Report reveals average commute times

LONGMONT – Residents in Longmont have the shortest average commute time to work of any along the Front Range, at 21.9 minutes per trip, according to a study commissioned by the city of Longmont and the Longmont Area Economic Council.

Overall, Boulder County residents have an average 22.4-minute commute time to work, Fort Collins-area residents have a 22.8-minute commute time, and Denver metro area residents have a 26.9-minute commute.
Across the United States, the average commute time is 25.7 minutes, according to the study.
Every weekday, 27,700 Longmont residents leave the city for work, and 19,600 workers come into the city from somewhere else.

The Longmont residents’ top three work destinations are Boulder, Denver and Broomfield. The outside workers hail most commonly from Loveland, Boulder and Denver, according to the Longmont Target Industry Analysis, which used 2011 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Avalanche Consulting in Austin, Texas, was hired by city officials and the Longmont Area Economic Council to gather commuter information as part of a $75,000 consulting contract to create an overall economic development strategy for the city. The Longmont Area Economic Council is a public-private partnership group that receives about 50 percent of its budget from the city.

A final economic development strategy report – which will offer recommendations about ways to stimulate Longmont’s economy – is expected to be finished in late spring, said Amy Holloway, president of Avalanche Consulting.

Separately, Avalanche Consulting plans to release an economic development market assessment for Longmont in the next week or two, Holloway said. The market assessment will list some of the “overall dynamics” of economic development in Longmont, she said.

The market assessment is expected be followed by a report that highlights which industries it might make most sense to target when looking for companies to try to recruit to the community, Holloway said. Some target recruitment areas may include advanced technology companies, bioscience companies, culinary and creative arts companies, and professional services companies, according to draft recommendations made in the Longmont Target Industry Analysis report.

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