Follow up question: Are you sure you want to know the answer to the first question?
Educated Driver released a study this week that estimates the amount of time, measured in days, the average person will spend commuting over the course of their life.
"We did the math for nearly 1,000 US cities," according to a post promoting the new study. "The average American loses 408 days of their life commuting, and in many areas, the toll is even higher."
Educated Driver was even kind enough to deliver the bad news in an interactive map that breaks expected aggregate travel times by cities.
A few local media outlets also picked up the news of the study, focusing on the findings for their specific locale. Erin Baldassari reports from the East Bay Area, and Fernando Ramirez reports from Texas.
Read the full story: Here's How Much Time You'll Waste Commuting In Your Lifetime (By City)
US Traffic Patterns are Shifting, but Car-centric Development Persists
Los Angeles, Honolulu, and San Francisco ranked among the nation’s most congested cities, while New York reduced traffic and increased transit speed and ridership thanks to its congestion pricing program.
Since NYC Congestion Pricing, Chicago now has Nation’s Worst Traffic
Chicago overtook New York for the worst traffic of any major U.S. city as NYC saw traffic decline after congestion pricing went into effect.
US Commuters Lost 8 Workdays to Traffic in 2024
As more employers call workers back to the office, commute times are growing — and costing drivers in time and money.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
Satanic place names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority