You think you have a long drive to work? Ben Wear writes about a
study of people who take it to the extreme. The researchers
define a supercommuter as someone who works in the central
county of a metropolitan area but lives beyond the official
boundaries of that metropolitan area. They used census data to
draw their conclusions. Among their findings: - City “labor
sheds,” the areas from which workers flow into the workplace,
“are expanding rapidly and super-commuter growth rates are far
outpacing workforce growth rates.” Supercommuting is growing in
eight of the nation’s 10 largest cities, with the exceptions
being Atlanta and Minneapolis. To some degree, the study’s
authors say, the growth of the Internet and other electronic
tools that make it possible for workers to carry their office
with them have contributed to the phenomenon. Some of these
employees work from home some of the time, traveling to an
actual office only once or twice a week. - Dallas-Fort Worth and
Houston have the greatest percentages of