Why Cities Need Great Transit All Day, Not Just for Rush-Hour

America's mainstream news cycle, with rush-hour traffic updates on the [insert local radio times here], makes it seem like the work commute is the only trip people take in a given day. That's not even close to the case. The latest Commuting in America report shows that work travel accounts for only 16 percent of all trips and 19 percent of all trip miles—a small slice of daily movement, and one that's steadily fallen since the 1960s:

Even on public transportation, commuting to the office only makes up about a third of all trips and trip mileage: