REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A survey by the Redwood City Saltworks of Redwood City workers at local employers, including Oracle and the Redwood City Fire Department, has found that thousands of local workers are forced to commute tremendously long distances to get to their jobs because of the lack of local housing choices.
The resulting commuter and vehicular traffic is the now number one cause of the traffic congestion and air pollution that adversely affect the region and its residents.
“As health care professionals, the doctors and nurses at Sequoia know just how harmful the stress of commuting and the air pollution from cars is to the community,” said Glenna Vaskelis, president of Sequoia Hospital. “It’s ironic that these very same people have no choice but to drive long distances to work here, because of the shortage of housing. The Saltworks project is a badly needed solution to this problem of traffic congestion and public health.”
Hundreds of local employees at Oracle Corp. and at the Pacific Shores office complex filled out forms indicating where they lived and how far they commuted each way. In addition, the Redwood City Fire Department and Sequoia Hospital provided commute distance data for all their workers. Together, these employers represent thousands of Redwood City jobs.
The results showed that the vast majority of workers live outside Redwood City and drive to work alone each day. They arrive from places such as Stockton, Fairfield, and Rohnert Park – typically logging 50, 75 or even 100 miles in overall commute distance every day. Most of them do so because there isn't enough local housing to accommodate them, and so have no choice but to become part of an army of 40,000 commuters that swell Redwood City’s population by 60 percent every workday.
Most commuters say they would gladly live far closer to their workplaces – if they could.
And there are thousands of commuters making long trips, based on the information gathered from local workers:
- At Sequoia Hospital, 80 percent of its workers commute from outside Redwood City, and 17 percent of them have to travel 75 or more miles round trip.
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At the Pacific Shores Office Park, 96 percent of workers who
participated in the survey commute from outside Redwood City. Almost a
third of them (31%) said they commute at least 75 miles a day. At
Oracle, 96 percent of those who responded are commuters, and more than
a third reported commutes of at least 50 miles a day.
“Professionals in Silicon Valley work long and hard to keep creating innovations that drive our economy – and that’s why the number one complaint of so many employees are the huge commutes they have to endure,” said Sunil Jeswani, of SBJ Realty. “Living far from the office takes time away from employees, time they would rather spend with their family rather than in bumper to bumper traffic. To fix that, we absolutely need more homes close to our offices, just like the Saltworks would provide.”
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Full data on Redwood City’s firefighters shows that 96 percent of them
commute and nearly half drive 75 miles or more each commuting cycle.
Fully a quarter have 100-mile commutes or more, with some coming from
as far away as Redding.
"Many of the fire fighters who serve the citizens of Redwood City and other San Mateo County cities have long commutes to their homes," said Tony Slimick, Executive Secretary of the San Mateo County Firefighters Association representing hundreds of firefighters in the County. "Having more affordable, family homes in this community would allow far more firefighters and other safety personnel to live in the communities they serve. Too many now live hours away and that's not good for them, their families or the communities where they work."
“This massive imbalance between housing and jobs is devastating for the environment and creates a huge impact on local transportation and pollutes our air,” said John Bruno, Senior Vice President of the Saltworks. “Greenhouse gas emissions spewing from commuter tailpipes are the single biggest threat to the Bay Area’s environment, not to mention the gridlock commuters create on our freeways, bridges and local streets. The housing provided by the Saltworks project would be a major factor in reducing both traffic congestion and air pollution, which is why it is so beneficial to the entire region.”
One group of workers for whom the problem is particularly acute is public safety employees. In addition to firefighters, the 600-person Sheriff’s department faces the same issue for its workers, who provide law enforcement in the County and operate the jail.
“We ask our sworn officers to stand guard over Redwood City and the Peninsula, yet we can’t offer them a place to live in the community where they work,” said San Mateo County Sheriff Greg Munks. “I have women and men who drive 100 or more miles a day, dealing with the stress of a congested commute before dealing with the stress of being a peace officer. We simply need to address this situation and build homes in Redwood City that our officers and civilian staff can afford.”
The Saltworks 50/50 Balanced Plan being considered by Redwood City addresses directly the region’s need for expanded housing and affordable housing options close to the area’s job centers. The project would provide 12,000 new housing units for local workers and their families in the heart of the Peninsula’s job center. In addition, the project features robust transit connections, including links with CalTrain and downtown Redwood City, and planned links to the proposed high-speed rail station and ferry terminal.
The 50/50 Plan is uniquely able to deal with the traffic and pollution issues because of its scale and scope. The project would build a complete, integrated community, including schools, parks and recreational facilities, neighborhood-serving retail and open space with access to the Bay. No other single project proposed for the region would provide this level of housing and amenities together, along with transit links that encourage people to use their cars less.
The jobs/housing imbalance is projected to get even worse if the Saltworks and other housing developments are not built soon. Millions more people are expected to move to the Bay Area over the next 15 years for work in high tech, biotech and other growth industries. But the region is already thousands of housing units short, meaning that even more people could be forced into 100-mile commutes unless new homes are created near those jobs.
“I dream about living a short drive from my job, but for now it’s just a dream,” said Bruce McKay, a local law enforcement officer. “As far as I’m concerned, they can’t build those homes on the Saltworks soon enough. I’m tired of the two-hour distance between my home and family and the community in which I protect.”