The Commute
While cars are convenient, an over-reliance on them can lead to lost wildernesses, increased climate change, and further isolation.
Commuting Time Statistics
Modes Of Commuting Statistics
A Little Closer to Home
The Consequences of Cars
Cars have provided Americans to a plethora of job opportunities and ample freedom to go and do whatever we want. However, our expenditure of them comes at a cost. If we become too careless we lose touch with nature, our communities, and each other.
Work-Life Balance
If you Google Search "work-life" balance you'll find hundreds of articles outlining how to achieve the perfect work-life balance and what achieving it means for your mental, physical, and emotional health. It's defined as "the amount of time you spend doing your job compared with the amount of time you spend with your family and doing things you enjoy".² However, should these two things be so opposed to each other? Is there an option for workers to enjoy their work and know that their work is a contribution to their community and life outside of the office?
Where the Wild Things Were
The United States has over 4 million miles of roadway and around 20% of its lands are affected by roads.³ This creates fragmented and altered habitats. Often times roads force an edge into a forest where animals used to roam more freely. When roads create barriers to movement they can impact animal populations in many ways. One of these is through prohibiting gene flow. For example, in timber rattlesnakes, a study of genetics at hibernacula showed that in hibernacula that were blocked off by roads, genetic diversity was lower than in those that occurred across contiguous habitats.⁴ Additionally, roads often are the cause of poor air quality, gasoline pollution, and other enivromental concerns.
No Time to Socialize
The more time you spend in your car alone, the less time you have with your family and friends. According to an article by Austin Frakt at the New York Times, "the average American commuter spends 42 hours per year stuck in rush hour traffic. In the Los Angeles area, the figure is nearly twice that, equivalent to more than three days."⁵ This costs over $100 billion of lost time and wasted fuel. Inclinations to stress and road-rage are increased and the time people are able to spend with family and friends is often overclouded with the pressures of the daily commute.
What Do We Do Now?
Please know that I'm not advocating everyone go and sell their car and quit their job. Cars and jobs are wonderful tools we have to better ourselves and our communities. However, we need to be mindful of their impact on our lives and subtle ways we give ourselves over to convenience. Perhaps it means a little extra planning to figure out the Metro schedule. Perhaps it means getting the courage to ask a coworker to commute together. Perhaps it means pulling the slightly rusted bicycle out of the shed. If we all take little steps towards bettering ourselves and our communities, we can greatly improve the standard we've set for future generations.
Check Me Out!
If you'd like to do a little bit more research here are some great articles and one thought-provoking TV show!
- "Stuck and Stressed: The Health Costs of Traffic" https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/upshot/stuck-and-stressed-the-health-costs-of-traffic.html
- "The Environmental Impact of Roads" https://www.environmentalscience.org/roads
- "Impacts of Roads on Wildlife Populations" https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/clas/ctip/wildlife_crossing_structures/ch_2.aspx
- Severance https://tv.apple.com/us/show/severance/umc.cmc.1srk2goyh2q2zdxcx605w8vtx