The Digital Press

Long commutes significantly reduce quality of life and contribute to urban housing crises by limiting where people can live and work efficiently. Improving transit infrastructure to enable faster, broader access to city outskirts could alleviate housing pressures and enhance daily life.

Why it matters: Long commutes harm health, reduce social time, and cost workers up to 10% of their salary.

The big picture: Efficient transit that expands reachable areas can lower housing costs by connecting more affordable outskirts to city jobs.

The stakes: Without better transit, housing demand will remain concentrated, worsening affordability and forcing extreme commuting burdens.

Commenters say: Readers emphasize the urgent need for investment in fast, frequent transit and note the link between transit quality and urban livability.