Commute Time and Distance

[2Poor_sh2Furious]

Ok OPPO,

I asked this question 2 years ago when I started looking into buying a house. How far do you commute, how long does it take?

Now, I had none but I ended up with a 18 mile 30min commute which is actually pretty scenic and made way better by getting my Miata. Problem is, I'm interviewing for a job that's 73 miles away but all highway so like 1hr without traffic (traffic can vary a LOT seasonally).

The only reason I'm considering this job is because of covid and it's effect on wfh. I've been wfh probably 80% since this started and I know the engineers at the potential job have been doing that or even more. So all 4 people I interviewed with have said significant wfh doesn't seem like a big deal to them and they don't see this situation going away for a long time (duh), but I will definitely need to go in occasionally, sometimes multiple days in a row. They've all said I should be able to come in at flexible times to avoid traffic most time too. However, they obviously can't guarantee how much office work they'll need in the future.

I'm not willing to move until the market calms down a bit, and I only have like 18 months in my house so far. But I'd consider it in another 18 months...

[A Former User]

5 miles, 10 minutes by car, 22 minutes by e-assist bicycle.

...the walk from my car to my desk takes another 5 minutes. (Bicycle parking is closer, but then there's time spent locking up the bicycle, so that's a wash.)

[benjrblant]

when i rented, i picked a spot based solely on my bike commute. it used to be ~45 mins and 13mi each way which was a fantastic bike ride.
currently my commute is 20mi and 30mins of driving each way. it's quite consistent. i regretfully can't spend 1.5hrs biking this every day.

[CarsOfFortLangley]

How long is my drive to work? 40 minutes, light traffic. Hour and a half home, heavier traffic. These days? 3 minutes and 10 meters from my bedroom to my desk.

[onlytwowheels]

My current commute is 4 miles, in under ten minutes.

Years ago I had a 53 mile commute that was a considerable burden to me mentally and physically. My work day was typically 13.5 hours per day. The very early commute in usually took about an hour, the return home was typically 1.5 hours, but weather and traffic accidents could easily double that. I hated every minute of it and swore to myself that I would never put myself through that again.

[Alfalfa]

Just under 4 miles, about 10 minutes. I also only make it 3 days a week.

[beefchips]

Before the WFH-apocalypse I was commuting 30 mins to the office and 1:15 home. Early mornings are a bitch and afternoon traffic's a bitch. I told myself it was worth it cause of the good salary but... I do NOT miss it even one little bit.

That said, you can maybe check google's predicted drive times using the "arrive-by" option, say you want to get in the office at e.g. 9am

[2Poor_sh2Furious]

@beefchips wonder how often those are updated cuz they could be skewed by recent metrics but yeah

[TheDutchTexan]

@poor_sh my advice? Don't do it. As much as I love driving commuting is death. It is the single most time and money wasting thing in the world. Especially evident now that I work out of the house because the office is closed due to COVID measures. I hate being on the road with other people when they go to work late or can't wait to get home. Everyone, including myself, turns into an asshole. I drive about 45 minutes to and 1:15 from. The great news we got in 2020 is that we will be moving the office location in 2021. The bad news? It might be further away which will eat away more personal time. Definitely going to angle for more work at home time regardless. I get my stuff done, so there really isn't a reason for me to come into the office anymore. I love being able to shut off the work computer and slide behind the personal one. Actually cook dinner, which I do not want to do when I come back from work. I hate cooking then, now it's therapeutic. Another thing with an increased distance? The chance you run into an accident, completely screwing up your commute. Heck, snowpocalypse meant a 3 hour commute for me. 3 hours... No thanks. Unless you are going to be making a boatload more money stick to shorter commute times if you have a choice.

[pip bip]

@poor_sh for me 2km or about 5 minutes driving or 25 minutes walking

[Mark Tucker]

Going to work: 10 miles straight through town, 30 minutes, give or take a bus or two.

