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Commuting

January 23, 2023

"Commuter" redirects here. For other uses, see Commuter (disambiguation).
For other uses, see Commute.

Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community.[1] By extension, it can sometimes be any regular or often repeated travel between locations, even when not work-related. The modes of travel, time taken and distance traveled in commuting varies widely across the globe. Most people in least-developed countries continue to walk to work. The cheapest method of commuting after walking is usually by bicycle, so this is common in low-income countries, but is also increasingly practised by people in wealthier countries for environmental and health reasons. In middle-income countries, motorcycle commuting is very common. The next technology adopted as countries develop is more dependent on location: in more populous, older cities, especially in Eurasia mass transit (rail, bus, etc.) predominates, while in smaller, younger cities, and large parts of North America and Australasia, commuting by personal automobile is more common. A small number of very wealthy people, and those working in remote locations around the world, also commute by air travel, often for a week or more at a time rather than the more typical daily commute. Transportation links that enable commuting also impact the physical layout of cities and regions, allowing a distinction to arise between mostly-residential suburbs and the more economically focused urban core of a city (process known as suburban sprawl), but the specifics of how that distinction is realized remain drastically different between societies, with Eurasian "suburbs" often being more densely populated than North American "urban cores".

Ring Road, Vienna, Austria, June 2005
Commuters on the New York City Subway during rush hour
Rush hour at Shinjuku Station, Tokyo

History

The first separation between workplace and place of residence occurred as a result of the invention of the steam railway.[2]

The word commuter derives from early days of rail travel in US cities, such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago, where, in the 1840s, the railways engendered suburbs from which travellers paying a reduced or 'commuted' fare into the city. Later, the back formations "commute" and "commuter" were coined therefrom. Commuted tickets would usually allow the traveller to repeat the same journey as often as they liked during the period of validity: normally, the longer the period the cheaper the cost per day.[3]

Before the 19th century, most workers lived less than an hour's walk from their work. The Industrial Revolution brought specialization of work and workplaces, and relocated most paid work from households and rural areas to factories in urban areas.[4] Today, many people travel daily to work a long way from their own towns, cities, and villages, especially in industrialised societies. Depending on factors such as the high cost of housing in city centres, lack of public transit, and traffic congestion, modes of travel may include automobiles, motorcycles, trains, aircraft, buses, and bicycles. Where Los Angeles is infamous for its automobile gridlock, commuting in New York is closely associated with the subway; in London and Tokyo and several European cities, "commuter" is automatically associated with rail passengers.[5] In the near future[when?] there may be another move away from the traditional "commute" with the introduction of flexible working. Some have suggested that many employees would be far more productive and live healthier, stress-free lives if the daily commute is removed completely.

Suburbs

Main article: commuter town

Commuting has had a large impact on modern life. It has allowed cities to grow to sizes that were previously not practical, and it has led to the proliferation of suburbs. Many large cities or conurbations are surrounded by commuter belts, also known as metropolitan areas, commuter towns, dormitory towns, or bedroom communities. The prototypical commuter lives in one of these areas and travels daily to work or to school in the core city.

As urban sprawl pushes farther and farther away from central business districts, new businesses can appear in outlying cities, leading to the existence of the reverse commuter who lives in a core city but works in the suburbs, and to a type of secondary commuter who lives in a more distant exurb and works in the outlying city or industrial suburb.

Gender differences

A UK study, published in 2009, found that on average women suffer four times as much psychological stress from their work commute as men do.[6][7]

Education

Institutions that have few dormitories or low student housing populations are called commuter schools in the United States.

Traffic

Main article: Traffic

Most commuters travel at the same time of day, resulting in the morning and evening rush hours, with congestion on roads and public transport systems not designed or maintained well enough to cope with the peak demands. As an example, Interstate 405 located in Southern California is one of the busiest freeways in the United States. Commuters may sit up to two hours in traffic during rush hour. Construction work or collisions on the freeway distract and slow down commuters, contributing to even longer delays.

Pollution

Cars carrying only one occupant use fuel and roads less efficiently than shared cars or public transport, and increase traffic congestion. Commuting by car is a major factor contributing to air pollution. Carpool lanes can help commuters reach their destinations more quickly, encourage people to socialize, and spend time together, while reducing air pollution.

