A daily long commute to work

[KevShmev]

I don't know how people do it.  I am lucky in that I have never had to drive more than 10 miles and/or 20 minutes to work, and nowadays I am literally 4 miles from work (about 10 minutes both ways, given normal traffic).  I am definitely spoiled.  And then I hear about the people who do an hour drive to work every day, often with awful rush hour traffic, and I think about how I'd want to fling myself off a cliff if I had to do that.  To those of you have a long daily commute to work, how do you keep your sanity??

[King Postwhore]

I had a 45 minute one way drive for 13 years. I have to admit, listening to music or sports talk cleared my mind.

Now like you, I work 10 minutes out. So longer hours makes it worth it to get home asap.

[Phoenix87x]

Luckily now a days my commute is like 5 mins, but when I was in college it was an hour drive each way every single day, going into and out of the heart of the city. And I did that for years.

Music and podcasts were how I kept sane, but it blew. It sucked so bad that I turned down a full time, full benefited job that would have been a shitty gridlock hour commute. No thanks. I may not have benefits or guaranteed hours, but I have peace of mind.

*The last two years of school I was engaged and drove home the same route as my ex fiance, so we talked on the phone whole way. That broke up the monotony, but 2 out of 5 days (If I was lucky) would end in a fight though       Hence, her being an ex 

[KevShmev]

Music definitely helps.  In my college days, I did 30 minutes one way and it was great to be able to knock out Transatlantic song on the way to school and one on the way home.

[ProfessorPeart]

For 20 years now I have had a commute that was anywhere from 35-65 minutes one way. Occasionally, I will have to go Downtown. That is a sure fire 2 1/2 hour commute one way. That one I want to jump off a cliff over. Thankfully, I only have to do it less than a handful of times per year.

Now, if I go to my desk, my commute is 35 minutes which is the shortest ever commute for this job that I have had for over 20 years now. Lately though, my commute is about 5 minutes. I wake up, hit the bathroom, go downstairs, fire up my laptop and go to work.

[SystematicThought]

My morning commute most days is 35 minutes to work and the same amount back home, sometimes less. It flies by for me since I don't work right away in the morning. I start my commute at 10 in the morning and leave work around 9 every night, so I miss out on rush hour. When I have to go in at 9 though, the 8 AM morning rush hour is awful! People don't know how to zipper merge, nobody lets anyone in, etc.

The one thing I like about the 1 hour 10 minute total commute everyday...Listening to music. I'd go insane without it.

[Cool Chris]

I apologize in advance for the tl;dr, but I feel strongly about this.

For ~10 years I commuted by two buses about 1-1.25 hours each way, to a job that barely paid more than minimum wage. I know that was my decision, I am not blaming anyone for my failings. I thankfully got out of that, and will never do it again, even if it means I have to go on welfare, declare bankruptcy, vote for people who want to give everyone $1,000 a month no strings attached, etc...

This is a massive problem in our society that I don't feel is going to get better. Families are spending so much time away from each other, their kids, their communities. Companies in city centers like Seattle are attracting more employees, expanding their businesses, and the infrastructure isn't there to adequately support this. Progressive city planners want everyone to live in urban cores, housed in massive towers where they don't own cars because they bike, bus, and walk everywhere, but the majority of people don't want to live like that. The house in the suburbs is still a bit of the American dream for many, especially once people get married and have kids.

I don't know what the solution is, aside from telecommuting. The job I referred to had some telecommuters, and I begged and pleaded but my dept VP wasn't a fan of it. There was no legitimate reason I had to physically be in the office 40 hours a week, and that, plus the 2.5+ hours a day on the did damage to my relationship and personal psyche. Consider just the time people lose. Life is too short.

https://mobility.tamu.edu/umr/congestion-data/

I know many people cannot live where they can find work, or afford to live where they do work. Even if I could have afforded to live in Seattle close to my last job (I couldn't), there is no way I would have. But it took me years to find a job closer to home.

