America's Best and Worst Commute

Commuters in Seattle

I just found a really interesting article about the cost of commuting.  I can relate - I keep buying sweaters, coats, mittens, hats, boots, shoes, bike gear, and the like.  But this article is actually focused on cars, which covers most people in the country.

An analysis of commuting costs and trends by TheStreet and Bundle set out to determine not only what people throughout the U.S. spend each year for transportation, but what cities are the worst off in terms of expenses. A ranking of how 90 U.S. cities fared can be found on the last page of this story.

This analysis covers the cost of gas, the delays, distance to the job, as dictated by the high cost of housing in some areas, and then ranked 90 cities.  Fascinating reading. 

The highest/best ranked commuter city is Eugene, Oregon at $348 per month.  Other better ranked cities included Buffalo and Boulder.  It should come as no surprise that places like Bridgeport CT, Dallas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles rated low with higher costs and longer commutes and delays. 

I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  The closest cities in the ranking were Grand Rapids at number 28 ($478) and Detroit, number 54 at $178 dollars per month.

Astrid