I used to commute from Santa Maria to Santa Barbara, which is a beautiful 70 minute drive but it quickly wore me down.
I called up the county car pool number and got set up with three other people to start a car pool and I can't say enough good things about that experience: it's very therapeutic, like having your daily support group. It also forces you to be efficient with your time because you always leave at a fixed time. Most employers and coworkers won't give you a hard time because you're doing the "right" thing.
On days I couldn't car pool (rare) I listened to books on tape. My favorite was "Tale of two cities."
I'm glad those days are over, though, now I have a 20 min bike ride along the Willamette.
Wait a second. This article pivots on a fulcrum of crap. I've read hundreds of articles that mistake correlation with causation, but never one so brazen as to straight up interchange the words:
"[Commuting] correlates with an increased risk of obesity, divorce, neck pain, stress, worry, and sleeplessness."
"Long commutes cause obesity, neck pain, loneliness, divorce, stress, and insomnia."
One of my first questions was whether some people with long commutes had them because they were 'B' or 'C' candidates with limited career options. If that's the cause of some of the long commutes, it'd explain many of the other factors nicely.
So you're arguing that obesity, neck pain, loneliness, divorce, stress, and insomnia cause long commutes? Or that some factor causes both? What might that be?
I'm suspicious of this sort of research for lots of reasons, but concerns about the direction of causality is pretty low on my list in this case.
I switched from a 45-50 minute commute in bad traffic and tons of construction to a job with a <10 minute commute. Despite it being less pay and more hours I stayed for many many years. Those first few months after the switch were amazingly different. Now my commute is less than 5 minutes and I still want to move closer! I don't understand how people survive some of the punishing commutes I hear about. Life is to short to hate your job, it's also to short to hate getting to and from it!
My wife is currently close enough to ride a bicycle to work. I commute to grad school ~30-45 minutes each way. When you're married you have to make certain sacrifices. I don't always enjoy it, but with a good audio book, I don't mind.
I hear you. I went from a 15 minute commute to a 4 minute commute as soon as my lease was over. I was recently considering moving even closer where I would walk 5 minutes to work. I would not drive 30 minutes to a job which paid me 50% more, and I would have to really consider one which paid me double.
Early in my career I had a job with a commute from a city suburb into a job at the heart of a major U.S. city.
When I first started that job the commute was ~45minutes to 1 hour each way. Over the years, as the city grew, the transit time started going up. Then all of a sudden, some sort of critical mass hit one year and the roads became absolutely jammed to the point that my commute was 2-3 hours each way.
I went through something like the 7 stages of grief, especially 6 or 7 months of intense "anger" then "bargaining" -- manifest as an endless trying of new routes. Even longer routes were considered more optimal if I was able to stay above 45mph for some percentage of the trip.
When I finally did get to work, I'd lock my self in my office for a couple hours, unable to get any work done, but decompressing from the commute. It killed my productivity.
The worst was the caged animal feeling. Most days I was bored out of my skull, the radio had nothing interesting to listen to, I had exhausted my music library, I started reading books on the way in. But eventually I started behaving like a prisoner stuck in solitary confinement so intense that I wasn't allowed to even stand for 6 hours a day.
The end point was not exactly stage 7 "Acceptance" but instead manifested in a Zen-like turning off of my brain while in transit. I literally could not recall a single thing along the route from my home to work. Sometimes I would arrive at work with a hot coffee in hand, no recollection of ever having picked one up.
In the end I switched jobs for one with a "mere" 1 hour commute (at highway speeds) and never looked back. It was revelatory. Immediately, accumulated stress started to drip away. Constant headaches turned into every-so-oftens, my memory started improving, my mood changed for the positive, my health started picking up.
Lots of people suggested I move in closer, or carpool, or some other method of changing things. But in the end, I didn't like any of the areas I could afford closer in, and nobody in my area carpooled to within a 30 minute walking distance to my employer.
I eventually left that job and have a 15-30 minute drive every day (depending on traffic) and wouldn't look back. I've had offers to go back to that original job at a significantly higher position than I hold now and turned them down flat (unless they had an office out my way I could work from).
I have to agree that my commute was literally killing me, and I advise lots of people not to get into a situation like that if they can help it.
Unfortunately I think this article only counts a commute if the person is driving. It may be refreshing to see the difference for people who walk, bike, or take public transit.
Personally, my bike commute makes me happier and healthier.