Some governments and employers have introduced employee travel reduction programs that encourage such alternatives as carpooling and remote work. Some are also carpooling using Internet sites to save money. Alternatives like personal rapid transit have also been proposed to reap the energy-efficiency benefits of a mass transit system while maintaining the speed and convenience of individual transport.

Traffic emissions, such as from cars and trucks, also contribute.[8] Airborne by-products from vehicle exhaust systems cause air pollution and are a major ingredient in the creation of smog in some large cities.[9][10][11][12]

The major culprits from transportation sources are carbon monoxide (CO),[13][14] nitrogen oxides (NO and NOx),[15][16][17] volatile organic compounds,[14][15] sulfur dioxide,[14] and hydrocarbons.[14] (Hydrocarbons are the main components of petroleum fuels such as gasoline and diesel fuel.) These molecules react with sunlight, heat, ammonia, moisture, and other compounds to form the noxious vapours, ground level ozone, and particles that comprise smog.[14][15]

Social trends

Commuting trends in the United States

In the United States, the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) collects data on commuting times, allowing an analysis of average commute time by industry, location, and vehicle. According to the 2014 ACS, the average commute time for adults in the United States was 26.8 minutes. The occupations with the longest commutes were Construction and Mining (33.4 minutes), Computer Science and Math (31.8), and Business Operations Specialists (30.2), while those in the military had the shortest commute (21). In general, urban and suburban workers in the US have similar commute times (about 30 minutes), while rural workers have significantly shorter commutes (22.6 minutes). In the US, over 90% of workers commute by car, while about 5% commute by public transportation.[18] Statistical models[19] indicate that in addition to demographics and work duration, commute time is one of the most important determinants of discretionary time allocation by individuals.

Commuting College Students

The number of students who commute to college continues to increase significantly as the years go by. From 1996 to 2006 alone, the percentage of undergraduate students who commuted to campus began to increase at a rate of 30% to 50%.[20]

Commuting and the scarcity of local employment

Commuting is often made necessary due to local employment market factors which may stem from the decline of manufacturing (i.e., in cities where large manufacturing employers have either closed or laid off workers, with no other employers to absorb that loss) and, in general, the sheer lack of local employment. More specifically, that wages from local employers are seldom the same as what a worker household may require to sustain the household. As a result, the needs of worker households must be sustained and this leads to a wider field of job search beyond a local area to the next nearest city or metropolitan area, resulting in the requirement for commuting. Hence, in areas where little or no transit options exist that can facilitate a journey to work to meet the requirements of a worker schedule, the use of a car is therefore made necessary. This clearly is a personal choice that is borne of financial need, but also acknowledges that the issue of how local economies sustain themselves is the overarching problem which needs to be addressed.