Sorry for the rambling. Thinking about how much of my life was spend commuting just makes me angry.

[Grappler]

I commute 50 miles each way by train.  It's a 90 minute ride, one-way.  I sleep in the mornings, nap in the afternoons, then read a book to kill the rest of the time.  After 9 years of doing it, it's becoming a grind, but my company and bosses make it worth it for me.  I work for great people.  I get paid very well for my position, earn some nice bonuses, have 3 weeks PTO time (not including sick days) and I also negotiated a day to telecommute and work from home.  So once a week, I work from home and get to hang out with my family while getting work done. 

There's no way I'd commute that long by driving.  I dislike public transportation and dealing with other people or being at the mercy of the train's schedule and performance, but it is what it is. 

I'd love to telecommute more, but my boss wants me in the office as much as possible, where distraction is minimal. 

[Chino]

If the highways are clear, It's 45 minutes for me each way. I plan on an hour each way and am never surprised when that number approaches an hour and a half.   

It's hellish and I hate it.

[Lonk]

My current commute is about 30-40 minutes on the bus. I longest commute used to be 1 hour at 4am  I used to listen to music, play videos, podcast or read books to entertain myself.

I also used to have an employee working part time and commuting every day from eastern PA to Brooklyn (NY), it was about 3 hours one way.

[Chino]

I wouldn't mind the long commute if I was on a bus or train. At least then I could do stuff or nap.

[mikeyd23]

My commute is about 45 minutes one way, with normal traffic. I've always had a 30+ minute commute, the longest one being an hour and 15 minutes one way.

I don't mind 45 minutes one way, it's not too bad. Time to listen to music and/or podcasts. If it starts to stretch to over an hour due to traffic, it starts to wear on me, but I can handle 45.

[Chino]

My commute is about 45 minutes one way, with normal traffic. I've always had a 30+ minute commute, the longest one being an hour and 15 minutes one way.

I don't mind 45 minutes one way, it's not too bad. Time to listen to music and/or podcasts. If it starts to stretch to over an hour due to traffic, it starts to wear on me, but I can handle 45.

For me, it's more about what comes with the commute outside of just the time I've lost.   

- 24K+ miles per year on the car
- $300 a month in gas
- General car depreciation and wear
- Staring into the sun in both directions (84 E & W)
- Having to get up two hours before work just to make it on time

[mikeyd23]

My commute is about 45 minutes one way, with normal traffic. I've always had a 30+ minute commute, the longest one being an hour and 15 minutes one way.

I don't mind 45 minutes one way, it's not too bad. Time to listen to music and/or podcasts. If it starts to stretch to over an hour due to traffic, it starts to wear on me, but I can handle 45.

For me, it's more about what comes with the commute outside of just the time I've lost.   

- 24K+ miles per year on the car
- $300 a month in gas
- General car depreciation and wear
- Staring into the sun in both directions (84 E & W)
- Having to get up two hours before work just to make it on time

For sure, those are all factors. For me, at this point in life, it's more about time lost than anything else. Having a wife and a young child, it's another hour and a half away from them, minimum, everyday.

Specifically, for our situation, it actually is financially beneficial for me to drive the commute I'm driving rather than move closer to work. The county I'm in right now has much lower taxes and the real estate is way more affordable compared to the county my office is in. So even though I'm dumping money into gas and my car, by our calculations, it's actually better financially than moving into a comparable home close to my office.

[gmillerdrake]

If I go to my office in the morning I have a 15 minute commute.....light traffic. But, I do travel a lot for my job as I visit the various construction sites for my projects so I put a ton of miles on my car. We get 58 cents a mile but still....it's a LOT of miles. I'm anywhere from 400-1000 miles a month for my job depending on the location of my projects and how many site visits I have. Plus, there are the meetings for these projects that I'm obligated to attend. When I have projects going at one location in particular....it's a 190 mile round trip...usually twice a week just for that location.

