Local Town Has Nation's Longest Commute

Three local areas have the longest daily commutes in the nation, according to data released this week by the Census Bureau.

And the nation's longest commute, at 39.6 minutes, is in Vineland, N.J., which is about 40 miles south of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia ranked 20th and Trenton came in at 25th.

Vineland, a community of 56,000 people in southern New Jersey, was part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area in 2000.

It became its own metropolitan area, along with the cities of Millville and Bridgeton, because fewer workers are commuting into Philadelphia.

The New York area had the second-longest commute, at 34.2 minutes, and the Washington area was third at 33.4 minutes. Commuters in both New York and Washington saw their commutes get slightly longer from 2000 to 2005.

The numbers are surprising because many of the nation's fastest-growing communities are in the outer suburbs, miles from central cities. The shorter commuting times could be a sign that jobs are following the workers, Pisarski said.

The Los Angeles area, which is notorious for its traffic, came in 16th, at 28.4 minutes. That's shorter than the commute in Riverside, Calif., which has been siphoning residents from Los Angeles for years.

"Overall, congestion isn't a problem for everyone," said Mantill Williams, a spokesman for AAA's national office. "But there are specific pockets of pain. There are specific areas where it has gotten worse."

Among the findings from the Census Bureau:

--The share of people driving alone to work increased from 75.7 percent in 2000 to 77 percent last year.

--The share of people carpooling to work dropped from 12.2 percent in 2000 to 10.7 percent last year.

--The share of people using mass transit stayed the same at 4.7 percent.

--The share of people walking to work dropped from 2.9 percent in 2000 to 2.5 percent last year.

--The share of people working at home increased from 3.3 percent in 2000 to 3.6 percent last year.

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Author: NBC10/AP