The work-from-home craze that swept the country during and immediately after the pandemic appears to be fading away. A new study conducted for Cumulus Media by Nielsen finds 85% of pre-COVID commuters are now working outside the home, up from around 50% at the height of the pandemic four years ago. These numbers are in line with recent surveys that showed Americans have all but fully returned to the office since the pandemic. The study also finds 85% of "average Americans" now commute to work. That includes 87% of marketing and agency professionals who now work in the office, up nearly 25 points from just two years ago.
As any Houston driver can attest, our commute is not only back to pre-pandemic levels, it might be even worse. "It used to be we had something called rush hour, now it's all day," says Sky Mike Valdez with KTRH Traffic, who has been covering Houston traffic for decades. "There's no more morning lull after 10 a.m., there's no more afternoon lull...it is just solid brake lights all day long until late at night, usually after 10 o'clock."
Valdez says not only has commuting resurged since the pandemic, but it has evolved from the old traditions. "It's almost as if we don't have a 9 to 5 kind of system anymore," he tells KTRH. "It's crazy, but I'm seeing these slowdowns from 5 o'clock in the morning 'til 10 o'clock at night on most of our major interstates."
And with all of the ongoing construction in Houston, Sky Mike warns that the commute will likely get worse before it gets better. Not that more roads are the solution, anyway. "I've always said it's not a question of lanes, it's a question of brains," he says.
Photo: AFP