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Drive Alone to Work
Drive Alone to Work in Colorado
Colorado

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Colorado Value:

63.7%

Percentage of workers ages 16 and older who drive alone to work

Colorado Rank:

7

Drive Alone to Work in depth:

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Drive Alone to Work by State

Percentage of workers ages 16 and older who drive alone to work




Drive Alone to Work Trends

Percentage of workers ages 16 and older who drive alone to work

Trend: Drive Alone to Work in Colorado, United States, 2022 Annual Report

Percentage of workers ages 16 and older who drive alone to work

Colorado
United States
Source:

 U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey

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Drive Alone to Work

Trend: Drive Alone to Work in Colorado, United States, 2022 Annual Report

Percentage of workers ages 16 and older who drive alone to work

Colorado
United States
Source:

 U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey


About Drive Alone to Work

US Value: 67.8%

Top State(s): New York: 49.2%

Bottom State(s): Mississippi: 83.0%

Definition: Percentage of workers ages 16 and older who drive alone to work

Data Source and Years: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2021

Suggested Citation: America's Health Rankings analysis of U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, United Health Foundation, AmericasHealthRankings.org, accessed 2023.

Commuting is a daily necessity for many people and driving alone is by far the most common mode of transportation to work. There are environmental and individual health concerns associated with daily driving; driving alone to work involves extended periods of social isolation and physical inactivity, and more motor vehicles on the road means more air pollution, noise pollution and transportation congestion. Congestion, a common occurrence in large cities, creates concentrated areas of air and noise pollution, which disproportionately affect those with lower socioeconomic status. Long commutes can also increase the risk of high blood pressure, obesity and physical inactivity.

The prevalence of driving alone to work is higher among men compared with women. Other populations that spend more time driving include:

  • Adults ages 25-74 compared with younger and older adults.
  • White adults compared with those in other racial/ethnic groups. 
  • Adults with a college degree or some college education compared with those with less than a high school education.
  • Married couples or cohabitating partners compared with adults who are widowed, divorced or separated, or who never married.
  • Adults living in the Midwest, South and West regions compared with those in the Northeast.
  • Adults living in rural areas compared with those living in urban areas. Moreover, the shift from driving to biking or using public transit is occurring more in cities than rural areas. 

Strategies to promote modes of transportation other than driving, particularly driving alone, include:

A Healthy People 2030 transportation objective is to increase the trips to work made by mass transit.

Abrams, Zara. 2019. “The Future of Remote Work.” Monitor on Psychology 50 (9). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/10/cover-remote-work.

Giles-Corti, Billie, Anne Vernez-Moudon, Rodrigo Reis, Gavin Turrell, Andrew L. Dannenberg, Hannah Badland, Sarah Foster, et al. 2016. “City Planning and Population Health: A Global Challenge.” The Lancet 388 (10062): 2912–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30066-6.

Harrou, Fouzi, Abdelhafid Zeroual, Mohamad Mazen Hittawe, and Ying Sun. 2022. “Chapter 5 - Traffic Congestion Detection: Data-Based Techniques.” In Road Traffic Modeling and Management, edited by Fouzi Harrou, Abdelhafid Zeroual, Mohamad Mazen Hittawe, and Ying Sun, 141–95. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-823432-7.00010-0.

Hoehner, Christine M., Carolyn E. Barlow, Peg Allen, and Mario Schootman. 2012. “Commuting Distance, Cardiorespiratory Fitness, and Metabolic Risk.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 42 (6): 571–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2012.02.020.

“New American Driving Survey: Updated Methodology and Results from July 2019 to June 2020.” 2021. Technical Report. Washington, D.C.: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. https://newsroom.aaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/New-American-Driving-Survey-Report-April-2021.pdf.

Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J. 2016. “Urban and Transport Planning, Environmental Exposures and Health-New Concepts, Methods and Tools to Improve Health in Cities.” Environmental Health 15 (December): S38. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-016-0108-1.

van Schalkwyk, M. C. I., and J. S. Mindell. 2018. “Current Issues in the Impacts of Transport on Health.” British Medical Bulletin 125 (1): 67–77. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldx048.

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