The app Waze, which Google acquired back in 2013, is a navigational aid that’s sometimes useful, and sometimes leads to a car full of Consumerist editors driving in circles for a solid twenty minutes. You don’t have to use the app to be annoyed with it, though: some people are annoyed that the app sends people through their neighborhoods in the name of finding the fastest and most efficient route. [More]
commuting
Report: Cord Found Wrapped Around Accelerator Of Runaway Boston Train
By 12.11.15
We knew it: the Boston commuter train that left the station with a driver yesterday didn’t suddenly become self-aware and decide to drive off all on its own. Instead, investigators reportedly found a cord wrapped around the train’s accelerator. [More]
Driverless Boston Commuter Train Carrying 50 Makes It Through 4 Stops Before Humans Catch On, Stop It
By 12.10.15
UPDATE: Governor Charlie Baker says there’s evidence someone with train smarts tampered with the system. [More]
Computer Glitch Informs Frustrated NYC Commuters They Don’t Have Enough Money To Ride
By 12.2.14
Whether you live in New York City and take public transit or are a straphanging commuter in another city, you know the ultimate frustration of swiping your card during the morning rush and having the system inform you that you’ve got “Insufficient Fare” and need to go add money. The screams of rage were even louder yesterday morning when a computer glitch messed with 10,000 commuters who otherwise thought they had plenty of money to ride. [More]
Man Doesn’t Notice Coyote Lodged In Front Grill Of Car
By 9.30.14
When a train conductor in Wisconsin pulled in to work last week in his car, he had an unexpected decoration on his grill. A coyote was somehow wedged in, and it was alive but injured. The local animal control officer took Vern, as he was named, to a wildlife rehabilitator, and he is expected to recover. Only how did he get wedged in the front of a car to begin with? [More]
Think Your Commute Is Bad Now? Sorry, It’s Only Supposed To Get Worse
By 6.6.14
The good news? As the economy gets better, people are heading off to new jobs. The bad news? The more people there are driving to work, the longer your commute is going to be. That was the case last year, when Americans spent an average of more than 20 additional hours in traffic. [More]
Americans Took A Record 10.7 Billion Public Transit Rides Last Year
By 3.10.14
Does that headline make the hours you’ve spent taking public transit flash in front of your eyes? Because the fact that we took 10.7 billion public transit rides in 2013, the most since 1957, well that translates to billions of minutes. We did this together, everyone. [More]
The Average Commuter Wasted $818 In Time & Money Sitting In Traffic In 2011
By 2.5.13
For anyone who sat in traffic last year and felt like your time and money was slowly sliding away as the minutes ticked by, you’re not alone. A new report says American commuters wasted more time and fuel in 2011 than the year before, averaging out to about $818 on average in 2011. [More]
N.J. PATH Escalator Does What We’re Always Afraid Of & Suddenly Reverses Direction
By 1.7.13
Anyone who’s ever dealt with a crowded daily commute on public transit, or heck, anyone who’s ever been on an escalator has likely had that feeling of, “What if it suddenly A. turns into a ramp and I slide backward into everyone below me B. reverses direction and we all crash into each other or C. something gets caught in the teeth and it eats me?” Commuters at a New Jersey PATH station faced scenario B this morning, in an incident that caused multiple injuries. [More]
Average American Worker Spends Nearly $1,100/Year On Coffee
By 1.20.12
Some say that coffee is the fuel that keeps the American workforce moving forward. And it’s a fuel that comes with a hefty price tag, as a new study shows that the average member of the American workforce spends almost as much on coffee every year as they do on commuting to and from their job. [More]
New Yorkers Have Longest Commutes But They Can Sleep En Route
By 9.23.11
According to the Census Bureau, residents of the New York area have the nation’s longest commutes, with the average trip taking about 35 minutes. However, New York also ranks highest in usage of public transportation, so a lot of those people can catch some rest on the way to and from work. [More]
Gas Prices Drive People To Buy Homes Closer To Work
By 5.20.11
A survey by Coldwell Banker of its realtors finds that gas prices are figuring big in the calculations made by new home buyers of where to live. 75% said the spike gas prices is influencing decisions made by their clients, pushing them to choose homes closer to where they work. [More]
Calculator Tells You How Much You Can Save By Biking To Work
By 5.20.11
Riding a bike isn’t an option for every commuter, but for those within a reasonable range, high gas prices and the approaching summer mean there’s no better time than now to consider pounding the bike pedals rather than the gas pedal. [More]
Public Transit Ridership Highest In 52 Years
By 3.10.09
See, here’s some good news to the wallet-gouging gas prices of 2008: ridership of public transportation was up to 10.7 billion trips last year, “the highest level of ridership in 52 years” according to the American Public Transportation Association. It was the fifth consecutive year that ridership increased, but it may come to an end in 2009 because of skyrocketing unemployment.
America's Test Kitchen Picks The Best Commuter Mugs
By 2.25.08
While watching TV yesterday and moaning about how lazy we are, we saw a review of commuter mugs (free registration required) on “America’s Test Kitchen”: “We ordered 11 mugs of different materials, shapes, and sipping structures and organized a battery of tests designed to define the ideal mug, which left us feeling a little like test drivers as we careened around corners trying to spill the coffee or dislodge the mugs.” (Yes, they like the royal “we” too!) See their testing criteria, as well as their top two picks, bottom rung losers, and oddball favorite after the jump.
Amtrak Workers May Strike In Early 2008
By 11.28.07
If you’re a frequent Amtrak travel, you might want to plan ahead for a half-week of telecommuting sometime in early February—Kiplinger says Amtrak workers may strike as early as February 1st, in an attempt to bring a conclusion to the negotiations that have been going on for nearly eight years.
