Stuck in traffic: Super commuting of 3+ hours is on the rise

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Four days a week, Kerese Holmes joins the brake lights streaming in and out of Seattle.

The medical assistant leaves her house on the northeast side of Lake Stevens at 5:30 a.m. to be at her office at Seattle Children’s at 7 a.m. And on a good day — with no accidents or rainy weather to maneuver through — she’s lucky to make the drive home in less than two hours. She works a compressed schedule, getting in her 40 hours over four days, which gives her one more commute-free day a week.

Holmes is part of a not-so-lucky group of “super commuters” who spend 90 minutes or more traveling one way to work. Though these workers still make up a small minority of the workforce — 2.8% nationally and 3.7% in Snohomish County — long commutes are on the rise, according to ApartmentList.com.

Here at home, the number of super commuters jumped 44% between 2009 and 2017 as the workforce increased 13.8%.

-snip-

Jobs tend to be centered in large metro areas, like Seattle. Increasingly, those areas are becoming more expensive in the Puget Sound region. As a result, more people are being driven north and south from King County in search of more affordable options.

In King County the percentage of super commuters in the workforce is 2.2%, lower than in Snohomish County and much less than in Pierce County, where almost 5% of workers commute long hours to reach their jobs.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/stuck-in-traffic-super-commuting-of-3-hours-is-on-the-rise/?utm_source=DAILY+HERALD&utm_campaign=6a8b2abe56-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d81d073bb4-6a8b2abe56-228635337

[Grasswire2]

1. But I thought public transit in Seattle metro area was exceptionally good.

No?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

2. It'll get even worse if Timmeh Eyman's latest initiative becomes law

[tymorial]

3. I was a super commuter for years and now my wife suffers

The Boston area is a God damned nightmare. 10 years ago when I was commuting into the city it would routinely take 1.5 to 2 hours to drive the 35 to 40 miles one way during peak rush hour. It's so much worse today. My wife leaves at 5am so that she can get into the office as early as possible with the goal of leaving by 3. On a good day she manages 1 hour to 1.5 on the way in. The way home is terrible for her. It often takes 2 hours if not more and it's getting worse in the morning.

We used to live outside of Boston on the 128 belt. Home prices in that area/Boston metro are completely insane. Prior to moving we were renting a simple 3 bedroom Raised Ranch on a cul de sac. The rent was reasonable but we weren't building equity. Picture a 1970s era raised ranch with original kitchen and bathroom. That house would sell between 550 and 650. It's insane.


We moved to northern Rhode Island where the home prices are reasonable. So my wife has a commute now but at least we have our own home with family around