Massachusetts Commute One Of The Worst In The Country
BOSTON (CBS) - A new study ranks Massachusetts as the fifth worse commute in the country.
The survey out of Suffolk University's Beacon Hill Institute says Bay State drivers spend an average of 27.6 minutes getting to work.
Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois, and New York are the only states where commuters spend more time on the road or rail.
David Begelfer, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts, a commercial development association, thinks when the economy rebounds, it will make the traffic congestion worse.
"We are an older area which means we have older infrastructure, which means that infrastructure needs to be maintained over time. We have an accelerated bridge program which is dealing some part of it, but, it doesn't deal with the full range and also doesn't deal with the mass transit problem," Begelfer said.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey
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"If the roads are tough right now to commute, they're only going to get worse as the economy improves. Needless to say we'd love to see the economy improve. The big problem we have is that we haven't been doing the kind of work we need to do as far as infurstructure improvements be it for mass transit or the highway system across the state," he added.
Begelfer says he knows money is tight but now is the time to look into developing more public transportation options before it's too late.
