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Good Graph Friday: The commute is a solitary place

Apparently, we Americans really love sitting alone in our cars in traffic along with tons of other people who are also sitting alone in their cars in traffic.Either that, or we don’t have much choice but to drive alone to work.A batch of new U.S. Census data released this week showed that more than three-quarters of American workers commuted to work alone in 2009.About 10 percent carpooled, and
U.S. Census Bureau / Today

Apparently, we Americans really love sitting alone in our cars in traffic along with tons of other people who are also sitting alone in their cars in traffic.

Either that, or we don’t have much choice but to drive alone to work.

A batch of new U.S. Census data released this week showed that more than three-quarters of American workers commuted to work alone in 2009.

About 10 percent carpooled, and 5 percent took public transportation. The rest walked, biked, worked from home or used other options.

Although the number of workers has grown over the past five decades, the pattern of transport hasn’t changed much. The majority have always taken their own car to work.

It took workers about 25 minutes to get to work, on average, according to the Census data for 2009. That’s a few minutes more than in 1980. 

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