

How long is your commute? - buzzlightyear

I work for a start-up as a developer and travel 32 miles to work each day - with traffic this takes me 50-60 minutes a day.
Everyone I work with thinks this is weird.
What about the rest of you?
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smt88
0 min (work remotely).

Why don't you work remotely at least a few days a week? The average cost/mile
of operating a car is something like $0.50, so you're spending ~$30/day
driving.

If you pay a tax rate of 30%, your salary is decreased by ~$9,700, just
because you commute that far every day.

Then you have to factor in losing 2 hours of your life every day sitting in a
car, the health risks of commuting[1], and your impact on the environment. You
could also sleep an extra 2 hours in the morning!

If you have an open office plan, you probably also take a hit to productivity
because you're not alone[2].

1\.
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3261090/](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3261090/)

2\. [http://www.fastcompany.com/3019758/dialed/offices-for-all-
wh...](http://www.fastcompany.com/3019758/dialed/offices-for-all-why-open-
office-layouts-are-bad-for-employees-bosses-and-productivity)

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FlopV
I work remote. It sounds like you could swing working remotely a few days a
week. Honestly I get a lot more done remote than when I'd go to the office.
Less distractions, more productivity, less stress from that drive.

Would that be something you want to do? If you have a good reputation at your
company I'm sure they'd be open to the discussion.

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iamjoday
I live 3 miles from office. It takes anywhere from 7-10 minutes to get to
work.

I once used to commute about 40 miles one way, used to take 70-90 minutes one
way. It was very tiring and used to take all my energy end of the day...

I have since kept, 5 miles or 15 minute principle for my commute.

With my free time I can work on projects like,
[http://joday.com](http://joday.com)

BTW, The average travel time to work in the United States is 25.4 minutes,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau. [http://project.wnyc.org/commute-times-
us/embed.html](http://project.wnyc.org/commute-times-us/embed.html)

But if you are in bay area, 32 miles can take upto an hour or more depending
upon which direction you are flowing... like living in east bay and commuting
to peninsula is easy hour one way.

Nash, [http://joday.com](http://joday.com)

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codegeek
Used to be 2.5 hours _one way_ but as of tomorrow, it will be zero. I quit my
job, woohoo!!!!

~~~
mlwarren
Any interesting plans for the future?

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codegeek
yes quite a lot actually. WOrk on my bootstrapped business from home :) and
spend time with kids. Love that no more 5-6 hours round trip commute.

~~~
mlwarren
Sounds awesome, I wish you well!

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pathy
It currently takes me around 35-40 minutes by public transport to get to work.

Luckily It is just one buss stop then the same subway line all the way, so at
least it is reasonably hassle free commuting.

I would prefer a shorter commute but it is not too bad.

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GregBuchholz
Maybe this should be a poll? Anyway, my commute is about 11 or 12 minutes one
way.

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dirktheman
47 miles, which will take me about 75 minutes. One way, including a bike ride
to the train station, the train ride, and the metro ride to my work. I get
about 50 minutes working time during the train ride, and it's the most
productive time of my entire day.

I do work 4 days a week, 1 of those telecommuting. So I only commute to the
office 3 times a week, which is totally OK. I also religiously leave office at
4.30PM so that I can have dinner with my family. Any remaining work I can do
in the evening, but those occasions are pretty rare.

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harnhua
50 minutes each way on the train + 10 minutes by bus, in Singapore. Hence,
50-60 minutes each way is normal to me.

I'm guessing that you drive, and have to focus on traffic, but do you listen
to audiobooks and stuff along the way?

Crowded trains aside, I try to make use of the commute time as much as
possible - reading, emailing, etc. If there's a comfortable sling of some sort
where I can strap my laptop to and work in the train, I'd buy that in a flash!

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mlwarren
When I work remotely, 0 minutes. When I drive 20-60 mins one way depending on
traffic.

I'll be moving to a smaller town farther away from work soon and my drive
commute will be 35-40 minutes. A little longer on average but not as variable
due to traffic. Hopefully it'll allow me to plan evenings better on in-office
days.

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csorrell
I'm able to work remotely now, but in the past my commutes were about 30
minutes each way. I think 30 minutes is reasonable, and I never minded it.

At one time I had a job where I was commuting 1.5 hours each way, but that
didn't last long. That drive really wore me down and had me completely burned
out after a few months.

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iSloth
Currently about 10min each way by car, however our start and finish times are
about 1 hour before most other companies, which means we miss rush hour
otherwise this would be 30-40min.

Even people that don't like early mornings seem to enjoy the earlier start as
an extra hour after work can be very useful!

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invaliddata
I'd love to live within a few miles from work where I could reasonably bike or
walk. However I don't have a few million dollars sitting around to buy a house
here. I'd assume this situation is common in this area (bay area), and people
live as close as they can afford to.

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marsvskittens
50-60 minute commutes are very common among my coworkers. My boss commutes
over an hour _each way_.

Long commutes make me miserable, so I decided to live closer to work than most
of my colleagues. It's a manageable 10 minutes by car. It would be ~30 minutes
by bike, but this part of NJ is unbikeable.

