Who Has the Shortest - and Longest - Commutes in Rhode Island
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
If you find yourself sitting in traffic on I-95 on the way to (or from) work, staring at the car in front of you, you're certainly not alone. According to data compiled by the Providence Plan, over eighty percent of commuting workers over the age of 16 -- more than 400,000 Rhode Islanders -- drive alone to work.
So who's on the road the longest? The data show that 31.5% of commuting Rhode Islanders spend less than 15 minutes traveling to work -- and 15.1% spend more than 40 minutes making their way daily to their place of employment.
See who in Rhode Island spends the least - and most -- time commuting.
Rhode Island's land area covers approximately 1,033.81 square miles for over a little over a million residents -- but the ProvPlan numbers reported that less than a half percent of commuting workers in the state -- or 1,910 Rhode Islanders -- biked to work.GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
Residents who carpooled to work amounted to approximately 43,000 Rhode Islanders (8.7% of the commuting workforce), and 2.7% of commuters -- just over 13,000 people -- used public transportation.
"I think there are efforts being made in the state to address commuting options, and a new comprehensive bike plan is part of it," said Frank Carini, founder and Executive Director of EcoRI, "a unique initiative devoted to educating the public about local environmental and social justice issues and how they interconnect" Carini started along with his wife in 2009.
"In a state of our size, we should be able to get around better," said Carini. "RIPTA's good and works hard, but I talked with someone last week who told me it took them an hour and a half to get from where they were in Providence to East Providence."
Carini continued, "The government could do a better job of funding our transit system, if the General Assembly and general public put enough care and thought into it. There are a public transportation advocates in the community working hard...I tend to think it's getting better."
Carini thought that the Providence streetcar proposal, which recently got beat out by the Appenaug circulator for federal funding through the TIGER grant -- would be more compelling if it were more than just a limited loop.
"If we did it, a system would be good, like Portland (Oregon, who has an extensive streetcar presence," offered Carini. "It doesn't make sense just to have a single route. If I was the federal government, I wouldn't fund it as it stands."
Bicycling, however, is where Cirini saw the most potential. "I think cities and towns should promote it more. The signage that's there has been a good first step, but we need to educate motorists, too. We need to get people out of their cars, and onto bikes or buses."
Cirini noted that there was a major bicycling event taking place in the city this coming weekend -- the Providence CycloCross Festival -- that he hoped the city would use to promote biking.
Coming back to commuting, Cirini said, "It's not about smarter cars, but getting people out of cars."
See which Rhode Island communities with the highest percentage of "short" commutes (less than 15 minutes to work), and those with the longest -- more than 40 minutes -- BELOW.
