海外文化:美國人上下班往返時間更長、距離更遠
【英文原文】
摘要：美國人上下班往返時間更長、距離更遠
Americans commute longer, farther than ever
Dave Givens drives 370 miles to work and back every day and considers his seven-hour commute the best answer to balancing his work with his personal life.
The winner of a nationwide contest to find the commuter, with the longest trek, Givens is one of millions of people who are commuting longer and farther than ever before.
Studies show Americans spend more time than ever commuting, and for a growing number, getting to work takes more than an hour. In the most recent U.S. Census Bureau study, 2.8 million people have so-called extreme commutes, topping 90 minutes.
Givens, a 46-year-old electrical engineer, has an extreme commute between home in Mariposa, California, and his job in San Jose. He leaves home before dawn and returns after dark.
His trip landed him first place among almost 3,000 entries in the search for America’s longest commute, sponsored by automotive services provider Midas Inc. and announced last week. But as harrowing or tedious as Givens’ trip may sound, he says it's the way to keep the home and job he loves.
"I have the balance right now," Givens said. "I could do similar jobs closer, but not with the work reward and job satisfaction I have. And I could live closer, but I wouldn't have the lifestyle that I desire."
"To me, this is not that long a commute," he added. "It's just something I do to go to work."
Suburb-to-suburb commuting
Longer commutes frequently involve people who live in one suburb and work in another, said Alan Pisarski, author of "Commuting in America."
Such a pattern tends to begin with companies moving out of a city to a suburb, enticing workers to move to less-expensive outer suburbs, he said. "People see this as an opportunity to go farther away,"he said.
Such a move may provide more affordable housing or better schools. Even high fuel costs — Givens spends about $185 a week on gasoline — can pay off in a better quality of life, Pisarski said.
Doreen DeJesus rides a bus from her home in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, across New Jersey to her job in Manhattan.
The payoff is a house in the country, she said.
"It's a matter of getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city," said DeJesus, 37. "It's not an easy thing, but most days it's really worth it.
"My boss thinks I'm nuts6," she added.
Studies show 7.6 percent of U.S. commuters traveled more than an hour to work in 2004, the most recent data available, up from 6 percent in 1990. The average one-way commute grew by 13 percent to 25.5 minutes between 1990 and 2000.
In 1990, only in New York state did more than 10 percent of workers spend more than an hour to get to work, Pisarski said. Now that situation can be found in New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois and California as well, he said.
Congestion worsens
Added to long commutes is increased congestion, according to the Texas Transportation Institute's 2005 Urban Mobility Report. Commuters typically spent 47 hours a year in traffic jams, up from 40 hours a decade earlier, the study showed.
"That's the time wasted above and beyond just being able to make the trip," said David Schrank, co-author of the report.
But the trips can be worthwhile, said Kay Phillips who works in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 164 miles from her home in Granite Falls.
"I really love what I do, so I don't mind," she said.
While Givens spends much of his commute listening to the radio, especially traffic reports, Philips, 52, uses her five-hour commute in her own way — she prays.
"I say a long prayer starting out every morning for everybody, and it gives you quite a bit of time to do that," she said.
【中文譯文】
美國人上下班往返時間更長、距離更遠
戴夫-吉文斯每天上下班要開車370英里，他認爲7個小時的上下班往返時間是平衡其工作與個人生活的最佳答案。
吉文斯在全國上下班最長旅行競賽中獲得冠軍。數百萬美國人的上下班往返時間比以前更長、距離更遠，吉文斯就是其中一員。
研究顯示，美國人花在上下班往返的時間比以往任何時候都長，越來越多的人上班需要花1個多小時。最近美國人口調查局研究顯示，280萬人有所謂極端上下班往返經歷，時間長達90分鐘。
46歲的吉文斯是一名電氣工程師，其上下班極端旅程是往返於加利福尼亞州馬裏波薩的家與位於聖何塞的工作單位之間。他每天日出前離家，天黑後回家。
他的旅程使其在近三千名最長通通者的搜索活動中名列第一。該搜索活動由汽車服務商彌達斯有限公司主辦，搜索結果於上週公佈。儘管吉文斯的旅程聽上去讓人心痛或單調乏味，他說這是保持自己所愛的家庭與工作的方法。
“現在我達到了平衡,” 吉文斯說，“我能夠在家附近找到類似的工作，但是達不到目前的報酬和滿意度。我也可以住得近一些，但是得不到我想要的生活方式。”
“對我而言，這並不是一個長途旅程,” 他補充說，“這只是上班要做的一件事情而已。”
上下班往返於郊區與郊區之間
上下班往返時間較長的人通常居住在一個郊區，而工作則在另一個郊區，《上下班往返在美國》一書作者艾倫-皮薩斯基說。
他說，此類模式往往開始於公司從城市遷至郊區，誘使職工也搬遷至較爲便宜的遠郊。“我們視此爲走得更遠的機會。”
皮薩斯基說，這樣的遷移可以提供更能負擔得起的住房或者更加良好的學校教育。即使是高燃油成本(吉文斯每週的汽油花費約爲185美元)，這對於更好的生活質量而言也是值得的。
多琳-德吉澤斯從賓夕法尼亞州託比漢納的家乘巴士穿越新澤西到曼哈頓去上班。
她說，這樣做的回報是一所鄉村住宅。
“這是一種遠離城市擁擠和喧囂的方法，”37歲的德吉澤斯說，“這確實不是件容易的事，但是大多數日子裏，它是值得的。”
“我老闆認爲我是發瘋了，”她又說。
研究顯示，2004年，7.6%的美國上班族花1個多小時去上班，這是最新得到的數據，這比1990年的數據上升了6個百分點。從1990年到2000年，平均單程上班時間上升了13%，達25.5分鐘。
皮薩斯基說，在1990年，只有紐約州有超過10%的上班族需要花1個多小時去上班。現在，這種情況也出現在新澤西、馬里蘭、伊利諾斯以及加里福尼亞。
交通擁堵惡化
根據《德克薩斯州交通協會2005年度城市流動報告》，與長時間上下班時間相伴出現的是加劇的交通擁堵狀況。該研究顯示，上班族通常每年花在交通擁堵的時間由10年前的40小時上升到現在的47小時。
“這是浪費了的時間，超出了旅程時間的承受範圍，”報告的合著人戴維-施蘭克說。
但是旅途可算是非常值得的，凱-菲利普斯如是說，她在北卡羅萊納州的查珀爾-希爾工作，距她在格拉尼特-福爾斯的家有164英里。
“我真的喜歡這麼做，所以我並不介意，”她說。
當吉文斯花費大部分上下班時間在收聽電臺節目上，特別是交通報告上時，52歲的菲利普斯則以她自己的方式在5小時的上下班時間裏進行祈禱。
她說：“從每天早上開始，我就爲每個人長時間祈禱，而這給了你足夠的時間去做這些事情。”
