Isle commutes
among the longestA survey says Hawaii's average
25.4 minutes of driving time
is the 11th worst nationwide
The average Hawaii resident spent 25.4 minutes traveling to work in 2002, which adds up to about 4.4 days a year spent on the road, according to a Census Bureau survey.
But for Guye Lee, who drives for an hour and a half from Ewa Beach to downtown, the amount of time spent driving to work adds up to about two weeks a year.
"It's terrible," he said. "They've got to do something."
Hawaii residents have the 11th-worst commute in the nation, according to the American Community Survey. New York residents top the list with a typical commute of 30.8 minutes, followed by Maryland (29.7), New Jersey (29.1), Illinois (27.2) and California (26.5).
Residents in South Dakota spent the least time commuting -- only 15.5 minutes on average.
Hawaii's commute is about a minute over the national average of 24.3 minutes.
On Oahu the average commute is 26.4 minutes, tied with Gloucester County, N.J., as the 74th-worst commute among U.S. counties.
The shortest commutes can be found in Wichita, Kan. (16.5 minutes), Tulsa, Okla. (16.8 minutes), and Omaha, Neb. (17.3 minutes).
The average New York City resident took the longest time getting to work: 38 minutes.
The commute here appears to be getting worse. It is slightly longer than in 2001, but it has grown by more than a minute from 2000, when the travel time to work was 24.1 minutes and Hawaii was ranked 14th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
State Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said as more people move out to Leeward and Central Oahu, the commute time on Oahu is likely to continue to increase.
He said state officials hope to start construction to widen Fort Weaver Road and to build a North-South road from the H-1 freeway to Fort Weaver Road and Farrington Highway by the end of the year.
Both projects should eventually improve the drive to work for Ewa and Kapolei residents, he said.
The Census figures are from a comprehensive 2002 bureau survey and cover the one-way commuting time for workers 16 and older.
