When developers and automakers sold the idea of the suburbs to the American public, they framed them as a means of freeing people from the stresses and claustrophobia of the big city and mass transit.
With the automobile, they said, American workers would no longer be obligated to live near work.
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The strategy was wildly successful. According to census data, 76 percent of Americans commuted alone in their cars to work in 2013. Another 9.4 percent carpooled, 5.2 percent used public transportation, 2.8 percent walked and 0.6 percent biked. Finally, 5 percent reported working from home.
But surveys show that people aren't exactly happy about the current situation. An increasing number of Americans are fighting back against the car-centered model of urban planning. They want to be able to get to work by walking, riding their bike, or reading a book during a bus ride.
A recent survey by Luxembourg-based workspace provider Regus shows more people find their commutes frustrating than rewarding. Thirty-eight percent refer to it as "pointless, undefined time," while 30 percent call it a "waste" of time.
Only 12 percent of employees regard their commute as profitable time, while 19 percent think of it as potentially valuable personal time, during which they can read news or catch up on emails on their smartphones. Hopefully those in the latter group are mostly not commuting by car.
While the average U.S. employee has a 26 minute commute to work, in some large metro areas the average commutes are far longer.
It's not just that employees are wasting their free time on the road, but they show up at work frustrated and are likely bummed out by the prospect of facing rush hour traffic going home. In areas where traffic is bad, employees will also likely be extra sensitive about leaving by a certain time so that they don't have to deal with peak traffic.
In addition, long commutes strain employees financially. A study last year estimated that the average American spends $2,600 a year commuting.
In such contexts, it makes sense that employers would encourage flexible work schedules as well as telecommuting. As data from the Society for Human Resource Management shows, 60 percent of U.S. employees now report their employers allow some amount of telecommuting, up from only 20 percent two decades ago.
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