03/23/2004
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Tired of those long commutes to work? Start a small business. If you owned a small business, says the NFIB Research Foundation, you'd have a much greater chance of getting home a lot faster.
Eighty percent of the nation's small-business owners commute less than 30 minutes to work, according to "Road Transportation," the latest in a series of small-business polls conducted by the foundation, the research arm of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Nearly one-fourth can reach their workplaces in less than five minutes-not surprising given the number whose firms are in or around their residences. Only 7 percent told researchers that their daily commute exceeded 45 minutes.
Small employers, the study found, use an estimated 26 million to 27 million vehicles. More than eight-in-10 possess at least one. Trucks are the most frequent vehicles used. More than half said they use an average of four or more trucks, while nearly 44 percent use cars and 41 percent conduct business with sport-utility vehicles.
"The large fleet of vehicles that small businesses collectively operate generates substantial tax revenues," NFIB Research Foundation Series Editor William J. Dennis Jr. said. "Naturally, they want to be sure that the user fees they pay, primarily fuel taxes, are used to make their movement easier, quicker and safer."
Generally pleased with the conditions of transportation where they do business, 87 percent of the entrepreneurs surveyed said their thoroughfares were satisfactory or better. Only 5 percent classified conditions as poor.
Traffic congestion, 37 percent said, is a bigger problem than road conditions. However, nearly half-44 percent-didn't see either conditions or congestion as a problem. Dennis noted that owners in heavily urban areas were far more likely to cite clogged roads as a concern.
But small businesses are feeling the impact of transportation problems in their cash registers. More than one-third (35 percent) said road conditions and congestion are increasing their costs of doing business; more than one-fifth (21 percent) blamed the two problems for damaging sales. But only 2 percent claimed the damage was significant.
Transportation has an impact on small-business relocations and new locations. The owner's commuting time, combined with customer and employee parking, has greater influence on relocation decisions, while decisions about additional sites are more heavily weighted towards parking concerns.
An overwhelming 95 percent said they believe their customers have reasonable access to parking, which is crucial since driving is the typical method used to reach small businesses. Nearly two-thirds reported customers and employees could reach their firms by using public transit, but few arrive that way.
Nineteen percent said they have one or more employees who work from their homes and three-fourths of those confirmed having two or fewer employees who telecommute. But the reason for allowing employees to work at home has little to do with transportation. Business necessity is the motivating factor.
The NFIB National Small Business Poll Series, which presents eight studies each year focused on key issues facing the nation's free enterprise system, is based on data collected from national samples of small-business employers.
The NFIB Research Foundation is a research and information organization affiliated with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation's largest small-business advocacy group. Located in Washington, D.C., the Foundation's primary purpose is to explore the policy-related problems small-business owners encounter.
CONTACT: Michelle Dimarob, (202) 554-9000
