from work.
Being less active, combined with added stress and unhealthy eating isn’t a good thing. It’s not just our diets that are suffering. It’s also our wallets. A study from Texas A&M found that we’re also paying an additional $166 billion per year. Sitting in that much more traffic has a cost in wasted/lost time and increase costs.
