TAMPA, Fla. — A study released by MoneyGeek this month showed that Lakeland-Winter Haven area residents have the third worst commute in the entire United States, leading six other Florida areas that made the top 20.
The average one-way commute in the Lakeland-Winter Haven area is 31 minutes, with an average speed of 27 mph during rush hour, according to MoneyGeek. In comparison, the study shows people spend an average of 35 minutes commuting one way, driving at an average speed of 31 mph in other parts of the country.
The Lakeland-Winter Haven area had a final rating of 32.6, behind areas like Stockton, Riverside, and San Bernardino in California.
The Port St. Lucie area had the sixth-worst final rating at 39.5, while the Daytona Beach area was right behind at 40.2, Cape Coral-Fort Myers landed on the list as the ninth worst at 41.2, and the Orlando, Miami, and Tampa areas all arrived at 13th, 14th and 15th worst respectively.
MoneyGeek calculates its final rating by weighing the following:
- Average one-way commute (minutes): 37.5%
- Average rush hour speed (mph): 12.5%
- Morning commute crash rate: 25%
- Annual gas cost: 25%
"We do see a lot of accidents, especially on I-4," said Andrea Small, who lives in Belleair. "Almost every time we're on there, there's at least two to three accidents."
People ABC Action News spoke to think accidents, construction, and the amount of people that live in the region might also play into the traffic.
"If you look at the numbers, there's a lot of people moving here right now," said Sean Johnson, who lives in downtown Tampa. "There's a lot of developments going up. People are really excited about things that are downtown and traveling here quite often. So it's just the concentration of people in my opinion."
Eric Dumbaugh is a professor at Florida Atlantic University with expertise in transportation, planning, and design. He said for most of us, when we think of commutes, what we care about is the amount of time we spend getting where we need to go.
"By that measure, neither one of those areas is particularly bad," said Dumbaugh. "The average commute in the United States is about 28 minutes each way. Tampa's a little less than that, the average commute is 26.7 minutes. Lakeland is a little more at 31."
He said where these rankings make our areas look bad is by accounting for things like traffic crashes.
"That increases delay. That slows down traffic as you move forward. It costs people their lives," said Dumbaugh. "That's where with these rankings, Florida looks particularly bad."
The study showed the average yearly gas cost is just $1,201 for Lakeland-Winter Haven area residents, lower than for residents in cities such as Riverside, California ($1,946) and New York City ($1,616).
However, the Lakeland-Winter Haven area's low commute rating is impacted by the rate of morning commute crashes at 2.2, which is tied for the second highest behind only Jackson, Mississippi.
