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With the media focus on the 300-millionth American in full swing, the National Academies of Science's Transportation Research Board releases a major study on commuting patterns "as baby boomers near retirement age" and as the growing immigrant population swells the U.S. labor force. Mass transit and carpooling "are increasing in many areas," the report says, but driving alone, early and longer distances is still the rule ... increasingly so and increasingly from suburb to suburb rather than from the burbs to downtown.

Those trends just could change over time, as more and more new immigrants bring with them their traditional reliance on bikes, carpools, public transit ... and foot power, the new report says. "Commuting in America III" is available online at www.trb.org. Reporters can get a copy from the Academies' news and public information folks at 202-334-2138.

Some numbers from the report:

• almost 13 million more solo drivers over the past decade or so, and between 1990 and 2000, the number commuting more than an hour grew by nearly 50 percent;
• From midnight to 7:30 a.m., men make up most of the commuters, with women making up most of the commuters after 7:30 a.m.;
• A 20 percent climb in number of Americans commuting from city to suburbs between 1990 and 2000; and
• 4 percent of workers have no household vehicle.