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matt_s
35 minutes on dry roads, one way.

If it is snow and ice time then that could be double. Yesterday it was -9F
when I left for work but the roads were dry so it was all good.

I can and do work remote at least 1 day a week or more. I love the flexibility
I have, but the job is boring as all get out.

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sighype
2.5 hours, round trip, car+train+walking (1/2 mile one way walking.) Most of
the train ride is productive, but I hate walking when there's snow and ice.
The summer is awesome though.

I try for remote if I can get it, but can live without it.

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sondring
47 miles one way. I time my commute to miss the bulk of traffic and on average
it takes me 60 minutes. I also WFH 1-2 times per week and have a carpool
partner.

I'm in Silicon Valley and my commute is on the upper range of normal.

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scmoore
I live about a mile from work, so:

20 minutes on foot

5 minutes by bike

5 minutes by car

I'd say I walk about 90% of the time. I don't think your commute is unusual
for the US, which is where I am, but I'd definitely be unhappy with it.

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marssaxman
That sounds awful. I would not be able to sustain that for very long without
becoming exhausted and depressed. 30 minutes is about as long a commute as I
can stand.

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ekr
12 minutes by bike, 40 min by bus at rush hour (yeah that's a case of terribly
inefficient public transportation, an tge reason why 99% of the time i cycle).

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stevenspasbo
I drive about 25 miles each way, I don't really mind. I have a reverse commute
so traffic isn't bad, and I listen to NPR on the drive.

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eswat
I freelance. I can’t be productive at all working from home, so I just work at
coffeeshops, anywhere from a 1-minute walk or a 20-minute bus ride.

~~~
mrfusion
Do you alternate coffee shops? Any tips for working at coffee shops? Have you
considered coworking?

~~~
eswat
Yeah I alternate. There’s about six within a 10-minute walking distance of my
house, so if I feel I’m not really getting any work done I’ll just move onto
the next or come home for a quick nap.

Working at these places is not for everyone, specifically if you really prefer
a quiet environment and without music, even your own. I used to always wear
noise-cancellation headphones while working here but now I just use normal-
type earbuds and can tune out the background noise without much trouble. The
seating is not ergonomic; even if you do the standing desk thing and work at a
bar-height table, your neck is still going to be at a position that works
against you. So to offset the bad posture you’re going to develop at these
places, it’s important to fix that in your off-time (strength training, yoga,
massage therapy, etc.). Also keep security in mind: tether when you can, use a
VPN if you have to use someone else’s wifi, figure out what you’re going to do
before stepping into a coffeshop to work so you can seat yourself accordingly
(if you’re dealing with sensitive documents you might get a bit anxious if you
work with them with the entire cafe being able to view your screen).

I’ve done coworking before but I haven’t found the spaces in my city to be
more than “just a place to work” for me. If I’m going to be going to one I
want to have a support network as well, but the coworking spaces here cater to
businesses and people I can’t really relate to. You also lose random events
like running into a client who just needs a break or a student asking
questions about the stickers on your laptop.

Hope that helps.

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crazypyro
10 minutes without weather/traffic. 15-20 average. 2 hours minimum when it
ices.

(Fucking bridges and people don't work well together with ice, I guess)

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brudgers
If you're in the US, no it's not weird. If there are valid reasons for not
relocating it's not even unreasonable.

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iisbum
About 20 miles each way, about 40-50 minutes a day.

Also have the option to work from home, which I do 2-3 days a week.

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hackerboos
4.6 miles. Takes about 20 minutes on public transport (bus) which can be very
unreliable in my city.

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timjahn
If I go into the office, 45-50 minutes door to door by walking/L or by biking.

If I work remotely, 0 minutes.

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smeyer
I walk about 30 minutes each way. It's about 10 minutes by car (cab or uber in
my case).

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rtcoms
My office is just 0.5 km from my home. It takes only 5 minutes on foot

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laurenproctor
12 minute walk in NYC, 8 minutes door to door if I hustle.

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shiftpgdn
30 minutes to 1 hour there and 1-2+ hours home. 13 miles.

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Jeremy1026
13 miles, about 20 minutes or so depending on city traffic.

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laurisb
60 miles roundtrip in 2 hours by car each day.

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monroepe
45 minutes each way by public transit.

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lazythrowaway
Hour and a half bus ride each way, NYC.

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akbaralis
5 minutes walk

10 minutes by car

Winter (during snow): 20 minutes by car

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GotAnyMegadeth
If I ride my bike 30 - 35 mins

If I drive 20 - 60 mins

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leesalminen
8 mins. car, 20 mins bus/walk

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geldedus
distance irrelevant in miles or km. around 50-60 minutes by two commuter
trains and a tram (I live in Paris Area)

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ugisozols
5min max if it's a slow walk.

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karaujo
1,5 hour - walking, train, subway

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kalagan
about 45mn one way in the crowded Tokyo train.

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matthewmcg
9 minutes by bike 25 minutes walking 20 minutes by car

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mod
Those are interesting numbers.

I'd virtually never opt for the car (just in bad weather, I guess).

