Results portray the American commuter as re-evaluating the time spent getting to and from work. Frustration levels are rising - 45% identify start-stop traffic as the most frustrating part of the commute (up from 37% last year), and 32% identify aggressive/rude drivers (up from 24% last year).

If commuting time could be reduced, 52% would spend it with family/friends – nine points higher than 2008; 37% (6 points higher than 2008) would exercise more.

And drivers are more sensitive to the price of gas. This year, 20% said that $3.50/gallon gas would lead them to seriously consider alternatives to driving alone, in 2008, it was 9% at that price level.



“Conducted at a time of great change in the United States, Commuter Pain survey clearly demonstrates the vast impact that commuting and traffic congestion have on our economy,” said (right) Anne Altman, GM of IBM’s global public sector. “The time has come for cities and states to embrace real, long-term solutions that unclog our nation’s roadways.

IBM Commuter Pain Survey –  findings

A number of key findings related to how traffic impacts commuters:
55% say they are unlikely or very unlikely to make a driving trip of more than 50 miles from home over Labor Day Weekend.

34% report that they decided not to make a driving trip in the last month due to anticipated traffic – the same percentage as last year. This has a major economic impact, as reported destinations of cancelled trips are:  25% recreation, 25% shopping, 16% entertainment, 9% eating out, 8% work, and 6% vacation.

21% of daily commuters say the recession has made them change the way they get to work, with 17% of drivers carpooling more frequently, 30% increasing the number of days they work from home, 26% taking public transportation more often.

Simultaneously lower gas prices this year caused 23% of respondents to alter their commuting habits in a different way, 19% carpooling less now, 19% taking public transportation less often, and 17% working less often from home.

27% think accurate and timely road condition information would help reduce travel stress – four points higher than last year.

86% say they have been stuck in roadway traffic in the last three years. The average delay is one hour.



IBM Commuter Pain Index
IBM has compiled the results of the survey into an Index that ranks the emotional and economic toll of commuting in each city on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the most onerous.

The US cities feelings


The index is comprised of 10 issues: 1) commuting time, 2) time stuck in traffic, 3) value of time; agreement that: 4) traffic has gotten worse, 5) start-stop traffic is a problem, 6) driving causes stress, 7) driving causes anger, 8) traffic affects work, 9) traffic so bad driving stopped, and 10) decided not to make trip due to traffic.

IBM is actively working  ‘Smarter Transportation’ using a team of 150 scientists and a group of IT services professionals to research, test and deploy new traffic information management capabilities in cities such as Brisbane, London, Singapore and Stockholm.

Findings from the Commuter Pain Survey will be used to assess citizen concerns about traffic and commuter issues; expand solutions like automated tolling, real-time traffic prediction, congestion charging, and intelligent route planning; and serve as a basis for pioneering innovative new approaches to traffic mitigation. (NB no mention of trams here either!)