Commutes in Maryland rank among the nation?s longest, with about a half-hour one-way trip for most commuters in the Baltimore region ? especially those in the rural outer suburbs.
Carroll County had the longest commute of the counties surrounding Baltimore, at an average of 33.1 minutes, according to the 2005 American Community Surveys released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Metropolitan Baltimore ranked 11th nationwide with an average commute of 29 minutes. The Baltimore region?s commute remained better than Washington, which ranked third-longest at 34 minutes.
“People are growing more willing to commute long distances … We see a lot of commuters to the Baltimore area, and now even more are commuting to the Washington region from Mount Airy and the southern parts of the county,” said Scott Graf, a comprehensive planner for Carroll County.
The 2000 census showed about 55 percent of Carroll?s workers were commuting out of the county, with traffic choked even further by commuters from Pennsylvania?s York and Adams counties passing through en route to Baltimore, Graf said. Harford County?s commute was second-longest in the region, with an average of 30.6 minutes one way, followed by Howard at 30.2 minutes and Baltimore City at 28.7 minutes. Baltimore County tied with Anne Arundel at 27.8 minutes.
More than three-quarters of the region?s workers ? 76.4 percent ? were still driving to work alone. Only 6.2 percent used public transportation such as buses and trains, according to the survey, though that was above the nationwide average of 4.7 percent.
“The commuter statistics pretty much ratify for us the argument for strengthening our regional transit,” said Gene Bracken, spokesman for the Greater Baltimore Committee.
msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com
