Editing Commuting (section)

==Social trends==
===Commuting trends in the United States===
[[File:USCommutePatternsTimeCommute.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Commuting times and patterns in US cities, 2023 US Census data]]
In the United States, the [[Census Bureau]]'s [[American Community Survey]] (ACS) collects data on commuting times, allowing an analysis of average commute time by industry, location, and vehicle. According to the 2014 ACS, the average commute time for adults in the United States was 26.8 minutes.

The occupations with the longest commutes were [[Construction]] and [[Mining]] (33.4 minutes), [[Computer Science]] and [[Math]] (31.8), and [[Business]] Operations Specialists (30.2), while those in the military had the shortest commute (21). In general, urban and suburban workers in the US have similar commute times (about 30 minutes), while rural workers have significantly shorter commutes (22.6 minutes).

In the US, over 90% of workers commute by car, while about 5% commute by [[public transportation]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kopf|first1=Dan|title=Which Professions Have the Longest Commutes?|url=http://priceonomics.com/which-professions-have-the-longest-commutes/|website=Pricenomics|date=23 February 2016 |access-date=10 March 2016}}</ref> [[Statistical models]]<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Misra|first1=Rajul|title=Discretionary activity time allocation of individuals between in-home and out-of-home and between weekdays and weekends|journal=Transportation|volume=26|issue=2|pages=193–229|doi=10.1023/A:1005192230485|year=1999|s2cid=152762648 }}</ref> indicate that in addition to demographics and work duration, commute time is one of the most important determinants of discretionary time allocation by individuals.

=== Commuting College Students ===
The number of students who commute to college continues to increase significantly as the years go by. From 1996 to 2006 alone, the percentage of undergraduate students who commuted to campus began to increase at a rate of 30% to 50%.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Understanding and Addressing Commuter Student Needs |publisher=J. Patrick Biddix |pages=80}}</ref> 

In a study involving 10 universities in Canada, 61% of students reported that their commute was a challenge to campus participation, while 30% perceived it as a barrier to academic success. Factors influencing satisfaction included commute mode, duration, travel attitudes, and campus type. Notably, 72% of students had one-way commutes of one hour or less, 22% had commutes lasting between 60 and 90 minutes, and 9% faced commutes exceeding 90 minutes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=Ryan |last2=Mitra |first2=Raktim |date=2021-07-01 |title=Commute satisfaction and its relationship to post-secondary students' campus participation and success |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920921001917 |journal=Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment |volume=96 |pages=102890 |doi=10.1016/j.trd.2021.102890 |bibcode=2021TRPD...9602890T |issn=1361-9209|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Commuting and the scarcity of local employment ===
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[[Commuting]] is often made necessary due to local employment market factors which may stem from the decline of [[manufacturing]] (i.e., in cities where large manufacturing [[Employment|employers]] have either closed or laid off workers, with no other employers to absorb that loss) and, in general, the sheer lack of local employment. More specifically, wages from local employers are often insufficient for a worker household to sustain itself. As a result, the needs of worker [[Household|households]] must be sustained and this leads to a wider field of job search beyond a local area to the next nearest city or metropolitan area, resulting in the requirement for commuting. Hence, in areas where little or no transit options exist that can facilitate a journey to work to meet the requirements of a worker schedule, the use of a car is therefore made necessary. This is a personal choice driven by financial need, highlighting the broader issue of sustaining local economies.

===Social and health implications of commuting===
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2023}}
Since commuting largely stems from a need to travel outside a home community to sustain a household income while facing a bleak local employment market, this comes with additional social and health implications. First, there is the increased risk of injury and accident while driving as distance and time in the vehicle increases, which is generally observed when operating a vehicle. Fatigue and hazardous road conditions add to this risk. Second, while income from employment is greater in other cities, stress from commuting factors become a factor for personal health. Ironically, stress from having to locate employment or being placed in a low-income situation might lead to a similar outcome. However, this is dichotomous with the satisfaction of a sustainable income and good employment, which is clearly the goal of an individual who is faced with commuting.