Social and health implications of commuting

Since commuting largely stems from a need to travel outside a home community to sustain a household income while facing a bleak local employment market, this comes with additional social and health implications. First, there is the increased risk of injury and accident while driving as distance and time in the vehicle increases, which is generally observed when operating a vehicle. Fatigue and hazardous road conditions add to this risk. Second, while income from employment is greater in other cities, stress from commuting factors become a factor for personal health. Ironically, stress from having to locate employment or being placed in a low-income situation might lead to a similar outcome. However, this is dichotomous with the satisfaction of a sustainable income and good employment, which is clearly the goal of an individual who is faced with commuting.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ "the definition of commuter". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  2. ^ Heblich, Stephan; Redding, Stephen J.; Sturm, Daniel M. (1 November 2020). "The Making of the Modern Metropolis: Evidence from London". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 135 (4): 2059–2133. doi:10.1093/qje/qjaa014. ISSN 0033-5533.
  3. ^ Paumgarten, Nick (16 April 2007), "There and Back Again: The soul of the commuter", The New Yorker, pp. para 14, retrieved 9 October 2009
  4. ^ Caves, R. W. (2004). Encyclopedia of the City. Routledge. p. 138.
  5. ^ Smoothly from Harrow: A Compendium for the London Commuter by Chris Moss (Blue Guides, 2013)
  6. ^ Walsh, Meghan Ozy, "How a bad commute is worse for women than men", PBS NewsHour, 20 February 2015
  7. ^ Roberts, J., et al, "It’s driving her mad: gender differences in the effects of commuting on psychological well-being", University of Sheffield, 2009
  8. ^ . The Surface Transportation Policy Project. 19 August 2003. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
  9. ^ "EPA Tools Available as Summer Smog Season Starts" (Press release). Boston, Massachusetts: United States Environmental Protection Agency. 30 April 2008.
  10. ^ "Sprawl Report 2001: Measuring Vehicle Contribution to Smog". Sierra Club. 2001.
  11. ^ . The Environment: A Global Challenge. Archived from the original on 19 January 2001. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  12. ^ "Smog – Who Does It Hurt? What You Need to Know About Ozone and Your Health (EPA-452/K-99-001)" (PDF). United States Environmental Protection Agency. July 1999. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ "State and County Emission Summaries: Carbon Monoxide". Air Emission Sources. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 25 October 2013.
  14. ^ a b c d e "Motor vehicle pollution". Queensland Government. 4 April 2013.
  15. ^ a b c "Health". Nitrogen Dioxide. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 14 February 2013.
  16. ^ "The Regional Transport of Ozone: New EPA Rulemaking on Nitrogen Oxide Emissions (EPA-456/F-98-006)" (PDF). United States Environmental Protection Agency. September 1998.
  17. ^ "State and County Emission Summaries: Nitrogen Oxides". Air emission sources. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 25 October 2013.
  18. ^ Kopf, Dan (23 February 2016). "Which Professions Have the Longest Commutes?". Pricenomics. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  19. ^ Misra, Rajul (1999). "Discretionary activity time allocation of individuals between in-home and out-of-home and between weekdays and weekends". Transportation. 26 (2): 193–229. doi:10.1023/A:1005192230485. S2CID 152762648.
  20. ^ Understanding and Addressing Commuter Student Needs. J. Patrick Biddix. p. 80.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Commuting.
 
Look up commuting in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • US Commuting Averages (2002)
  • Some Commuters are travelling from France to London
  • Platform 11 – Ireland's National Rail Commuter Group
  • Five Maps That Reveal New Truths About America's Megaregions

