Middle Peninsula residents still drive away from the region in large numbers to get to their jobs, with traffic congestion and rising fuel costs forcing many to reexamine their commuting behavior. At the same time, employers are becoming more open to telework options.

That’s just some of the takeaways from a survey of commuting habits conducted by the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission.

Nearly 1,300 commuters responded to the online survey. The high response rate is more than double the number received when the MPPC surveyed commuters in 2019.

The Middle Peninsula’s out-commuter rate remains the highest in the state, meaning roughly 73 percent of its workforce or approximately 30,000 workers leave the Middle Peninsula to go to work, said Lewie Lawrence, Executive Director of the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission.

“That puts a tremendous strain on our local businesses to find labor,” he said. “If everybody leaves, you don’t have an adequate pool of qu...