THEY'RE NOW HERE IN THE BAY AREA. THERE ARE THREE CITIES THAT WERE IN THE TOP 30 WHEN IT COMES TO WORST COMMUTES. OVERALL, HAYWARD WAS NUMBER 23, WITH THE AVERAGE PERSON SPENDING 245 TOTAL HOURS COMMUTING. THAT'S ANNUALLY. OAKLAND WAS 28TH, AN AVERAGE OF 241 HOURS ON THE ROAD IN SAN FRANCISCO, 29TH WITH 240 HOURS AS WELL. YOU ADD UP. IT'S ABOUT TEN DAYS A YEAR THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, AND RIGHT NOW YOU'RE PROBABLY WONDERING WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GOOD NEWS HE WAS TALKING ABOUT ABC SEVEN NEWS REPORTER DUSTIN DORSEY IN THE SOUTH BAY. WITH THAT PART OF THE STORY, WHEN IT COMES TO ONE OF THE BIGGEST ISSUES PLAGUING BAY AREA RESIDENTS, ONE TOPIC SEEMS TO ALWAYS COME UP THE TRAFFIC IN THE COMMUTE. >> IT'S JUST STOP AND GO. TRAFFIC EVERYWHERE, ACCIDENTS, PEOPLE DRIVING FAST, PEOPLE IN A HURRY, CONGESTED, DEFINITELY CONGESTED. >> STRESSFUL. >> FROM THE EAST BAY TO THE SOUTH BAY AND UP THE PENINSULA TO THE NORTH BAY. IT TAKES A WHILE TO GET AROUND. PEOPLE ACTUALLY SPEND SO MUCH TIME STUCK IN TRAFFIC. ANNUALLY IT EQUATES TO TEN DAYS IN CITIES LIKE OAKLAND AND SAN FRANCISCO. BUT WOULD YOU BELIEVE SOME COMMUTE TIMES ARE ACTUALLY DECREASING IN THE BAY AREA? >> WHO'S SAYING IT'S A DECREASE? I'M REALLY I'M REALLY CURIOUS. >> THAT WOULD BE THE US CENSUS BUREAU AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY. WHILE THE NATIONWIDE AVERAGE HAS INCREASED BY TWO MINUTES IN THE PAST DECADE, THE BAY AREA IS SHOWING PROGRESS. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE TOP TEN CITIES WHERE COMMUTES HAVE DECREASED FROM 2012 TO 2022, FREMONT IS FIRST IN THE NATION, WITH DRIVERS SAVING ABOUT 27 MORE HOURS PER YEAR OVER THE LAST DECADE, WHICH MEANS YOU'RE SAVING ABOUT SIX MINUTES PER WORKDAY. AT NUMBER SIX. SAN FRANCISCO, WHICH SAW A 17 HOUR DIP ROUNDING OUT THE TOP TEN IS SUNNYVALE, WHERE DRIVERS SHAVED OFF NEARLY 14 HOURS IN THAT SPAN. RESIDENTS WE SPOKE WITH WERE SLOW TO BELIEVE THEIR TIME WAS ACTUALLY BEING SAVED. >> I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S GOTTEN WORSE OVER THE LAST YEAR, BUT IT DEFINITELY HAS NOT GONE DOWN. NOT NOT EVEN CLOSE. >> METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION SPOKESPERSON JOHN GOODWIN, HOWEVER, WAS NOT SURPRISED. >> A LOT CHANGED IN THE BAY AREA BETWEEN 2012 AND 2022. THE BIGGEST THING, OF COURSE, WAS, THE PANDEMIC AND THAT INTRODUCED, THE WIDESPREAD ACCEPTANCE OF REMOTE WORK, GOODWIN SAYS. >> MORE EXPRESS LANES AND CONTINUED EMPHASIS ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION LIKELY CONTRIBUTED TO LIGHTER COMMUTES AS WELL. BUT DRIVERS SAY THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE SOLUTIONS TO MAKE A TRULY NOTICEABLE IMPACT. >> LET US WORK REMOTE. >> MAYBE SOME KIND OF LIKE INCENTIVES FOR DRIVERS. LIKE IF YOU LIKE, TAKE LIKE 3 OR 4 PEOPLE, MAYBE THEY CAN GIVE LIKE SOME KIND OF LIKE DISCOUNTS FOR EVERYTHING. GOODWIN SAYS. >> ANOTHER SOLUTION COMES DOWN TO SOLVING A DECADES OLD PROBLEM OF AFFORDABILITY AND HOUSING. IF WORKERS CAN LIVE WHERE THEY WORK, COMMUTING WOULD BE ALMOST NONEXISTENT. UNTIL THAT TIME, WE WAIT IN TRAFFIC IN
