Filed by KOSU News in US News.
March 5, 2013

Are you a “mega commuter”?

That’s a term used by the U.S. Census Bureau to describe people who commute at least 90 minutes and 50 miles to work. Nearly 600,000 Americans spend that much time in vehicles, carpools lanes and trains and buses each day, according to the bureau.

This interactive map, created by WNYC, shows commute times, by ZIP code, across the country. Zoom into your area to see how your commute compares:

The figures comes from a new study, Out-of-State and Long Commutes: 2011, which notes that the average one-way commute across the country is more than 25 minutes. About one in four commuters leave their home county for work.

The bureau also found that roughly 8 percent of commuters spend at least an hour getting to work. Those with the longest commutes generally spend more time using mass transit — not driving alone or car pooling, according to the study, released on Tuesday.

“The average travel time for workers who commute by public transportation is higher than that of workers who use other modes. For some workers, using transit is a necessity, but others simply choose a longer travel time over sitting in traffic,” said Brian McKenzie, a bureau statistician who wrote the report. [Copyright 2013 NPR]