Cars Still Dominate the American Commute

This article is published in collaboration with Statista

by Valentine Fourreau

One month after the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran, the impact of the disruption caused in West Asia is being felt by U.S. consumers at the pump. Since the beginning of the war, Iran has effectively closed off the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's busiest oil shipping channels. As a result, the average price of gas at the pump has topped $4 in the United States for the first time in nearly four years as the war continues to push up fuel prices.

This is bound to hit quite a few wallets. According to Statista Consumer Insights, 73 percent of American commuters use their own car to move between home and work, making it by far the most popular mode of transportation. Meanwhile, only 14 percent use public transportation while just 9 percent ride their bike. As our chart shows, alternatives to the car have become more popular since 2019, but none comes close to challenging the car's status as the king of the American commute.

While bicycles offer a gas-free alternative to many modes of transportation, there are several factors contributing to their low adoption for everyday commutes: for one, Americans are used to commuting longer distances than people in most European nations, automatically ruling out the bike for many. And secondly, many major cities in the U.S. aren’t exactly bike-friendly. According to a recent study, just two American cities made it into the 50 most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, when taking into account factors such as bicycle infrastructure, safety and usage as well as things as mundane as the weather.

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