This is the future of Silicon Valley, family time, sleep time, productive time, social time being eaten by commute time.

Your math is wrong. You said "more than four times [0.8 percent] take such daily treks in the Bay Area." That'd be 3.2%. Neither the quoted number for the San Francisco area (2.06%) nor the San Jose area (1.9%) exceed that. At least one of these numbers (4, 0.8%, 2.06%, 1.9%) is wrong, or you're considering the Bay Area to be something other than San Francisco area + San Jose area. I think you just miscalculated.

Did you *add* 2.06% and 1.9%?!? You can't do that! By the same reasoning, since 100% - 2.06% = 97.94% of residents of the San Francisco area don't have mega commutes and 100 - 1.9% = 98.1% of residents of the San Jose area don't have mega commutes, 97.94% + 98.1% = 196.04% of residents in the combined area don't have mega commutes. Only 100% - 196.04% = -96.04% have mega commutes, by far the least in the nation. Same operation, absurd conclusion. The operation is flawed. The number you apparently calculated, 2.06% + 1.9% is (San Jose megacommuters) / (San Jose residents) + (San Francisco megacommuters) / (San Francisco residents) = 3.96% ...unlike units...which means nothing.

A correct formula would be (San Francisco megacommuters + San Jose megacommuters) / (San Francisco residents + San Jose residents) = (combined megacommuters) / (combined residents). You can probably find the figures for this on the American Community Survey website. Or you can just know that a weighted average must fall between its most extreme components (1.9% and 2.06%), so "more than twice the national average" would be true; "more than three times the national average" would be false; "more than four times the national average" isn't even close.

The Campaign to Correct Math in Journalism starts right here, right now!

Do what a smart commuter does, take a job that is either close to you or find one where you can take the reverse commute. Of course, only if you can, not everyone can.

Or if you can, move closer to your job or move in an area where you can take advantage of a reverse commute.

The Companies can also help out by hiring locally. But i know that is against Google and a lot of other companies policy.

Hiring local won't help, not everyone wants to work for Google, some people are happy with where they work. Commutes have their own reason for the commute, it is not one size fits all.

Direct product of nimbies choking the supply of housing. Usually claiming traffic as an excuse. Despite the fact that more far flung housing they end up encouraging cause more traffic per capita.