Coming home: it's faster to go out of the way and grab the freeway, so it's 13 miles. Also 30 minutes, unless someone does something stupid.

Could be worse.

[2Poor_sh2Furious]

@onlytwowheels yeah that's what I'm worried about, having to choose between if they need me to commute more vs moving or quitting which would both be sooner than would look good financially or career wise.

[kiltedpadre]

I had an hour highway commute for awhile. It’d need to be an amazing job to consider that again. That is without the possibility of WFH. If an employer could guarantee WFH at least a few days a week was an option even after businesses start going back to normal work days I might consider it.
My current commute is about 20min, but I have to leave 40 minutes ahead because if not the gates can get terribly backed up. I’d rather sit in the conference room sipping my coffee than inching forward in a backed up gate line.

[Wacko]

@poor_sh
I work 100kms from my house, and it takes me about 1 hour and 5 minutes in summer and 5 to 15 more in winter. Roads where icy today. On a good day I have my cruise control at 110 kmh or 70 mph.
Winter driving is way more stressful here since we have long cold snowy winters and it’s dark on the drive there and back

[just-a-scratch]

My current situation is no commute. I've been told this will be permanent. When COVID protocols are no longer necessary/standard, I'll probably commute 1-2 days/week, 10 miles each way, 30 minutes to get there, 45-60 to get home. My work necessitates that I be able to see stuff on site once in a while. Since I have a lot of projects, I'll probably be going in a couple times a week.

My longest commute was 60 miles each way. 2-3 hours a day on the road I did not like. That was too much, even when carpooling. I did that job for a year, then found another closer to where I wanted to live.

If I want to count the most extreme, I spent a summer working 200 miles from home. I would stay with family near work Sun-Thur nights and be home on the weekends. That was never intended to be permanent though. It was a 3-month contract from the outset.

[Regulus]

Traffic and the frequency are everything. I've been fully remote for 3 years now, but my teammates are in an office about 2 hours and 120 miles away. Before the pandemic, I would try to meet with them about once or twice a month, and that wasn't a hassle at all, but it was a reverse commute both directions and I timed the drives around rush hours.

If there's any chance of getting stuck in traffic, hard pass.

[VincentMalamute]

When I was working, it was usually three different hospitals. I picked a house in the middle so 10-15 miles, 20-30 minutes from any of them.

I can't imagine dealing with an hour commute even if it was usually WFH. Maybe if it was one day every few weeks.

[2Poor_sh2Furious]

@thedutchtexan well yeah if I can do 80% wfh and mostly not need to during snow storms or whatever that solves a lot of issues. Also I might be able to do alternative schedule that takes me out of rush hour.

How much of a raise would you need to double your commute?

[pos_camaro]

@poor_sh My commute is about 20 miles/40 minutes one way but these days I only do it once a week. I'm loving the WFH.

[aperson]

57 miles, about an 1 hour and ten minuets depending on how much of a buffoon i feel like being.

[2Poor_sh2Furious]

@kiltedpadre yeah that's what I'm angling for, commuting rarely vs wfh. Not so sure the job is AMAZING but I'm unhappy and it might be engaging again and come with a 20%-30% raise

[2Poor_sh2Furious]

@wacko oof. I do have cruise on both cars lol

[Snuze]

I commute 16 miles each way. Pre-COVID it sucked because the route is just not ideal, majority is on a 2 lane road with n shoulders, so if everyone drives reasonably it could be about 30 minutes, but if there's an accident or hiccup or anything really, it becomes an hour plus. But now in the COVID times it's pretty much always sub-30 minutes. For the DC area that's really not bad.

[2Poor_sh2Furious]

@just-a-scratch jeez. But yeah my job should only require me to see things in person every once in a while

[chan]

In my company's quest for cheaper real estate, my commute improved by 50% (from 45 to < 20) due to the reverse traffic.

Now I'm stuck WFH and I've learnt that I really needed that drive to wind down after a day at work.