About 20 percent in Az hit the road before 6 a.m.

PHOENIX – People in Arizona are getting up earlier than ever for the morning commute, according to new U.S. census data.

Twenty percent, or 513,698, of Arizona drivers left for work before 6 a.m. in 2006 to beat the rush and get to work on time, up from 16 percent in 2000. Maricopa County saw a similar jump, with 1 in 5, or 354,039 people, out the door before 6 a.m. in 2006 compared to 1 in 6 in 2000.

Nationally, 1 in 8 workers were out the door by 6 a.m. last year, up from 1 in 9 in 2000. The pre-dawn commutes put more than 3 million additional drivers – for a total of 16.7 million – on the road before the rush-hour congestion sets in.

The earlier and longer commutes come with big sacrifices in relationships and lifestyles. There’s less time to spend with family and less time for sleep. There’s more stress caused by bad drivers and bumper-to-bumper traffic. And those Saturday afternoons by the pool? They’re now filled with errands and chores that don’t get done during the workweek.

“It’s a trade-off I chose to make,” said Maureen Gerard, who listens to talk radio and how-to books on tape to pass the time on her commute from Mesa to North Phoenix. “But you feel like you have lost kind of your life, because you spend so much time on the road.”

It’s a common complaint, especially at the outer reaches of the Phoenix metro area, where buyers have snapped up new homes faster than the state can build roads. As suburban growth has surged because of better home deals, so has the distance and commute time to work.

In the summer, rush hour starts before the sun comes up, as early as 5 a.m., and runs until 9 a.m., transportation officials said. In the afternoon, drivers hit the road as early as 1:30 p.m., with construction workers kicking off rush hour. In the winter, commuters drive in a bit later both ways.

“We’ve seen things change pretty dramatically because of the growth,” said Eric Anderson, transportation director for the Maricopa Association of Governments. “There’s more affordable housing in the outskirts, in places like Maricopa, Queen Creek. Therefore, you increase your commute times.”

The area’s average commute time, Anderson said, is about 25 minutes.

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