MNN - Mother Nature Network

How do you get to work? And does it take you longer than you'd like? Most people in the United States drive to their jobs — despite how much we hear about the rise of alternative transit. (A whopping 86 percent drive, with 76 percent of those driving alone, according to the 2010 Census American Community Survey.)  

 

Even as more businesses make telecommuting possible, there are still plenty of people whose jobs are incumbent upon their being physically at work, and how you get there can make — or break — your budget (not to mention your mood).  

 

If you take public transit, you are in the minority — only about 5 percent of Americans take a bus, train or subway. About 2.9 percent are lucky enough to walk to their place of employment, and .6 percent take a bike (that last stat has grown in the last decade, but as you can see, it's still really small). 

 

Where do people bike-commute the most? There were some surprises: Washington, D.C., had the highest number of bike commuters (followed by bike-crazed cities San Francisco and New York City).

 

And according to an article in The Atlantic, what you do might determine how you get to work more than any other factor: "The share of workers in the creative class — scientists, engineers, techies, innovators, and researchers, as well as artists, designers, writers, musicians and professionals in healthcare, business and finance, the legal sector, and education — is positively associated with the percentages of people who take public transit or walk or bike to work."

 

HopStop, a leading navigation app, suggests routes based on bus, train, walking and other public transit options (including bike routes). The group recently released the infographic below. It looks at what people searched for. "Based on more than 400 million HopStop routes and 2.25 billion miles traveled, the new data showcases major travel trends in several large cities, as well as how consumers are using HopStop’s online and mobile services to get around town."