Congestion may be bad, but commute times changing little

Boston is struggling with the worst congestion in the nation, but drivers surprisingly say they haven’t seen a big increase in their commuting time over the last decade.

According to US Census data, the average travel time to work for Bostonians was 27.5 minutes in 2007. In 2017, the travel time was up only 2.3 minutes to 29.8 minutes, a gain of 9 percent.

How can that be?

Boston was crowned the most congested city in America by the transportation data firm Inrix in February. And a new Urban Mobility Report, put out by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, found the annual delay per driver in hours had gone up 25 percent over the last decade.

Take Houston, for example. The city saw its annual delay per driver increase to 75 hours in 2017, a 47 percent increase since 2007. But Houston commuters told the Census Bureau that their drive to work was 30.3  minutes in 2017, up just 6 percent, or 1.6 minutes, from a decade earlier.

Schaller says drivers are experiencing a lot more congestion, but they and many employers are continually adjusting to that congestion to make their commutes somewhat reasonable.

“The process starts when people accept a slightly longer commute into the city in exchange for a suburban house and lawn,” Schaller writes. “Jobs soon follow to the suburbs, shortening the commute for many residents. Some people then move out a bit further to take advantage of cheap land prices, and get closer once again to open countryside. As jobs follow again, metro areas expand like a balloon, everyone and everything moving outward from the center but not so far apart from each other. That’s how workers can keep their commutes to a reasonable duration.”

The chief exceptions to the rule are San Francisco and San Jose, which are fast-growing and land-constrained. That’s a recipe for both congestion and commuting times increasing rapidly.

In an interview, Schaller said he would have thought Boston’s numbers would have been similar to those in San Francisco. But he cautioned that the numbers on congestion and commute times are all a bit squishy. “”There is no underlying truth anyway because you’re averaging over a lot of people and a lot of different communities,” he said.

Chris Dempsey, director of Transportation for Massachusetts, said in an interview that Schaller’s article suggests that workers and employers are responding to congestion by changing jobs (workers) or moving (employers) to keep commutes reasonable. He said the ongoing dislocation is not a solution to the real problem.

“Sprawl is not the answer,” he said. “I think it would be a mistake to say things aren’t that bad.”

BEACON HILL

On the eve of a Beacon Hill debate about how best to fix the MBTA, Gov. Charlie Baker finally takes a ride on the Red Line. (CommonWealth)

State Auditor Suzanne Bump says transportation hurdles are a significant barrier to people obtaining federal food assistance, particularly in western Massachusetts. (CommonWealth)

The Cannabis Control Commission suspends six marijuana licenses after a part-owner is accused of conspiring to traffick pot illegally. (State House News) Gov. Charlie Baker joins the calls to change the local approval process for pot shops after the indictment of Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia on charges of shaking down would-be cannabis merchants. (Boston Globe)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Boston City Councilor Tim McCarthy, like state Rep. Dean Tran before him, wants to ban protesters in the city from wearing masks or other face coverings, saying they have become the practice of demonstrators looking to cause trouble without being identified. (Boston Herald) 

Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera canceled an appreciation dinner for emergency personnel who responded to last September’s natural gas disaster because firefighters threatened to picket and boycott the event. (Salem News)

Vandals sprayed graffiti on two icons of the St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Lynn. (Daily Item)

Sheriffs for Plymouth and Bristol counties and Republican state Rep. Norman Orrall support a potential state ballot measure that would prevent Massachusetts from becoming a sanctuary state, and give local law enforcement the authority to  transfer and detain people considered a threat to public safety to and for federal immigration officials. (Brockton Enterprise)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

A spy recruited decades ago who provided crucial insight into the Kremlin’s efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election was extracted from Russia in 2017, meaning the United States lost a valuable channel of information. (New York Times)

