Extreme Commuters v. Telecommuters

You may have it bad, but not as bad as people who commute ninety minutes or more each way to work. Computer World reports that the Transportation Research Board finds average commute times rising and more people are moving into the category of EXTREME COMMUTER. I did some time as a Baltimore to DC commuter, and it is truly hellish to be in your car ninety minutes or more every day; public transportation is only a bit better, and the TRB says train- and bus-jockeys commute twice as long as those in cars.

Tucked in the headline and getting only one mention in the body of this article is the report of a survey that finds:

The growing travel times for physical commuting may encourage more businesses to
offer telecommuting options if workers consider time traveling to work as
wasted. A survey of 1,400 chief financial officers said offering telecommuting
as an option is the second-best way to attract top job talent.

Of course, the best way is more money, but having your work day not eat two or three hours of your home life because you have to get to some office. People are waking up to the undeniable fact that it does not make sense to drive two hours just to get on a computer and get back on the Internet. I'll try to track down the original study to see what other conclusions it might have about the importance of telecommuting as a beneft.