[pg1067]

My first "real" job (i.e., not fast food) was an 8.5-9 mile commute that probably took 20-30 minutes depending on traffic.  Over the course of the next 10+ years, I moved and my office moved, and I think the longest commute was about 15 miles, which took about half an hour.

My first "nightmare" commute was when I started law school.  I went from Belmont Heights in Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles.  25-30 miles depending on route and 45-75 minutes depending on traffic.

After law school, I started a job in West Los Angeles.  This started as a 30 mile commute up the 405 freeway through the South Bay and past LAX.  It was a minimum 45 minute commute and, occasionally, when there was an accident, it took over 2 hours.

Six years ago, I switched jobs and went back to downtown LA.  About 3 years ago, our office moved, and that cut my mileage in half (about 12 miles now) and the commute time by 1/3.  A MASSIVE increase in my quality of life (both the cost of the commute and wear and tear on both the car and me).

As far as keeping sanity, it's all about playing music or sports talk radio.

[Stadler]

My then-wife and I moved out of Atlanta (back to Connecticut) because my 10-mile drive was taking over an hour, and her 15-or so mile commute was taking up to an hour and a half (sometimes more if there was an accident or event). 

[Evermind]

I have a 90 minutes one-way commute in winter (bus + train) and ~65-70 minutes one-way commute in summer (rental bicycle + train) and while it sucks, at least I don't have to drive. This is my reading time or if I don't feel like reading, I just listen to music or napping.

While driving would probably reduce my commute by half an hour, and while I've got a license, I don't feel like driving, even though I've got enough savings to buy a car. I like reading, the monthly costs (gas, parking, general maintenance) are daunting, too many idiots on the road so it's more stressful. I can't imagine driving for 90 minutes to work. I would've probably quit if I had to do it.

Basically as I have no significant other or kids I don't feel my commute time is wasted (except when I'm napping. I'd rather sleep an hour more at home) because it really provides an excellent time for reading.

One thing I'm kinda resentful about a long commute is that I have to get up super early at 5 AM if I want to get home in a reasonable time to do chores and other stuff. I'd gladly change it to something closer, and I was seriously considering looking for another job when they hit me with a 25% raise this spring, so I guess I'm in for now.

[ReaperKK]

When I ran the hotel I lived on premises which meant my longest commute was walking a few hundred feet to the office. That was a great perk until I started to feel like I'm living at my job (I technically was)

Then right before I moved to NC I did an IT gig that was a 50 minute commute on the best day, often times it'd be 1.5+ hours plus each way. I'd never do anything like that again. Right now my commute is 30 minutes with school back in, that's 20 minute drive plus a 10 minute walk to the office. I could do 1 hour if I had an amazing home a bit further away from the city but it'd really have to be worth it.

[El Barto]

I've done the hour commute thing before and it pretty much blows. There's a weird thing where no matter when you leave you get there at the same time. Leave at 730 and it's a 95 minute commute. Leave at 8 and it's a 65 minute trip. Leave at 830 and it's a 35 minute drive. Sadly, they all put me there at 905 which was the excuse they finally used to shit-can me.  The drive in is stressful and annoying. The drive home you listen to jazz and smoke a joint and it's perfectly pleasant.

Now my drive is pretty much 20-25 minutes each way and mostly enjoyable. The simplest, straightest route to work involves a thoroughfare straight across Highland Park and the rich fucks do everything they can to make it nightmarish. It goes from 3 lanes each way to 1 with very few left turn lanes and no arrows. It's always a traffic jam which is the way they want it. Ostensibly to keep their kids safe, but really it's to keep the Dallas scum out of their hamlet. However, since rich seldom equates to smart, it has a doubly bad effect. We scum still cut through but we take the residential streets. I drive 30mph across SMU and past all the mansions stopping at 25 signs and getting 14mpg, but it's better than sitting in traffic. 

