WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- A study of driving patterns shows more Maryland and Virginia drivers commute to another county than any other people in the United States, its authors say.
Commuters are lured by jobs in Washington, D.C., or the growing Dulles corridor, but a large proportion are either unwilling or unable to live there, U.S. Census Bureau figures released Thursday show.
The study confirmed more than 51 percent of Virginians and 47 percent of Maryland residents drive to another county for work, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
Only New Jersey, whose workforce largely drives into Philadelphia and New York, comes close, the newspaper reported.
Maryland has moved ahead of New York and New Jersey for the longest daily commute with a statewide average of almost 32 minutes, largely affected by congestion around Washington and Baltimore.
The perennial leader in commute time, Los Angeles, is nowhere to be found on the latest Top 10 ranking. However, this is misleading, as the megalopolis has grown so large the Census Bureau has divided it in two.
The sprawl of adjacent Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario ranks eighth, just behind Atlanta and two spots below Chicago, for the amount of time it takes people to get to work.
The LA-Long Beach-Santa Ana area ranks 17th nationally, the Los Angeles Times reported.
