Commutes longer than 90 minutes one way, also known as super commutes, are expected to stick around despite more and more professionals transitioning to remote working arrangements.
According to a new report from Apartment List, 3.1% million U.S. workers commute over 90 minutes every day.
While the report estimates that one in three super commuters have jobs that are fully compatible with remote working arrangements, super commuters grew by 45% between 2010 and 2019, particularly in big cities like New York and Los Angeles.
With professionals migrating to the suburbs at a fast pace and companies adopting hybrid policies that require workers to come into the office at least part of the week, the report believes this could create a “new class of part-time super commuters.”
“The current evidence suggests that remote work alone is unlikely to meaningfully alleviate the problem of super commuting, and there are plausible scenarios in which remote work could actually exacerbate the problem,” the report states.
Although the new infrastructure bill that the Biden Administration has put forward includes funding into public transit, as well as passenger and freight rail, the report believes that the largest allocation going towards roads and bridges could lead to more congestion.
