BootsnAll Travel Community

How long does it take you to get to/from work each day?

How do you get there (drive self, carpool, bus, bike, etc.)?

I've been offered a job a 40 minute drive away. Wondering how far other booties go for work...

Door to door takes me about 45 minutes by express bus. I have commuted at long as 90 minutes each way and that SUCKED.

Right now, it takes me 15-40 minutes each way by bus. Usually about 20 in the morning, since I transfer from bus to train, and the train always leaves within a couple minutes. The wide spread is in the afternoon, when I transfer from train to bus, meaning that the connection can be long or short.

In summer I will bike. I haven't biked from my current home, but based on previous experience, I figure that will take about a half hour.

I can't stand having to drive in the morning, and a 45 minute commute by car would drive me mad. I had a summer job once that was a 30 minute drive, and that was awful enough. I've commuted a fairly consistent 45 minutes by bus, but those were single bus rides, so what I was actually doing (reading, listening to music, whatever) wasn't all that different from what I'd be doing at home, and I could use it as wind down time.

For a couple years, when I was in university, I was doing a 30 minute walk in winter or 8 minute bike in summer. That was my best commute.

To get to college it takes nearly an hour by bus. But only because it is a "school bus" and my stop is the first. If I go by car its only a 20 minute ride. It also takes me 30 minutes to walk to the bus or 3 minutes by car.

To get to work it is a 40 minute commute. Luckily my aunt does all the driving. Since we work together. If I had to do that trip via public transportation it would take about 2 hours.

If I get the absolute best (which face it, the subways are never running at their absolute best!), it can take 25-30 minutes! But usually, it's more like 35-45 minutes.

I read a book during my commute. I read a lot. I'm a librarian!

I used to commute 90 minutes each way. That was awful and I'll never do it again. Now it's 10 minutes. Much better.

Keppie...is that 40 minutes in non-commute traffic, or 40 minutes normal time? I think you live up in the Sacramento area and I know traffic up there sucks! 40 minutes in a car is much different, IMO, than 40 minutes on public transportation. But 40 might be more the norm up in your neck of the woods. (is there public transportation?)

I commuted about 30 minutes each way driving for a few years (it was a 10 mile drive)...my blood pressure went through the roof, I was not happy. My current commute is about 20-25 minutes each way, on the bus. And although there are days when I am squished on, it is way better.

I wouldn't do the driving again if I could avoid it.

quote:

Originally posted by anniebanannie:
Keppie...is that 40 minutes in non-commute traffic, or 40 minutes normal time? I think you live up in the Sacramento area and I know traffic up there sucks! 40 minutes in a car is much different, IMO, than 40 minutes on public transportation. But 40 might be more the norm up in your neck of the woods. (is there public transportation?)

40 minutes would probably be about an average day. It could be anywhere from 30-60 minutes, really depending on traffic. The job's in Yolo county, so one little accident on the causeway and I'm screwed. Sacramento traffic does suck. Especially in the summer when cars overheat and the air is brown. Oh, yuck.

As for public transit, it is possible in theory, but it would probably take two hours each way. It would require walking half a mile to a bus stop, taking a bus, light rail, an inter-city bus, then one more bus. And I don't know how often any of those buses runs- my guess is not very often. No one takes the bus in the 'burbs where I'm living right now because they're so infrequent and don't go anywhere you need to go. If only there was good public transit, I'd be first in line...

Oh, and about commutes out here, 30-40 minutes of driving is pretty standard. I really don't know anyone with a commute less than 20-30 minutes (by car, since there really aren't many other options here...) And I do know people who commute all the way to the Bay every day. That would be awful.

20 minutes cycling (if it's not windy).

30 mins total to drive, park, and walk a few few blocks to the building. I drive through Baltimore's sketchy west-side where many episodes of the TV show The Wire are based. Most take the beltway.

Soon I am moving downtown so it will be a 15 minute bike ride! So excited!

My commute is about 10miles.

By car, it takes me ~15-20min in the morning and ~30min in the evening - all surface streets. I love it. (Before the recent introduction of a new surface street, my commute was 45min-1hr each way - for years. It's certainly doable, but it does add to the stress and cut down on time available for other things.)

I usually drive myself, but occasionally carpool with a coworker. Public transit is not a realistic option in my neck of the woods.

