Houston ranks low for walking and bike travel, new report finds
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Analysis: Atlanta clunks as bottom five U.S. commuter city. Ouch!
Atlanta ranked as the third worst commuter city in America, followed only by Chicago and Houston. Salt Lake City is the best metro for commuters in the U.S., where just 12 hours annually are sacrificed to gridlock. About 13 percent of metro Atlantans work from home, significantly lower than the national average for cities.Across the country, COVID-19 appears to have increased the number of Americans favoring car-commuting over public transit, for which cities have made only “modest improvements” Recently. Roughly 27 percent of theU.S. workforce currently works from home.
A new analysis by real estate data company Clever illustrates how those horror stories might not be crazy talk, despite the work-from-home zeitgeist that was supposed to help alleviate traffic congestion in major cities like Atlanta.
Clever’s study of the best and worst U.S. cities for commuters in 2023 pegs Atlanta as a bottom-five finisher in terms of hellacious, expensive, time-consuming commutes—one spot worse than, gulp, Los Angeles.
Pulling from varied data sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, the Brookings Institute, INRIX, GasBuddy, and Walkscore.com, Clever’s analysis focused on a range of metrics for the 50 most-populated metros in America.
Categories included: one-way commute distances in miles; public transit scores; annual vehicle maintenance costs and insurance premiums; annual fuel costs; and hours lost each year to traffic, among others.
Clever’s findings showed Atlanta ranked as the third worst commuter city in America, followed only by Chicago and Houston, respectively. (On a positive note, that’s one spot higher than ATL’s 2022’s ranking.)
Analysts found that metro Atlantans spend an average of 22 percent of their incomes on commuting costs. That equates to $10,138 annually—an 8.4 percent increase from last year.
Per the study, the average one-way commute in metro Atlanta is 12.8 miles. But those commutes take on average 32 minutes to tackle each way, equating to about 74 hours stuck in traffic annually.
Put another way, that’s longer than the equivalent of an entire three-day weekend stuck in cars around Atlanta each year.
The study also found that 81 percent of Atlanta workers commute by car—and just 2 percent use public transit. These days, about 13 percent of metro Atlantans work from home, significantly lower than the national average for cities, according to Clever.
Big picture, analysts determined Salt Lake City is the best metro for commuters in the U.S., where just 12 hours annually are sacrificed to gridlock.
Across the country, COVID-19 appears to have increased the number of Americans favoring car-commuting over public transit, for which cities have made only “modest improvements” recently. Roughly 27 percent of the U.S. workforce currently works from home, according to Clever’s study.
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Study: Houston Has Lots Of Park Space But It’s Not Always Easy To Get There – Houston Public Media
The Trust for Public Land puts Houston near the bottom of the list. The city ranks 81st out of the country’s 100 largest cities. The study says only 47% percent of Houston residents live within a ten-minute walk from a park. Minneapolis ranked first for park accessibility while Indianapolis came in last. New linear parks are being developed as part of the Bayou Greenways effort. The Trust for public land says Houston may be close to improving its park score.
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Cyclists on the White Oak Bayou Trail in Woodland Heights.
Buffalo Bayou Park near downtown Houston. (Photo Credit: Gail Delaughter)
Park space along the White Oak Bayou Trail north of downtown Houston.
Pathway in Jenkins Garden in Houston’s East End
Inversion House in Fifth Ward Jam Park on Lyons Avenue.
When it comes to the amount of park space, Houston has close to 53,000 acres. But in its new scorecard on park accessibility, The Trust for Public Land puts Houston near the bottom of the list. The city ranks 81st out of the country’s 100 largest cities.
The study says only 47% percent of Houston residents live within a ten-minute walk from a park. The national average is 66%.
The Trust for Public Land’s Charlie McCabe says if someone lives close enough to walk to a park they’re more likely to actually use it.
“You don’t have to put the bike on the car, you don’t have to get the kids in the car and the car seat in the car,” says McCabe. “You can just kind of walk and take them in the stroller.”
But McCabe says Houston may be close to improving its park score. New linear parks are being developed as part of the Bayou Greenways effort.
“You have one in the south, Sims Bayou. And then you have two in the north and northeast, Hunting and Halls Bayous,” explains McCabe. “So just adding that capability and that facility will improve the park score in those specific areas.”
So how does Houston stack up against other big cities? Minneapolis ranked first for park accessibility while Indianapolis came in last.