[Train of Naught]

With just over 1 year at the same company, I've already lived in around 5 different locations, ranging from 15 - 50 minutes commute. My now long-term place luckily is the 15 minute one, I'm super fortunate to be able to bike to work within 8-11 minutes depending how fast I go, and then add extra time for walking to the parking station and from the parking station at work to my work. I've noticed how flat most of the bike lanes and sidewalks are now too, so I started longboarding to work which probably takes between 15 and 20 minutes.

Couldn't wish for a better work/home connection to be honest, also both the gym and supermarket I go to are right in the middle, so I never have to take any detour to go there. I'm kind of scared that I'll become too lazy in the long run with such perfect logistics

[New World Rushman]

I'm pretty lucky in this regard. I live less than 2.5 miles as the crow flies from both of my jobs, about 4 miles actual driving distance, 8-10 minute commute.

But still, I'm a few minutes late every day...

[Lonk]

One time I applied to a job down the street. The commute would’ve been a 2 minute walk. Unfortunately the job was going to have me on my feet a lot (teaching music and PE) and 3 days before I received an offer I messed up my knee playing basketball. Had to turn down the job for medical reasons.

[Chino]

I've done the hour commute thing before and it pretty much blows. There's a weird thing where no matter when you leave you get there at the same time. Leave at 730 and it's a 95 minute commute. Leave at 8 and it's a 65 minute trip. Leave at 830 and it's a 35 minute drive. Sadly, they all put me there at 905 which was the excuse they finally used to shit-can me.  The drive in is stressful and annoying. The drive home you listen to jazz and smoke a joint and it's perfectly pleasant.

Now my drive is pretty much 20-25 minutes each way and mostly enjoyable. The simplest, straightest route to work involves a thoroughfare straight across Highland Park and the rich fucks do everything they can to make it nightmarish. It goes from 3 lanes each way to 1 with very few left turn lanes and no arrows. It's always a traffic jam which is the way they want it. Ostensibly to keep their kids safe, but really it's to keep the Dallas scum out of their hamlet. However, since rich seldom equates to smart, it has a doubly bad effect. We scum still cut through but we take the residential streets. I drive 30mph across SMU and past all the mansions stopping at 25 signs and getting 14mpg, but it's better than sitting in traffic.

 

I don't remember if it was LA or San Fran, maybe neither, but I remember reading about a group of people over several neighborhoods filing a lawsuit against Waze (GPS app company) because it started routing everyone in traffic through this intricate network of rich neighborhoods. 

[MoraWintersoul]

Progressive city planners want everyone to live in urban cores, housed in massive towers where they don't own cars because they bike, bus, and walk everywhere, but the majority of people don't want to live like that. The house in the suburbs is still a bit of the American dream for many, especially once people get married and have kids.

I don't know what the solution is, aside from telecommuting.

The thing is that what the city planners are suggesting is how millions upon millions of people live in Europe. We all love it, we think it has significant benefits, and it's so convenient to most of us that people who do live a little further away and want to commute in their cars don't face a lot of traffic.

If you have a crappy commute because there aren't enough buses, next local election date you vote for the party that promises to buy more buses. If it doesn't happen, maybe some of you buy cars and drive. Contrast that to suburban driving: if you and your wife already bought a car and your commute is crap because everyone else bought a car, because that's the only way to reach the city centre, and the traffic is terrible, you can... vote for more road work?

If you're in your car and any of the idiot drivers decide to jam their vehicle into yours, good luck. Freak accidents involving buses and trains do happen, but at least in everyday traffic you're likely to sustain injuries that are less serious than the idiot car driver's when he crashes into your bus.

You get to experience some hustle and bustle, your lifestyle is more gentle for the planet, and you are more involved in what goes on around your city, it's not just a place for you to park anymore - you can make it better and vote for it to be better and even more walkable, instead of isolating yourself on some college campus and then later on fleeing into the suburbs. There's a lot of things that contribute to global warming more than the average suburban American lifestyle, yes - but I can't imagine my every day being like this. Waking up in my large air-conditioned isolated suburban house, starting my car, dropping off my kids to school, driving to my air-conditioned office, driving to a large (air-conditioned) store complex to pick up groceries for dinner, making dinner, then watching TV. Driving to a place where I can work out or hike. Then in the weekends, driving kids from one playdate and activity to the next. Maybe driving to a restaurant in the evening, or driving to a venue for a concert, parking there. I would feel so isolated from the world, and so guilty.

