What does your commute look like?

[Toolulu22]

For fourteen years I had a 15 minute commute to the campus where I worked (8 miles).

Then I took a job in Brooklyn, which is about 50 miles from me. 11 minutes to the train, 1 hour to Jamaica Station, transfer to Atlantic Terminal (another 20 minutes), and then the B or Q subway to Church St. (maybe 15 minutes). Then a 15 minute walk to work. With the waiting time, it was about 2 hours and 15 to 30 minutes each way- barring no problems. Barring no problems..... Yeah, if you know anything about the LIRR or NYC Metro you know what that means.

Soo...after a year of that, I took a job closer to home. My commute is now 15-20 minutes each way. There are things I do not love about my job, but I do love the commute. A year of that 5 hours lost to commuting per day was about all I could take.

Oh, driving was about the same time commute or longer in the afternoon (could be shorter in the morning). BUT, I didn’t want to put 500 miles per week on my car.

 

[morgan98]

I live in Atlanta and home is 22 miles from the office. I generally work from home once a week and I have been trying for two. I also do some traveling throughout the Southeast which is a nice break from the daily grind.

Days I am in the office are long days. If I leave before 6:30am, I can be at my office by about 7:00 am. If I leave the office at 6:30 or slightly after, I can be in my drive way by 7:05 or 7:10. My job does require some OT and I try to have a shorter day once a week. If I come in on a Friday, for example, I leave by 2pm to beat the crowds.

 

[Kae]

about 5 mins.

Kae

 

[Kitty 34]

That pic could easily be my oldest son's commute to downtown Detroit every day.

 

[scrhsa]

When I was working I had about a 10-15 minute drive. I got to drive over the bay and down past some shrimp boats moored. Depending on the time of day and season of the year I would see the boats peppered across the bay doing their thing. It was a wonderful drive. But I still get to see it because I've got to go that way getting into town.

 

[ronandannette]

To my office it's 15 minutes in the morning and about twice that in the evening due to the traffic patterns being different - not bad at all. I work in the field lots of days though and getting to some of our job sites can take 90 minutes in traffic. I try hard not to schedule my meetings first thing or last thing of the day but it can't always be helped.

 

[SteveH]

I have a grueling 8 minute commute, on a bad day it might be 10 minutes

 

[disneychrista]

My phone regularly tells me it is a 5 - 8 minute drive to "work."

This is actually double what it was at my last employer.

 

[tvguy]

Normally 15 minutes to go 13 miles.
When you have to be at work at 3 am, traffic isn't an issue.
When you live in California where they do most of the roadwork between 10 pm and 5 am, construction can be an issue. That can add 5 minutes.
When there are 5 traffic lights between your exit and your office, on timers, not sensors, and each is red for 1 minute, that can add 5 minutes.
So worst case, normally 25 minutes.
I did get caught with a complete freeway closure last year, sat in one spot for 30 minutes, that day my commute was 45 minutes.

 

[DietCoke18]

15 minutes

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Roughly 25 minutes from my door to the patient floor, but at least 10 of those minutes involve me paying the parking lot and trekking through the hospital.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I am another whose commute is less about distance than it is traffic.

Easily 60-90 mins each way. And often very frustrating.

 

[wilbret]

For years, I lived 2.6 miles from the office in the burbs, where I could go home for lunch. Then, my company lost their mind and moved into the city, after 40 years in that location, making the commute 26 miles thru the worst traffic in the country (Atlanta). In Atlanta, we don't talk about distance, but about duration. 26 miles is 45 minutes on a perfect day, 1 hour on a good day, but 75-90 minutes most days, 2 hours some days, and if it rains or snows, it can be 5 hours or 2 days. Public school out of the question there, and housing is high, so people with families or starting families move to the burbs. (where the office was for 40 years before moving) Zero work from home opportunity, and generally zero work life balance when 3-4 hours of your day is sitting in a car. The company couldn't and still can't figure out why they have 1000% turnover.

I changed jobs about a year ago, to a company that prides itself in work/life balance, and offers a generous work from home opportunity. The commute is 20 miles, but a>I only do it a couple times per week b>the commute is only 30 minutes most days, thanks to being north of the bad traffic. I have some recent concerns about changes within the company. Fingers crossed.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

My commute is just going up the stairs. I am very fortunate to be able to work from home. The other day I had to go in for a meeting (first time in over a year) and the meeting was about an hour away. I don't know how I could ever go back to an office job.

 

[KBoopaloo]

I am 12 miles from work but driving is not really an option because of parking costs. My dad is retired and also acts as my dogsitter (thank goodness for him!) so most days I drive to my parents with the dog, my dad drops me off at the train station, I get on one train and then switch to another line and then walk about 6-8 minutes. On the way home, I do that same walk back to the train station, get on one train, switch to another line, then get a bus that takes me near my parents' house where I walk about 2 minutes, pick up the dog and my car and drive home.

This commute CAN take just about 1 hour and 10 minutes but that has happened probably less than 10 times in the last 2.5 years. It used to take about 1.5 hours but lately usually takes an hour and 45 minutes but it can take longer. On the way home if I encounter any delays on the first part of my commute like leaving work a few minutes later or a train delay on my first leg, I will miss the best bus for me and end up having to wait an extra 35 minutes so my evening commute is the one consistently takes longer. I work until 5:30 and get home at 7:30 or 7:45 most nights.

I'd estimate that any work anxiety I have is probably 65-75% actually commute related anxiety because the trains and buses are so unreliable. I was on vacation last week and kept saying the best part was not the trip itself but not having to ride the MBTA for an entire week.

 

[emmybee]

I'm not far from work, something like 5 miles. It would take more time than I am willing to spend on highway traffic, so I mosey down city streets. It takes between 20-30 minutes. I am respectful of neighborhoods, so I observe 25mph speed limits and keep an eye out for bikes and kids. I am very lucky because many of my coworkers have to endure highway hell for far longer than that.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

My current commute is 1 1/2 miles. I can do it in 6 minutes if I hit both lights green. If not, it takes more like 8 minutes. We're moving to a townhouse at the end of June. It's 3.7 miles from the school where I work. I'm thinking it will take 15-20 minutes, depending on how I hit the (many) lights.

 

[starry_solo]

It used to be 15 minutes but now its 45-55 minutes

 

[FlightlessDuck]

4 miles. About 10 minutes at 6:45 in the morning and 15 minutes at 4 in the afternoon.

 

[LovesTimone]

I'm retired, so no commute for me... not unless you count me walking down the hall to my sewing room... to work on a project...