Survey: 3.3M U.S. commuters travel 50 miles one way

About 3.3 million Americans travel 50 miles or more one way to get to work, according to findings released Wednesday by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The findings, taken from a National Household Travel Survey, also reveal that these long-distance commuters travel these lengths 329 million times a year. Of the 61.6 billion commutes to and/or from work each year, just under one out of every 200 trips is a defined as a stretch commute. Nearly three out of five stretch commuting trips are made by someone from a household with an annual income of at least $50,000. Five out of six stretch commutes are made by workers in manufacturing, construction, professional, managerial or technical jobs. Two out of every five of these commutes start in rural areas. Commuters make 19 of every 20 of these trips in a personal vehicle like a car, truck, or SUV, but when the distance goes beyond 200 miles one out of four such commutes changes to air travel. More information on the survey findings can be found at www.bts.gov