Craig McLean, acting chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said he will investigate why top agency brass backed President Trump’s erroneous tweet about the path of Hurricane Dorian, and suggested the move was “not based on science but on external factors including reputation and appearance, or simply put, political.” (NPR)

ELECTIONS

Joan Vennochi says fears that Elizabeth Warren isn’t electable are overblown and the Bay State senator could well craft a winning message. (Boston Globe) 

Fall River residents appear to be tiring of twice indicted Mayor Jasiel Correia, but it’s not clear whether it’s enough to knock him out of contention when voters go to the polls for next week’s preliminary election to narrow the mayoral field from three to two. Meanwhile, the City Council may vote today to temporarily strip him of power. (Boston Globe) 

The Eagle-Tribune looks at one of the letters published in the paper last month and whether Carina Pappalardo’s endorsement of Methuen mayoral candidate Jennifer Kannan could threaten the non-profit status of The Psychological Center where Pappalardo is CEO.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

A new marijuana proposal is sitting on Mayor Jasiel Correia II’s desk waiting for approval the week after he was accused of extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from marijuana businesses trying to open in Fall River. Regeneration LLC says it has worked to steer clear of any possible controversy during the application process. (Herald News) 

Another mall, this time the Greendale Mall in Worcester, takes a hit, as Best Buy says it is closing its store there in November. A Best Buy spokesman said shoppers have shown they prefer to shop in other places than the mall. (Telegram & Gazette)

Immigrants with temporary protected status are facing a new hurdle at work. (MassLIve)

EDUCATION

Every kindergarten student in Boston is receiving $50 in a savings account, Mayor Marty Walsh announced. (Associated Press)

Emails show top MIT fundraising officials knew of Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to the university’s Media Lab — and tried to keep them hidden. (Boston Globe) 

The case against Lowell teacher Marisa Shea, who was arrested while protesting the straight pride parade, was dropped and a police report does not support the charge she faced, according to Lowell Mayor William Samaras. (Lowell Sun)

ARTS/CULTURE

Following the popularity of locally grown fruit and vegetables, New England grains and artisanal mills are fueling a new movement in baking and brewing. (WBUR)

Concerns about the need to preserve Provincetown’s performance and art history inspired about 30 residents to form a new organization: the Heritage Theatre of Provincetown. (Cape Cod Times) 

Lawrence Fire Lt. Jimmy Flynn says the city’s 9/11 memorial will “look brand new again” with a fresh touching up in time for tomorrow’s memorial service. (Eagle-Tribune)

TRANSPORTATION 

Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera is using $225,000 of city funds to eliminate fares on three bus routes through the city. (CommonWealth)

Lakeville voters are heading to the polls today for a special election to decide whether or not they want to support spending $4 million to reconstruct Route 79 from Route 105 to the Taunton line and fund other road resurfacing projects. (Standard-Times) 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

Suffolk County DA Rachael Rollins scores a big victory when a Supreme Judicial Court justice rules that a judge can’t tell a DA whom to prosecute. (CommonWealth) The vice president of Boston’s main police union slammed Rollins for moving to dismiss many cases against protesters at the recent straight pride parade, saying it “puts more police officers in danger.” (Boston Herald) Joe Battenfeld suggests Rollins is part of why the state is going to hell (along with the potential elevation of a Kennedy to higher office). (Boston Herald) Rollins told WGBH she thinks Judge Richard Sinnott “came unhinged.”

Superior Court Judge Shannon Frison faces assault and battery charges after an altercation with another woman at her home. (WHDH)

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that audio recordings must be made of all closed-door hearings before clerk-magistrates. (Boston Globe)

Susan Lavoie, a 64-year-old from Beverly, was acquitted for her role in a road rage incident on Route 128 last March after telling jurors she was “trying to defend myself.” (Gloucester Daily Times)\MEDIA

Local newspapers may be hurting, but an analysis indicates they represent a quarter of the news outlets in 100 communities but account for half of all original news stories in those municipalities. (Nieman Journalism Lab)