I have to drive around the city in the normal course of my job -- just getting there, depending on 'where' that is for the day, can take anywhere from 20 -30 minutes.

I don't mind at all. I love to drive! I like listening to music, or NPR, or a book on tape. I bring along my coffee, my little morning snack. If the traffic is snarky, I'll look at my planner and make some notes.

If I had to stay in the same place all day long, I think that I might go insane. Getting into the car is very much like taking a little break in the middle of the day. It can be quiet, noisy, calming, or engaging, depending on what my radio might do.

I hate commuting so I moved closer to my job. I walked 6 blocks so it took about 5 or 10 minutes at a strolling pace. But I quit that job last year so I could travel. Now I travel for my job so I guess my commute is the time it takes to get to the airport.....about a 10 minute drive.

I do about 50 minutes in the morning and 40 in the afternoon -- but that includes a 10 minute walk from the parking lot to my office. I can also take the Metro, which is about 60 minutes each way.

Not too bad for LA, especially since my time in gridlock is usually very minimal.

Keppie - I used to live in Yolo Co. and agree on the weirdness that is Sacto traffic. What amazes me, though, is the number of people who commute to the Bay Area from Vacaville and beyond. I had to do this for about three months and it was brutal. Yet from appearances, tons of people were doing it. Must be the housing prices. But still. Worst. Commute. Ever.

5 min.

I just got a job in Santa Monica and I've been crashing at my parents place (just returned from a 7 month euro-trip) which was a whopping 70 minutes away!!! It has been horrible waking up at the ass-crack of dawn and then grinding out LA traffic (though the way back home is way worse). However, I'm moving to Santa Monica on Saturday, only three blocks away! Woohoo, 100 second commute!

Well I live in Florida and we have two things to contend with-all of the snowbirds from up north come down in the winter and there is NO reliable public transportation. In the winter my commute goes up about 15 minutes-which means my drive is about 35 minutes total. In the summer, it takes me about 20 minutes. If I were to take a bus, it would take over 2 hours. Craziness.

quote:

Originally posted by seraphim:
20 minutes cycling (if it's not windy).

I biked 8km each way to work when I lived in Leiden. Usually about 20 mins, but could be 40+ mins if the winds were howling. Thank goodness for railings on the bridges or I could've ended up in the canal a few times. The traffic lights played a role too. Lots of lights to contend with on the bike paths.

But it was my best commute ever - not my shortest, but by far the best. Thankfully I've never had a long commute - I've averaged about 20 mins or less my whole life. .

quote:

Originally posted by krisk:
my drive is about 35 minutes total. In the summer, it takes me about 20 minutes. If I were to take a bus, it would take over 2 hours.

I'll never forget the day I thought it would be faster to drive to Den Haag at morning rush. It took over an hour with the horrible traffic & parking. In comparison, walking from my house to the train, riding the train, and walking to my destination was a reliable 30 minutes flat.

Don't even get me started on this.
Christmas job at the mall, 5 minutes to get home at 11pm.
Regular other jobs, anywhere from 30minutes to 1.5+ hours. It varies by day. Depends if anyone needs to get airlifted via helicopter to the hospital or there's just a half a dozen fender benders blocking a lane or two, and how much construction during the day.

My last office job however, a lot of jobs have hours from 7-3/4 to schedule around the traffic. So it took me about 25 minutes, not bad. If I worked overtime that 25 minutes could turn to 50 minutes if I went during peak. How about them apples?
Makes me just want to work temp jobs where I can find any job closer to me.

Living in the top 5 accident/deadly road cities in the last who knows how many years has taken a toll on me, I want a change.

Capt Steve is from my neck of the woods when I complain about traffic. I couldn't even get to the fast food or pizza place 2 "blocks" away in under 20 minutes in that area. My favorite was about an hour or longer drive once. But back then the toll road was new and empty, so it felt like a cross country trip everyday. It's expensive and wears the car out though(SR417).
And Kirsk is in my recent area. I wouldn't mind taking PSTA if I worked along one of the lines. But connections never made it work out. And forget standing outside during the rainy season.

quote:

Capt Steve is from my neck of the woods when I complain about traffic.

well, i'm not really from here, just here for a month for work. the traffic does seem insane, though mostly I'm just stuck in this hotel on at the training center, less than five minutes away, so i avoid most of the mess here.

Can't wait to get back to DC & NY and have decent public transport again.