Having grown up in a city, I've always been aware of commute times to prevent being late to work, school, or planned events. I was constantly calculating how long it would take to get somewhere, using known and potential traffic patterns to help optimize my route. That habit of optimizing routes naturally sparked my interest in supply chain and economics, where the focus is often on improving movement and reducing delays.
After studying data from the U.S. Census Bureau, with a focus on California, it became clear how much infrastructure, population density, and geography influence commute times. Los Angeles and San Francisco, two of California's most well-known metropolitan areas, highlight these factors and their effects.  In Los Angeles, natural barriers like mountains and the Pacific Ocean limit route options and restrict the city’s ability to expand outward, which contribute to traffic congestion. San Fracisco faces similar limitations where bridges and ferries are the only means of crossing the Bay.
These geographic constraints raise a key challenge: how can cities improve commute times when the factors, such as geography, can’t be changed?