America: A Nation on Wheels

Traffic is worst in big cities and suburbs, and 50% feel it is worse than 5 years ago, according to an ABC traffic poll.

1 minute read

February 21, 2005, 1:00 PM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"To get where they need to go, 90 percent of Americans say they usually drive, reporting an average of 87 minutes a day behind the wheel. For car commuters, it's an average of 100 minutes; for parents with children at home, an average of 104 minutes (compared with 77 minutes for people without kids at home). The average household owns two cars, trucks or sport utility vehicles — and one in four owns three or more.

...As an example of how much conditions vary, average commute times range from 19 minutes for people who work in towns to 34 minutes for people who work in big cities. And where people say the traffic is OK, it's 24 minutes; where poor, it's 32."

Thanks to Laura Kranz

Sunday, February 20, 2005 in ABC News

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