ROCHESTER, N.Y. – January 28, 2010 — According to the Center for Governmental Research and the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M, the Rochester, NY Region's average commute time of 22.6 minutes is one of the shortest in the country. To illustrate the economic benefit to local companies, Greater Rochester Enterprise (GRE) has unveiled the "Save Time and Money in Rochester, NY" calculator at www.rochesterbiz.com/idq.

"We wanted to create the calculator for the GRE website to show how Rochester's short commutes save companies time and money while improving workforce productivity," said Center for Governmental Research President and Chief Economist Dr. Kent Gardner.

"This is a valuable tool that companies looking to expand in or relocate to the Rochester Region can utilize to evaluate the economic benefits of doing business here," added GRE President and CEO Mark S. Peterson.

The calculator compares "Annual Congestion Cost" of the top 90 metropolitan areas in the United States, basing the cost on "Annual Total Delay", the amount of hours each employee spends delayed in traffic per year. For example, a 100-person company in Rochester, NY, saves $128,300 more per year than a same-sized company in Los Angeles, CA, because the Rochester employees are spending 6,000 hours less per year delayed in traffic.

"When you combine our region's high Intellectual Density Quotient (IDQ) with our short commute times, you get efficient, quality work at an affordable price," said Bausch & Lomb's Vice President of Human Resources Clay Osborne.

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