January 23, 2023
commuting, commuter, redirects, here, other, uses, commuter, disambiguation, other, uses, commute, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, examples, perspective. Commuter redirects here For other uses see Commuter disambiguation For other uses see Commute This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this article discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new article as appropriate May 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Commuting news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one s place of residence and place of work or study where the traveler referred to as a commuter leaves the boundary of their home community 1 By extension it can sometimes be any regular or often repeated travel between locations even when not work related The modes of travel time taken and distance traveled in commuting varies widely across the globe Most people in least developed countries continue to walk to work The cheapest method of commuting after walking is usually by bicycle so this is common in low income countries but is also increasingly practised by people in wealthier countries for environmental and health reasons In middle income countries motorcycle commuting is very common The next technology adopted as countries develop is more dependent on location in more populous older cities especially in Eurasia mass transit rail bus etc predominates while in smaller younger cities and large parts of North America and Australasia commuting by personal automobile is more common A small number of very wealthy people and those working in remote locations around the world also commute by air travel often for a week or more at a time rather than the more typical daily commute Transportation links that enable commuting also impact the physical layout of cities and regions allowing a distinction to arise between mostly residential suburbs and the more economically focused urban core of a city process known as suburban sprawl but the specifics of how that distinction is realized remain drastically different between societies with Eurasian suburbs often being more densely populated than North American urban cores Ring Road Vienna Austria June 2005 Commuters on the New York City Subway during rush hour Rush hour at Shinjuku Station Tokyo Traffic jam in Baltimore Maryland Contents 1 History 1 1 Suburbs 2 Gender differences 3 Education 4 Traffic 5 Pollution 6 Social trends 6 1 Commuting trends in the United States 6 2 Commuting College Students 6 3 Commuting and the scarcity of local employment 6 4 Social and health implications of commuting 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksHistory EditThe first separation between workplace and place of residence occurred as a result of the invention of the steam railway 2 The word commuter derives from early days of rail travel in US cities such as New York Philadelphia Boston and Chicago where in the 1840s the railways engendered suburbs from which travellers paying a reduced or commuted fare into the city Later the back formations commute and commuter were coined therefrom Commuted tickets would usually allow the traveller to repeat the same journey as often as they liked during the period of validity normally the longer the period the cheaper the cost per day 3 Before the 19th century most workers lived less than an hour s walk from their work The Industrial Revolution brought specialization of work and workplaces and relocated most paid work from households and rural areas to factories in urban areas 4 Today many people travel daily to work a long way from their own towns cities and villages especially in industrialised societies Depending on factors such as the high cost of housing in city centres lack of public transit and traffic congestion modes of travel may include automobiles motorcycles trains aircraft buses and bicycles Where Los Angeles is infamous for its automobile gridlock commuting in New York is closely associated with the subway in London and Tokyo and several European cities commuter is automatically associated with rail passengers 5 In the near future when there may be another move away from the traditional commute with the introduction of flexible working Some have suggested that many employees would be far more productive and live healthier stress free lives if the daily commute is removed completely Suburbs Edit Main article commuter town Commuting has had a large impact on modern life It has allowed cities to grow to sizes that were previously not practical and it has led to the proliferation of suburbs Many large cities or conurbations are surrounded by commuter belts also known as metropolitan areas commuter towns dormitory towns or bedroom communities The prototypical commuter lives in one of these areas and travels daily to work or to school in the core city As urban sprawl pushes farther and farther away from central business districts new businesses can appear in outlying cities leading to the existence of the reverse commuter who lives in a core city but works in the suburbs and to a type of secondary commuter who lives in a more distant exurb and works in the outlying city or industrial suburb Gender differences EditA UK study published in 2009 found that on average women suffer four times as much psychological stress from their work commute as men do 6 7 Education EditInstitutions that have few dormitories or low student housing populations are called commuter schools in the United States Traffic EditMain article Traffic Most commuters travel at the same time of day resulting in the morning and evening rush hours with congestion on roads and public transport systems not designed or maintained well enough to cope with the peak demands As an example Interstate 405 located in Southern California is one of the busiest freeways in the United States Commuters may sit up to two hours in traffic during rush hour Construction work or collisions on the freeway distract and slow down commuters contributing to even longer delays Pollution EditCars carrying only one occupant use fuel and roads less efficiently than shared cars or public transport and increase traffic congestion Commuting by car is a major factor contributing to air pollution Carpool lanes can help commuters reach their destinations more quickly encourage people to socialize and spend time together while reducing air pollution Some governments and employers have introduced employee travel reduction programs that encourage such alternatives as carpooling and remote work Some are also carpooling using Internet sites to save money Alternatives like personal rapid transit have also been proposed to reap the energy efficiency benefits of a mass transit system while maintaining the speed and convenience of individual transport Traffic emissions such as from cars and trucks also contribute 8 Airborne by products from vehicle exhaust systems cause air pollution and are a major ingredient in the creation of smog in some large cities 9 10 11 12 The major culprits from transportation sources are carbon