Hate Traffic? Interactive Map Reveals Boston’s Worst Commutes
No matter how you slice it, it’s almost always the work week’s greatest torture — whether you take the T, walk or drive, no one looks forward to the drudgery of their daily commute. No one.
Boston is notorious for having some of the worst congestion in the country, with the average area car commuter reportedly blowing through $1,100 worth of gas each year just sitting in traffic. It’s only natural to ask: are we getting the short end of the transit stick here?
For the answer, readers can explore a new interactive map prepared by the data news team at WNYC that allows residents to browse average commute times by zip code.
While you shouldn’t pack up and move to a community based on this data alone — obviously your own mileage will vary, a ha ha — it’s an interesting way to explore how far some folks are willing to commute in order to live in a particular area or community.
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Most residents of Greater Boston have commutes 5-to-10 minutes more than the national average of 25.4 minutes, though some in Back Bay and Fenway see their figures slip a few minutes below the national average. Fortunately, one has to go to the tippy top of New Hampshire and Maine to find average commutes nearing an hour or more.
True nerds can take it a step further and explore the raw Census data at the national level (you can download a spreadsheet here), which identifies extremes at either end of the commuting spectrum. For example, residents of Normantown, WV, have the longest average commute — a staggering 109.2 minutes — while California Hot Springs, Calif., and Pep, N.M., come in second and third with 95.7 and 90.2 minute averages, respectively.
Extremely short commutes (say, those less than five minutes) are mostly confined to tiny remote villages in places like Alaska (sorry guys). That being said, if you are willing to devote your life to religious service, our country’s shortest average commute goes to zip code 63057: a small devout community of only 0.1 square miles and 56 residents known as Liguori, Missouri.
As for me, I’ll be staying in Boston:
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[h/t Data is Beautiful]
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