Bethel Residents Have the 5th Worst Commute: Report

Written by Brian McCready and Wendy Mitchell

Reports, rankings and studies are always fun because they typically always lead to discussion and debate if nothing more.

Here’s the latest study compiled by NerdWallet, and it’s called “Connecticut’s Worst Commutes: More Gas, Higher Insurance and Wasted Time.”

The study determined by examining car insurance costs, gas prices, the length of one’s commute, and how many people drive by car that Ridgefield residents have the worst commute in the state.

Followed closely behind Ridgefield is Westport, Trumbull, Colchester and Bethel to round out the top five worst commutes.

Overall, NerdWallet examined 50 communities in Connecticut to compile its report.

Other key findings from NerdWallet include: drivers in Bridgeport and New Haven waste 42 and 35 hours respectively in traffic delays each year.

The average Connecticut driver pays $1,902 for car insurance annually, which is $800 more than drivers in the rest of the country.

Residents in West Hartford, Newington, Wethersfield, and Hartford pay the most for car insurance paying $2,438 annually or more than twice the national average.

Who pays the cheapest for car insurance in Connecticut? According to NerdWallet, the answer is Groton residents at $1,537 a year.

Now and the issue with all studies is the timing, and according to NerdWallet, Greenwich residents pay the most for gasoline at $4.02 a gallon, but that is based on gas prices between January and November of 2014. Clearly, those prices are nowhere close to current gas prices but it’s still likely Greenwich residents pay the most for gas in Connecticut.

According to the study, Bethelites pay an average gas price of $3.67. Bethel residents’ average one-way commute time is 31.4 minutes. The percentage of workers traveling by car is 84.4 percent and the percentage of commuters using public transportation is 6.6 percent.

Read the full report here.

Photo by Mike Connors