monoxide CO 13 14 nitrogen oxides NO and NOx 15 16 17 volatile organic compounds 14 15 sulfur dioxide 14 and hydrocarbons 14 Hydrocarbons are the main components of petroleum fuels such as gasoline and diesel fuel These molecules react with sunlight heat ammonia moisture and other compounds to form the noxious vapours ground level ozone and particles that comprise smog 14 15 Social trends EditCommuting trends in the United States Edit In the United States the Census Bureau s American Community Survey ACS collects data on commuting times allowing an analysis of average commute time by industry location and vehicle According to the 2014 ACS the average commute time for adults in the United States was 26 8 minutes The occupations with the longest commutes were Construction and Mining 33 4 minutes Computer Science and Math 31 8 and Business Operations Specialists 30 2 while those in the military had the shortest commute 21 In general urban and suburban workers in the US have similar commute times about 30 minutes while rural workers have significantly shorter commutes 22 6 minutes In the US over 90 of workers commute by car while about 5 commute by public transportation 18 Statistical models 19 indicate that in addition to demographics and work duration commute time is one of the most important determinants of discretionary time allocation by individuals Commuting College Students Edit The number of students who commute to college continues to increase significantly as the years go by From 1996 to 2006 alone the percentage of undergraduate students who commuted to campus began to increase at a rate of 30 to 50 20 Commuting and the scarcity of local employment Edit Commuting is often made necessary due to local employment market factors which may stem from the decline of manufacturing i e in cities where large manufacturing employers have either closed or laid off workers with no other employers to absorb that loss and in general the sheer lack of local employment More specifically that wages from local employers are seldom the same as what a worker household may require to sustain the household As a result the needs of worker households must be sustained and this leads to a wider field of job search beyond a local area to the next nearest city or metropolitan area resulting in the requirement for commuting Hence in areas where little or no transit options exist that can facilitate a journey to work to meet the requirements of a worker schedule the use of a car is therefore made necessary This clearly is a personal choice that is borne of financial need but also acknowledges that the issue of how local economies sustain themselves is the overarching problem which needs to be addressed Social and health implications of commuting Edit Since commuting largely stems from a need to travel outside a home community to sustain a household income while facing a bleak local employment market this comes with additional social and health implications First there is the increased risk of injury and accident while driving as distance and time in the vehicle increases which is generally observed when operating a vehicle Fatigue and hazardous road conditions add to this risk Second while income from employment is greater in other cities stress from commuting factors become a factor for personal health Ironically stress from having to locate employment or being placed in a low income situation might lead to a similar outcome However this is dichotomous with the satisfaction of a sustainable income and good employment which is clearly the goal of an individual who is faced with commuting citation needed See also EditBicycle commuting Commuter bus Commuter rail Commuter worker Environmental impact of transport Extreme commuting Hypermobility travel Journey to work Light rail Marchetti s constant Motorcycle commuting Park and ride Rapid Transit Reverse commuting Roadway air pollution Short Commute Vehicle Slugging Straphanger Student transport Transit oriented development Urban planningReferences Edit the definition of commuter Dictionary com Retrieved 4 February 2018 Heblich Stephan Redding Stephen J Sturm Daniel M 1 November 2020 The Making of the Modern Metropolis Evidence from London The Quarterly Journal of Economics 135 4 2059 2133 doi 10 1093 qje qjaa014 ISSN 0033 5533 Paumgarten Nick 16 April 2007 There and Back Again The soul of the commuter The New Yorker pp para 14 retrieved 9 October 2009 Caves R W 2004 Encyclopedia of the City Routledge p 138 Smoothly from Harrow A Compendium for the London Commuter by Chris Moss Blue Guides 2013 Walsh Meghan Ozy How a bad commute is worse for women than men PBS NewsHour 20 February 2015 Roberts J et al It s driving her mad gender differences in the effects of commuting on psychological well being University of Sheffield 2009 Clearing the Air The Surface Transportation Policy Project 19 August 2003 Archived from the original on 8 February 2007 Retrieved 26 April 2007 EPA Tools Available as Summer Smog Season Starts Press release Boston Massachusetts United States Environmental Protection Agency 30 April 2008 Sprawl Report 2001 Measuring Vehicle Contribution to Smog Sierra Club 2001 Smog Causes The Environment A Global Challenge Archived from the original on 19 January 2001 Retrieved 25 October 2013 Smog Who Does It Hurt What You Need to Know About Ozone and Your Health EPA 452 K 99 001 PDF United States Environmental Protection Agency July 1999 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help State and County Emission Summaries Carbon Monoxide Air Emission Sources United States Environmental Protection Agency 25 October 2013 a b c d e Motor vehicle pollution Queensland Government 4 April 2013 a b c Health Nitrogen Dioxide United States Environmental Protection Agency 14 February 2013 The Regional Transport of Ozone New EPA Rulemaking on Nitrogen Oxide Emissions EPA 456 F 98 006 PDF United States Environmental Protection Agency September 1998 State and County Emission Summaries Nitrogen Oxides Air emission sources United States Environmental Protection Agency 25 October 2013 Kopf Dan 23 February 2016 Which Professions Have the Longest Commutes Pricenomics Retrieved 10 March 2016 Misra Rajul 1999 Discretionary activity time allocation of individuals between in home and out of home and between weekdays and weekends Transportation 26 2 193 229 doi 10 1023 A 1005192230485 S2CID 152762648 Understanding and Addressing Commuter Student Needs J Patrick Biddix p 80 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Commuting Look up commuting in Wiktionary the free dictionary Commuters a poetic rendition of the New Jersey to New York commuting life by Steve Peacock 2011 InDigestMag com US Commuting Averages 2002 Some Commuters are travelling from France to London Platform 11 Ireland s National Rail Commuter Group Five Maps That Reveal New Truths About America s Megaregions Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Commuting amp oldid 1126151446, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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