Report: Leave later, save time

Leave a little later for work, save some time.

That's the conclusion of a the new Yardi Kube study, "The Best Time to Leave for Work According to the Latest Data from the U.S. Census Bureau." It looks at commuting trends across the nation and shows how minor adjustments can lead to significant annual time savings.

San Francisco’s Commute:

• Morning rush hour: The data indicates that avoiding San Francisco's peak commuting time of 8:00-8:29 a.m. could be a key strategy for time efficiency.
• Potential Time Savings: For San Francisco commuters, leaving just 30 minutes later than this rush hour can result in saving 18 hours per year. This finding is particularly striking, considering San Francisco's growing population and traffic issues.

The last 10 years have seen a steady increase in commute times year after year, a trend which was temporarily shaken up by the sudden rise in the number of remote workers across the nation brought on by the pandemic. From an all-time high of 27.6 minutes in 2019, the average travel time to work dropped to 25.6 minutes in 2021.   

But in 2022, the study shows commuters spent almost 1 minute more on average on their way to work, regardless of their means of transportation. Despite this slight increase, Americans could reconsider the time they leave for work to make commuting more hassle-free and potentially even save hours in commute time per year, the study asserts.