A recent survey of Los Angeles Times employees found that as the pandemic eases, only 1.4 percent of respondents want to return to working in the office five days a week. Antipathy toward commuting was the biggest reason why, reports Feven Merid of the Columbia Journalism Review (2021).
The survey was conducted anonymously by the Times’ Guild. Matt Pearce, the Guild’s president, described the survey’s findings as “a damning indictment of what commutes do to workers; how much it hurts their physical and mental wellbeing; how much it impedes their family life; and in fact, how much it impacts their productivity” (Merid, 2021).
It remains to be seen whether the Guild’s survey results will lead to greater post-pandemic employee flexibility at the Los Angeles Times. However, one thing is clear: The widespread use of telecommuting over the last year has increased pressures on American employers to reassess the value of workers battling traffic in order to be in the office full time.
Automotive News tiptoes into traffic-congestion policy
This issue has apparently generated enough concern within the auto industry that Automotive News has given it passing attention. Reporter Pete Bigelow (2020) highlighted research by the Mercatus Center (2021), which is a think tank dedicated to “market-oriented ideas.”
A policy brief published by the center last June concluded that the “COVID crisis has drastically changed American life, most obviously in cities. City and state policymakers should be prepared for a prolonged recession and gradual recovery, potentially accompanied by unprecedented road congestion. To accelerate the recovery and ease the costs of congestion, cities and states should implement congestion pricing and accommodate the demand for safe walking, bicycling, and scooter facilities in urban areas” (Furth, Gray and Hamilton, 2020; p. 4).
Also see ‘Automotive News: ‘Go along to get along’ quality fuels groupthink’
I find it telling that Automotive News would give any attention to policy prescriptions which advocate alternatives to the automobile. However, the story did not address the 800-pound gorilla sitting in the middle of the living room — that an economy heavily built around auto-dominated commuting has a variety of negative societal impacts.
Commutes can make you ‘fat, tired and miserable’
You may not have seen it in Automotive News, but over the last two decades a significant body of research has developed around the societal costs of commuting. What follows is a sampling.
A study by Thomas James Christian (2009) found that each minute spent commuting was associated with a reduction in exercise, food preparation and sleeping. Longer commutes were also associated with “non-grocery food purchases” — like fast food — and lower-intensity exercise.
High-calorie foods and less exercise contribute to obesity. A study by Sheldon Jacobson, Douglas King and Rong Yuan (2011) found a “very close relationship between trends in miles driven per licensed driver and adult obesity rates six years later.” Vox writer Julia Belluz (2015) noted that the “implication here is that the more we use cars to get around, the less we use our bodies to do so and the fewer calories we burn off. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fewer than half of all adults now meet the Physical Activity Guidelines.”
Commuting can also have social consequences. Political scientist Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone (2001), found that every 10 minutes spent commuting results in 10 percent fewer social connections. “Commuting is connected to social isolation, which causes unhappiness,” Putnam told New Yorker writer Nick Paumgarten (2007).
Paumgarten (2007) suggested that the unhappiness experienced by a meaningful proportion of commuters is less grounded in the driving itself than the time taken away from more enjoyable activities:
“When you are commuting by car, you are not hanging out with the kids, sleeping with your spouse (or anyone else), playing soccer, watching soccer, coaching soccer, arguing about politics, praying in a church, or drinking in a bar. In short, you are not spending time with other people. The two hours or more of leisure time granted by the introduction, in the early twentieth century, of the eight-hour workday are now passed in solitude. You have cup holders for company.”
Social isolation can have tangible consequences. A Swedish study found that long commutes could increase the risk of divorce by 40 percent (Martin, 2011).
In summarizing research on commuting, Vox writer Joseph Stromberg (2015b) noted that driving — particularly alone — can “make you fat, tired and miserable.” Yet prior to the pandemic, 75 percent of Americans drove to work alone and spent an average of 50 minutes round trip. Only 10 percent rode in carpools and around 5.5 percent used public transportation or biked (Stromberg (2015a, 2015b).
Is the problem congestion or commuting in general?
Bigelow’s (2020) Automotive News story implies that the biggest potential problem that could occur as the pandemic eases is managing traffic congestion as more people return to the office. The article also cheerily notes that car purchases could increase by people who previously relied upon public transit but are now hesitant to do so.
As an added bonus, Bigelow (2020) raises questions about the value of telecommuting, such as by presenting research that it reduces productivity and has resulted in “stay-at-home fatigue.”
The punchline seems to be that the future looks promising for automobile sales. That may well turn out to be true. However, the problem with this narrow framing is that it ignores the societal problems that can result from commuting.
Also see ‘Automotive News backtracks on shift to electric vehicles’
If the auto industry continues to ignore them, at some point political pressure could become so great that the government adds a new layer of regulations. Then we may see a reenactment of the 1960s, when emissions and safety regulations were imposed. Brock Yates noted that all “the government interference could have been avoided if the industry had demonstrated some social responsibility” (1983, p. 254).
The automotive media could play a positive role by cultivating an honest dialogue about commuting. However, that would require transcending the all-too-common tendency to treat the automobile as an adult toy — and to dismiss as “anti-car” any questioning of business as usual.
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RE:SOURCES
- Belluz, Julia; 2015. “Everything you wanted to know about obesity and weight loss.” Vox. Posted May 13.
- Bigelow, Pete; 2020. “Telecommuting to continue after pandemic, but what are the long-term implications for traffic?” Automotive News. Posted Dec. 20.
- Christian, Thomas James; 2009. “Opportunity Costs Surrounding Exercise and Dietary Behaviors: Quantifying Trade-offs Between Commuting Time and Health-Related Activities.” SSRN. Posted Oct. 19.
- Furth, Salim, Nolan Gray and Emily Hamilton; 2020. “Policies to Help Communities Recover: Commuting.” Mercatus Center. Published June 24.
- Jacobson, Sheldon, Douglas King and Rong Yuan; 2011. “A note on the relationship between obesity and driving.” Transportation Policy. Published Sept.: pp. 772-776.
- Martin, Rebecca; 2011. “Long commutes ‘bad for marriage’: Swedish study.” The Local. Posted May 24.
- Mercatus Center; 2021. “About.” Accessed May 21.
- Merid, Feven; 2021. “Remote Possibilities.” Columbia Journalism Review. Posted May 21; accessed May 21.
- Paumgarten, Nick; 2007. “There and Back Again.” The New Yorker. Posted April 9.
- Putnam, Robert D.; 2001. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Touchstone Books.
- Stromberg, Joseph; 2015a. “The utter dominance of the car in American commuting.” Vox. Posted April 29.
- ——; 2015b. “Long commutes make you fat, tired, and miserable.” Vox. Posted June 22.
- Yates, Brock; 1983. The Decline And Fall of the American Automobile Industry. Empire Books. New York, NY.
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