Massachusetts Commute One Of The Worst In The Country

March 12, 2012 1:32 PM

(credit: AP/San Francisco Chronicle, Paul Chinn)

BOSTON (CBS) – A new study ranks Massachusetts as the fifth worse commute in the country.

The survey out of Suffolk University’s Beacon Hill Institute says Bay State drivers spend an average of 27.6 minutes getting to work.

Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois, and New York are the only states where commuters spend more time on the road or rail.

David Begelfer, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts, a commercial development association, thinks when the economy rebounds, it will make the traffic congestion worse.

“We are an older area which means we have older infrastructure, which means that infrastructure needs to be maintained over time. We have an accelerated bridge program which is dealing some part of it, but, it doesn’t deal with the full range and also doesn’t deal with the mass transit problem,” Begelfer said.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Karen Twomey

“If the roads are tough right now to commute, they’re only going to get worse as the economy improves. Needless to say we’d love to see the economy improve. The big problem we have is that we haven’t been doing the kind of work we need to do as far as infurstructure improvements be it for mass transit or the highway system across the state,” he added.

Begelfer says he knows money is tight but now is the time to look into developing more public transportation options before it’s too late.

Massachusetts Commute One Of The Worst In The Country

me

Try the metro DC traffic. MA traffic is a joke compared to it.
jaygee

Atlanta, San Fran., L.A. & N.Y.C. I would have to assume that they are the 4 before Boston. If not, the study is bogus.
Mark

Add Seattle to the list above Boston….
Teekay

Of Course. Goes to show what a waste of $billions$ and time on the Big Dig. 30 years since inception and traffic is worse than pre-Dukakis days.

Tsal

Disagree. 30 years ago mass pike commute Boston to framingham and beyond was a piece of cake.

Tsal

Agree with all of those listed above before Boston. Jaygee I think it says top 4 and don’t think yours are on list but should be
Rob Cleary

At 3:30 this morning there were 5 troopers on detail inside the Ted Williams tunnel. With the help of thermal imaging it was obvious that four of them were sound asleep. On of these Heroes went so far as to cover his unmarked cars windows with a sheet. (sorry, no illegal tint for you copper). Why are we paying these meter maids huge dollars to nap all night long? Are there no supervisors checking up on the childrens? Isn’t this theft of services?
web

27 minutes to get to work? I’d love that. 128 South in the morning and 128 North in the afternoon are basically parking lots. 93S is usually the same. Miles upon miles of cars. I don’t see how anyone gets to Boston in under 30 minutes from north of 128. And I hear the south shore is pretty bad too.
1stackmack

l’ve driven in every state,toronto and montreal.are traffic is bad.but its usually from 6-9am,3-7pm.but occasionally there’s a flaw in the slaw.this tim of year,its sweeping time.why is it so important to sweep during the day.l run our sweeper at night or weekends in the parking lots cause its not inconveniencing me or the lot owner.also traffic around woburn is going to get worse in the next few weeks.128 road grinding and paving.that is at least is done at night.

1stackmack

truly the worst are all around nyc including the surrounding nj ct areas.atlanta GA because its the biggest city in the southern states.there looping highway ( like our 128) has 6 lanes on each side and it doesn’t move.LA just doesn’t move period.around all the city’s in texas are bad.just remember massachusetts doesn’t have the cut through traffic like central states.lf you can drive in boston traffic with no fear.you can drive anywhere.

Susan M

This state is a joke. I work for a MA company that just received over $100,000 grant for job training for employees they already have. Not to hire new people. Not to creat jobs. But to train the existing employees to be more organized. No joke. I can’t blame the company for applying for funds that the state is giving away. The question is WHY is Mass giving away money for CRAP like this? At all? Ever? Even in a stellar econcomy it is a total waste. But now? With so many needs that are unmet? I really hate our state government. What a tragedy.