[Chino]

I'm the complete opposite. Give me privacy and a piece of land that lets my dogs run around, provides a place to drive my RC trucks, allows me to have 3 smokers rolling at once, and the ability to blow stuff up on holidays. I want a back deck I can lay out on and a home where none of my walls, ceilings, or floors are shared with someone else. I want to be able to have insanely loud sexy time without worrying about other people hearing it or calling the cops because it sounds like someone is getting brutally murdered. I want a big basement where I can have a workshop on one end and a weed cultivation facility on the other. I want a driveway that I bitch about having to clear in the winter. I like having to dodge the occasional deer when heading home.   

I can't think of anything less appealing than living in a city full time.

[cramx3]

My commute is 40 minutes at best, usually 55 minutes though with traffic and could be worse if things are really bad.  I listen to Howard Stern or music and I don't mind for the most part, but when traffic is bad and you want to be somewhere after work is when it gets frustrating.

[Cool Chris]

You get to experience some hustle and bustle, your lifestyle is more gentle for the planet, and you are more involved in what goes on around your city, it's not just a place for you to park anymore - you can make it better and vote for it to be better and even more walkable, instead of isolating yourself on some college campus and then later on fleeing into the suburbs.... I would feel so isolated from the world, and so guilty.

Obviously our (yours, vs Chino and myself) mileage varies (pun intended). I don't want to argue with you over lifestyle choices but want to comment on something: I live in the suburbs*, and I am very involved in what goes on in my city. My neighborhood has picnics in the summer, our kids play together after school, we go to the rec center and other community places all the time (theater, parks, farmer's market, art festivals...). To say we all "fled to the suburbs to isolate ourselves" is way off the mark.  Suburbs don't mean the middle of the nowhere with the Unabomber.

And many people do not want a hustle and bustle lifestyle, as Chino illustrated.

*we bought our house because it is close to the school where my wife works.

[JayOctavarium]

25 minutes to work.

35 minutes home give or take, depending on how I'm feeling. If I am in a hurry, I'll take the direct route (Freeway) and deal with the traffic. If not, I take the back roads. Less direct but also much less stressful.

ability to blow stuff up on holidays. 

I just have this mental image of you blowing up a frozen turkey for some reason...

[Stadler]

I've done the hour commute thing before and it pretty much blows. There's a weird thing where no matter when you leave you get there at the same time. Leave at 730 and it's a 95 minute commute. Leave at 8 and it's a 65 minute trip. Leave at 830 and it's a 35 minute drive. Sadly, they all put me there at 905 which was the excuse they finally used to shit-can me.  The drive in is stressful and annoying. The drive home you listen to jazz and smoke a joint and it's perfectly pleasant.

Now my drive is pretty much 20-25 minutes each way and mostly enjoyable. The simplest, straightest route to work involves a thoroughfare straight across Highland Park and the rich fucks do everything they can to make it nightmarish. It goes from 3 lanes each way to 1 with very few left turn lanes and no arrows. It's always a traffic jam which is the way they want it. Ostensibly to keep their kids safe, but really it's to keep the Dallas scum out of their hamlet. However, since rich seldom equates to smart, it has a doubly bad effect. We scum still cut through but we take the residential streets. I drive 30mph across SMU and past all the mansions stopping at 25 signs and getting 14mpg, but it's better than sitting in traffic.

... and there's always the scenery...

[Stadler]

This is going to sound crazy, but I'm not really joking:    when I'm living like Chino (I grew up in a farm town in CT, and live in a somewhat larger farm town now), I want to live like MoraWintersoul, and when I'm living like MoraWintersoul (I lived in Center City Philadelphia for a number of years) I miss living like Chino.

