American Workers Growing Less Reliant on Cars

The percentage of Americans who drive themselves to work has fallen from 85% in 2007 to 77% this year, according to a survey last month by Gallup Inc.

The number of car-poolers has stayed the same at 6%. But Gallup’s poll says those who employ alternative methods of getting to and from work has jumped to 16% from 9% in 2007. Walking (5%) and telecommunicating (3%) each saw gains of two percentage points. Mass transit (4%) and bicycling (1%) increased one point each.

The average daily commute time over the 11-year period increased by about four minutes to just over 52 minutes roundtrip, according to the Gallup poll. Those who said they have commutes of at least two hours increased to 13% from 8% in 2007.

More than half of workers (53%) continue to say their commute isn’t stressful at all. One in five describe the commute as “very” or “somewhat” stressful, down slightly from the 24% who previously felt this way.

Not surprisingly, stress level corresponds to commute time. Workers who spend an hour or longer commuting each day are more than three times as likely to describe their commutes as very or somewhat stressful as are those who can get to work and back in less than an hour.