County commute among the worst

60 percent of residents work elsewhere, contributing to sixth-longest trip in nation

Even when Byrd does get out of the house by 6 a.m., her commute from home in Kettering to Pepco’s offices in the District is still 45 minutes.

Byrd isn’t alone. Many other Prince George’s County residents complain about the commuting time. And, like Byrd, many of them drive to jobs outside the county.

Sixty percent of the county’s working population commutes to jobs outside of Prince George’s, according to the county’s Economic Development Corporation.

‘‘When we go to work in D.C., Fairfax County and Montgomery County, we are supporting their economies,” said Arthur Turner, president of the Coalition of Central Prince George’s Community Organizations and a former Chairman of the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee. ‘‘They use the money to build new schools. They use the money to pay their police and fire officials. We need that money.”

In a study conducted by the Reason Foundation using U.S. Census Bureau 2005 data, Prince George’s County ranked as the sixth worst county in the country in mean travel time to work in minutes. The findings were published in a chart in the May 7 issue of US News & World Report.

According to the study, on average it takes Prince George’s County residents 35.7 minutes to get to work, which is the longest commute time among counties in the Washington metropolitan area. Montgomery County was next, with an average commute time of 33.2 minutes.

That 35.7-minute average is a direct result of limited office space throughout the county, Turner said. ‘‘If people are working where they live, people won’t be sitting in traffic for 40 minutes,” he said. ‘‘We won’t be clogging up roadways and there will be more time to spend with our families.”