I loved the City - correction, I loved the City of PHILADELPHIA - and would move there in a heartbeat if my wife would buy in.  She might be Chino's sister; she wants nothing to do with the city. 

[Cool Chris]

I don't remember if it was LA or San Fran, maybe neither, but I remember reading about a group of people over several neighborhoods filing a lawsuit against Waze (GPS app company) because it started routing everyone in traffic through this intricate network of rich neighborhoods. 

I recall either that story, or something similar that happened locally.

A couple years ago after they added toll lanes to a major highway, residential homeowners noticed and complained about an increase in their local traffic. Local politicians said "Hey commuters, please stick to the highways (even though we reduced the number of "free" lanes to make room for toll lanes)." Drivers said "Fuck off, you can't tell us what streets we can and cannot use." Then politicians said "Yeah, for now, but we're working on a way to legally dictate where you can and cannot drive."

[Chino]

This is going to sound crazy, but I'm not really joking:    when I'm living like Chino (I grew up in a farm town in CT, and live in a somewhat larger farm town now), I want to live like MoraWintersoul, and when I'm living like MoraWintersoul (I lived in Center City Philadelphia for a number of years) I miss living like Chino.

I loved the City - correction, I loved the City of PHILADELPHIA - and would move there in a heartbeat if my wife would buy in.  She might be Chino's sister; she wants nothing to do with the city.

My sister LOVES the city  She lived in Astoria for the last 18 months or so and recently moved back to CT (Middletown) for work. She misses everything about the city. I don't get it... Walk outside and there's minimal green and people as far as the eye can see. The cheapest beer you'll find is like $6 and there's never a moment of anything that so much as resembles silence. Crosswalks, panhandlers, street performers, knockoff vendors, mounties, garbage bags all over the sidewalks, tourism, toll bridges to and fro, chain after chain after chain, and hipsters meandering everywhere... No thanks. I'm good. If a personal version of hell was custom tailored to each person heading there, mine would start in a large city.   

Don't get me wrong. I love cities. When I spent spent a few nights by myself in Dublin last year, I had a blast. I'm always down/excited for a long weekend getaway in NYC or Boston. But those instances are a vacation where I'm not really "living", I'm just having a good time. If I was permanently residing in those places, I'd lose my fucking mind.

[Stadler]

Some of what you say is accurate, some not.   Living in the city, you find things.  I found a local bar - actually, I lived in two places, and in both places I had a local bar - where it's not "all city slickster".    The Locust Rendezvous on, go figure, Locust Street is wonderful; if they're not on special ($2), Miller High Life's are (or were) $3.25.  The Italian market on 9th Street has some of the best fresh produce and fresh meats you can buy.  I'd go into Capuccio's, and if I wasn't buying their home made sausage, I'd get a couple NY Strips, and the main butcher would pull out the big hunk of meat, ask me "how thick?" and cut it right in front of me, then trim it nicely and wrap it up.  Concerts? Forget about it.  I ran into Fish in a local Irish bar before his show at the TLA, and after seeing Chickenfoot at the same place, I did shots with Michael Anthony's roadie (though he was sort of a d***) and ran into Sammy in the alley behind.   

Having said that, it IS dirty, it IS sometimes loud, and as mean and cruel as this is going to sound, it made me very callous to some of the homeless.   You got to know after a while who was legit and who wasn't, and unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) there were more NOT legit than legit.   (One guy - and his girl/wife - would sit all grubby at the exit ramp of 95; then one day I was waiting for my daughter at dance class and was in a local bar next door - not as sketch as it sounds; I had to finish a contract for work and they had wifi - and lo and behold, guess who was there.  She's removing her nail polish to "go to work", and he was wearing an embroidered (read: $200 easy) Philadelphia Flyers hockey jersey. No thanks. 

[Chino]

Saw this pop up on Reddit... Transportation options in my state.