Pub. 3 2013 Issue 2

7 MINING FOCUS MINING I f you are like most people, you think about what you want or need to do, and you don’t necessarily give a lot of thought to the wide array of resources you use along the way. If you need to go to the grocery store, for example, chances are good you grab your keys, wallet, and shopping list, and then head out the door into your car. The same thing is true of riding your bike around the neighborhood, or booking a flight for a business trip. If you decide to fly somewhere, you are a lot more concerned with how much it will cost, how long it will take, and what you need to know to get through airport security than you are about the plane that will take you where you need to go. People in the U.S. like to move around frequently. We travel short distances (or not so short distances) between work and home. We travel to visit family, shop, or vacation. And of course, a vast transportation network exists to get goods to market. Long commutes to work have become a fact of life, particularly in urban areas. According to Melanie A. Rapino and Alison K. Fields with the U.S. Census Bureau, some people are traveling more than ever for work. There are even TRANSPORTATION continued on page 8 & TRANSPORTATION