More Commuters Go It Alone

[cpzilliacus]

Wall Street Journal: More Commuters Go It Alone - Americans Increasingly Go Solo or Work From Home; Carpooling Now Below 10%

American commuters prefer to go it alone–mostly by driving to the office, but increasingly by working from home.

Last year, about 76% of workers 16 years and older drove to work alone–just shy of the all-time peak of 77% in 2005, according to data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Driving alone dipped slightly during the recession, but it has been ticking back up as the economy revives.

Meanwhile, just about every other way of getting to work has either languished or declined. Carpooling has tanked–falling from about 20% in 1980, when gasoline prices were soaring from the oil shock of the late 1970s, to under 10% in 2012. Public transportation accounted for just over 6% of daily commutes in 1980 and is now 5%. A category the Census calls "other means"–which includes biking–stands at 2%, largely unchanged over the past decade.