Where the commuting nightmares are

But not every community is a traffic nightmare. Omaha could more accurately be considered a haven, named by Bizjournals as the nation's best metropolitan area for commuters.

There's a substantial corporate presence in Omaha, which often foreshadows traffic congestion. Five Fortune 500 companies are headquartered there, including well-known firms such as Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Union Pacific Corp. and ConAgra Foods Inc.

Yet Omaha's average morning commute is just 20.21 minutes, the fastest in the study group. Almost four-fifths of the area's workers reach their jobs in less than 30 minutes, another nation-leading figure.

"It's a huge selling point," says Mike Bruening, economic development manager for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. "When you can move people around quickly, it's a tremendous advantage for a business. You can get to the airport more easily. You can attract workers from a larger area."

Size is an obvious reason for the smooth traffic flow in Omaha, where 294,000 workers hit the road during morning rush. That's one commuter for every 20 in New York City, or one for every 6.5 in Washington.

But Bruening also credits an ambitious construction program that recently widened the expressways leading out of downtown Omaha and looping around the city.

"We showed some foresight there," he says. "We built for the future."

More from Bizjournals.com Slide show: The 10 worst U.S. commutes Slide show: The 10 best U.S. commutes Where commuters drive over an hour to work How 65 markets ranked in the study Survey methodology

Buffalo, which advertises itself as the "20-minute city," comes close to the mark with its average morning commute of 20.95 minutes. That's good enough for second place on the list of best markets.

The rest of the top 10 are Tulsa; Rochester, N.Y.; Dayton; Fresno; Oklahoma City; Milwaukee; Grand Rapids and Salt Lake City.

Bizjournals' rankings reveal a substantial gap between the nation's two extremes. Morning commutes in the 10 best markets carry an average length of 21.44 minutes. That's 35 percent quicker than the average for the 10 worst areas, 32.91 minutes.

This disparity, in Bruening's opinion, can translate into greater productivity in those markets where traffic is lightest.

"Workers here can stick around the office until 5:30 or 6, knowing they can get home in 20 or 30 minutes," he says. "In a city where the traffic is tougher, maybe they can't stay past 5 o'clock if they want to get home before 7."

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