WNYC recently released an interactive map of commute times across the U.S., based on data from the Census Bureau. Zeroing in on the Seattle area, it looks like the folks over in Bellevue have got it best (16.5 minutes) while most everyone else is sitting somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes, which would put everyone within range of the nationwide average of 25.4 minutes.
Most of the spots that suffer from the longest commutes also happen to be the ones who have to deal with ferry waits, which, duh. Anyone coming from Bainbridge Island (41.3 min), Vashon Island (40.6) or Whidbey Island (37.7) probably isn't surprised by the news.
Also not a surprise that the commute times match up fairly well with the public transit commuting coverage map we saw last week. Deep-diving into Seattle neighborhoods, we were able to parse out some local commute averages based on zip codes:
· 98103 (Fremont/Wallingford/Phinney): 24.4 minutes
· 98106 (Ballard): 24.9 minutes
· 98133 (Shoreline): 25.9 minutes
· 98102 (Capitol Hill): 23. minutes
· 98116 (West Seattle): 26.6 minutes
· 98118 (Rainier Valley): 27.4 minutes
The worst commute in Western Washington? That appears to be out in 98224 (Baring), where you're looking at 60.8 minutes. Yeesh. Try it for yourself so see whether or not your commute is the local average...
· Average Commute Times [WNYC]
· Seattle is the 8th Best U.S. City For Public Transit Commuting [CS]