Since the pandemic, a study shows the number of super commuters has increased

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

So are you headed to work right now? We feel your pain. Did you know the average American commute is about half an hour? But a new study from Stanford says that, since the pandemic, the number of people traveling for more than two hours each way is way up.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

Alex Heatzig's commute can be three hours one way.

ALEX HEATZIG: So my morning starts at 5:15 in the morning, when I roll out of bed, brush my teeth, do a little bit of skincare, and then I'm rolling out the door at around 5:45 in the morning.

MARTÍNEZ: The triathlete and marathon runner rides his bike from San Francisco to Cupertino, where he works as a project manager for a tech company.

HEATZIG: Honestly, it's the best way to start my day. I start off feeling so energized and so productive, having accomplished this big thing in the morning.

MARTÍNEZ: He does the 50-mile ride with a group of colleagues a couple of times a week.

HEATZIG: It's really a gorgeous commute - kind of the rolling hills of the Bay Area. And by the time I get to work, it's about 8:45.

MARTIN: But it's not just endurance athletes who are making these long treks to work. Nicholas Bloom is a professor at Stanford University and co-author of the new supercommuter study. He says the increase in long commutes comes directly from the pandemic shift to hybrid work.

NICHOLAS BLOOM: It's really driven by trade-offs around work from home, and mostly nobody's forcing us to do it. We've just decided, hey, look, we'd like some more space. And if we're only commuting twice a week, we're prepared to put up with this horrible commute.

MARTÍNEZ: Brian Ponte moved from New York City, where he still works, to East Haven, Conn., with his wife during the pandemic. He too wakes up at around 5 a.m. two days a week so he can get to the office by 9 a.m. He drives and takes the train.

BRIAN PONTE: I do tend to start working from the train itself. I'm checking emails. I'm making calls. As soon as I am no longer behind the wheel of a car, I'm pretty much on at work.

MARTIN: He was born in Queens and raised in Yonkers, and Ponte says he's always been drawn to quaint New England towns.

PONTE: I'm a still a Yankees fan, die-hard - that will never change - but I do like the more quiet life that New England is able to provide, and, you know, we get more space. Our rent is significantly cheaper. We have a two-story condo, three walk-in closets, two bedrooms. Our dog has a lot of space to run around.

MARTIN: And, Ponte says, he likes the separation between work and home.

PONTE: When I go into the city, I'm in work mode, and then when I'm in Connecticut, I'm home Brian.

MARTIN: Oof. Well, slackers. A, I mean, what are they saying? I mean, getting up at 5? I mean, what are they doing?

MARTÍNEZ: I know.

MARTIN: I mean, you know...

MARTÍNEZ: My commute today was from my living room to my sewing closet...

(LAUGHTER)

MARTÍNEZ: ...So I don't know. Does that mean my work-life-balance line is blurred?

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: I don't know what you're doing in that closet. That's all I'm going to say.

MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).

MARTIN: I don't know. I don't know. That's all I'm going to say.

MARTÍNEZ: Doing this show. That's what I'm doing.

MARTIN: Oh, OK. Just making sure.

MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.