Survey Reveals “Driving Personalities” of Seven Major US Cities
July 17, 2009 by Allison Davis
Filed under Blog
America is a country which prides itself on its unique cultural composition, varying geography and diverse ideals. Regardless of race or creed however, one thing is certain; all Americans are affected by one universal experience, the everyday hassle of traffic and commuting. Whether it’s a frustrating – or even embarrassing – driving experience, almost all have a story to tell. Concord-based TomTom, determined to uncover the various driving habits and road way behaviors which emerge, has surveyed Americans to find out which driving personality is distinctly their own.
The seven cities surveyed include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and New York. Residents from each of these cities candidly shared interesting driving habits and routines which revealed their “driving personalities.” Survey respondents fell into three different “driving personality” categories:
Diligent Driver – Extremely conscientious drivers who consistently stick to the rules of the road
Neutral Navigator – A milder breed of drivers who take a steady, “middle-of-the-road” approach to driving and typically go with the flow
Courageous Commuter – Bold drivers who do what it takes to overcome the obstacles and complexities of daily driving
The cities were surveyed on a number of typical driving situations including what they do when about to miss an exit, at what point they choose to fill their gas tanks, how much time they typically leave before an appointment, and how they react to being tailgated and cut off. Based on the results, U.S. cities’ personalities were revealed as follows:
| Diligent Drivers: | ||||||
| Los Angeles, Houston | ||||||
| Neutral Navigators: | ||||||
| Chicago, New York | ||||||
| Courageous Commuters: | ||||||
| Atlanta, Boston & Minneapolis | ||||||
Key national statistics from the survey include:
| 61.3% of Americans travel five to 10 miles over the speed limit | High Score: Atlanta, 66.2% | |
| 71.2% of Americans change their route depending on the time of day to reach their destination the fastest way possible | High Score: Los Angeles, 78.3% | |
| 19.8% of Americans lean on their horns when someone cuts them off | High Score: Boston, 27.6% | |
| 10.7% of Americans curse or gesture crudely when someone cuts them off | High Score: Atlanta, 14.4% | |
| 21.6% of Americans slam on their brakes or slow down when being tailgated | High Score: Atlanta, 26.4% | |
| 13.1% of Americans stick to the speed limit | High Score: Minneapolis, 20% | |
| 34.5% of Americans sing and dance in the car while driving | High Score: Los Angeles, 37.4% | |
| 2% of Americans admit to picking their noses while driving | High Score: Atlanta, 3% | |
Nationwide, 58.1 percent of Americans surveyed have a daily commute that lasts 45 minutes to an hour. With so much time spent in the car, it comes as no surprise that some interesting, and in some cases, even embarrassing behaviors and occurrences have resulted. In fact, one Courageous Commuter from Atlanta admitted to honking loudly at the stopped car in front of him, only to discover he was actually honking at the end of a funeral line, while a Diligent Driver from Los Angeles had a tennis shoe thrown at him from another driver while stuck in traffic on the highway.
“As Americans are spending more and more of their time on the road, driving personalities naturally emerge,” said Kendra Thornton, Travel Expert and Industry Publicist. “Through TomTom’s Driving Personality Survey, we are able to see how each city’s ‘driving personality’ directly relates to its unique lifestyle, landscape and culture.”
New York Becomes a Bioscience Leader
May 29, 2009 by Allison Davis
Filed under Blog
New York ranks among the nation’s leaders in the bioscience industries, according to recent reports from the Milken Institute and trade publication FierceBiotech. The reports show New York to be a significant and growing locus for bioscience development.
According to the FierceBiotech’s “Top 5 Regions Targeting Biotech”, New York’s focus on stem cell research, abundant funding resources, and unique Qualified Emerging Company capital tax credit make it a key location for developing biotech. This is the second consecutive year in which New York has been named to the FierceBiotech “Top 5 Regions” list.
In the report, FierceBiotech says that “New York has been leveling the playing field to a point where start-ups could make a good case for setting up shop in a city that never sleeps. . . . New York has scientific talent to spare. With the right kind of support, it can also create a surge of new biotech businesses to commercialize the scientists’ discoveries.”
Likewise, a new report from the Milken Institute ranks Greater New York biotech as second only to Greater Raleigh-Durham in terms of the industry’s current impact. With the largest number of biotech workers of any metropolitan area in the U.S. and a relative growth rate far exceeding the national average, Greater New York ranked high in all categories of the Milken report, entitled “The Greater Philadelphia Life Sciences Cluster 2009: An Economic and Comparative Assessment.” The full report can be downloaded here.
“We in the State have long known that New York is a great place to build a biotech business,” said Nathan Tinker, Executive Director of NYBA. “Biopharma directly employs over 55,000 people in the state and is responsible for more than 130,000 jobs. And the industry generates more than $29 billion in total output annually or nearly 7% all direct biopharmaceutical output nationally.”
