In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurant, school and work closures were integral components of mitigation plans designed to prevent the virus from spreading. That resulted in much fewer cars on the road.
Many things have changed since then, and life has gradually returned to pre-pandemic conditions. That return to normalcy has been marked by a return to the workplace. The United States Census Bureau says the average person commutes just over 27 minutes each way when traveling solo by car.
Those times were slashed when only essential personnel were commuting during the height of the pandemic. Census data paints a picture of shorter commute times now. Data indicates that, in 2019, there were nearly nine million workers who were doing their jobs outside of a centralized workplace. In 2021, that part of the workforce increased to about 27.6 million workers, resulting in roughly 18.6 million fewer commuters across the U.S. Census surveys indicate round-trip commute times dropped by around 7 percent in 2021 from 2019, equalling about 4 minutes saved on a round-trip commute each day.
Only time will tell if commutes will continue to decrease or if a re- turn to the office from remote work ing will once again increase commute times.
