Think Traffic In Needham Is Getting Worse? U.S. Census Agrees

NEEDHAM, MA — If you're on the roads in Needham and it feels like it's taking longer to head to work, chances are you're right. According to new U.S. Census data, the average commute time is longer than it was in recent years.

According to data the Census Bureau recently released, Needham residents had commute times to work of 30.3 minutes in 2016. That's in line with the overall trend for longer commutes: in 2009, the average Needham commuter's trip to and from work was 27.6 minutes.

That's an extra 2.7 minutes on your drive to work. While it might not seem like much, consider two trips a day, five work days per week and 50 work weeks in a year. That means Needham commuters are spending an extra 22.5 hours per year in traffic than they were seven years ago.

And Needham residents aren't alone when it comes to spending time in the car. In Massachusetts, average commute times were 29 minutes in 2016, up 2.83% from 2015 and 4.88% since 2010. Nationally, the average commute time was 26.6 minutes in 2016, up from 25.9 minutes in 2015 and 25.2 minutes in 2010.

By Dave Copeland

Patch file photo.