I either walk or take a tram (60 minutes on foot, 30 by the tram), and it's not good. I've got plenty of time to see how is this city ugly and how everything is getting only worse every year. Most of the time on the tram and walking to the stop is spent waiting at some crossing, making way to the cars (considered more important by the city), trams are old and almost falling apart, stops rather derelict, sidewalks taken as a parking lots. Well, eastern Europe at its best. Not very cheerful.
Yeah, for the commute I do semi regularly, driving (especially is peak hour) will leave me drained and feeling the effects in line with what the article is suggestion. Taking the train though lets me catch up on reading and is pretty much as good as sitting at home and reading for me as long as I miss the middle of peak hour.
I'm a lot happier since I stopped taking biking or public transit and started driving.
Of course it depends on your particular situation, but I live about three miles from the office so it's a fifteen-minute drive. If I bike, it's more like 45 minutes, I'm in constant danger of getting killed by idiot drivers, and there's a very big hill. If I catch public transport, it takes anywhere from half an hour upwards, it's filthy, often late, and I gotta share personal space with people I'd rather not share personal space with.
Nope, when you live three miles from work in a city with bad traffic, often-bad weather, and one very big hill, you're much happier if you're driving.
I agree with this completely. My bike commute makes up a large portion of the exercise that I get and it's always nice to kill two birds with one stone.
I had a 1-1.5 hour commute when I worked in Chicago years ago and after going through that for 3 years I swore to never do it again. Since then my commute has been a 5 minute drive or 15 minute walk and its greatly improved my quality of life.
I didn't like how much of my life was being eaten away by commuting, even though it was on the train and I would use the time to listen to podcasts, music, or play games. I'd also get less sleep than I like because I'd stay up late to make up for lost time and get up early to make it to work semi-on time.
I take the metra every day. It sucks that public transit didn't work for you, but I live in the suburbs and work downtown. I think taking the train to work is probably the best way to commute, even though its a 40/45 minute train ride each way (with about a 10 minute walk on each), depending on my mood I can do a lot of work, reading, or socializing.
This is a very timely article for me. The place that I work used to have an office about a 12 minute drive from my house. It was a temporary solution (that ended up lasting over a year) and we needed to find a more permanent location. It was somehow decided that cool companies are downtown, which would make it easier to recruit and retain cool people. Well, we moved about a month ago and my commute went down the tubes.
I now have three options: 1) drive for 35-60 minutes at a cost of $27-$34 per day ($16 for gas [my camping truck was never meant to be a commuter vehicle], $11 for parking, and a new $7 toll which I can opt out of for a more congested route). 2) Buy a car with better gas mileage, which would be the same duration, but cheaper. 3) ride the bus for $5 per day.
Now the thing is, I'm very lucky. It turns out that there is an express bus from my town straight downtown to a location close to my workplace. This sounded perfect. In practice, it has been punishing. The bus ride itself takes exactly one hour. Getting to the park and ride and walking to the office adds between 15-30 minutes depending on timing. So I have upwards of 2.5-3 hours of my day lost every single day.
I've tried coding on my MBA. I've tried podcasts and music. I've tried reading my Kindle. Nothing works. This article may cite questionable research, but I can tell you from personal experience that it is absolutely true.
I commute by foot 35 minutes each way. On those days where I have to drive (very, very rare), my level of stress when I arrive home is far greater than on those days when I walk. It's really dramatic. And, if I have to drive for several days in a row (like to a conference), I really start to feel physically crappy.
I know I'm lucky, but if you have the opportunity, even for less money, I could not recommend it more.
The article states that people prefer larger houses than a small 2 bedroom apartment closer to work.
I just moved in with my girlfriend, and we chose the small 2 bedroom apartment option, with a 20-minute commute by foot for me - it makes all the difference.
We'll probably choose a house when we have children, but for childless couples, I don't see why you'd need the space (I believe people tend to accumulate too much stuff - we had to throw away or sell a lot of things!)
My 40 minute driving commute was really getting on my nerves. I then discovered books on tape on my smartphone and now it's pretty tolerable. Having a transit commute would be better though because I could read books on programming topics. There are no books on tape where the subject matter is programming that I'm aware of. It's pretty obvious it wouldn't work very well anyway. Maybe "Coders at Work" or "Mythical Man Month" would work well on tape though, since they're written in a narrative style without a lot of diagrams or code.
What about technical podcasts? If you're into Java, I'd recomment the Javaposse. I am sure there is a podcast for your line of work/passion. For a non specialized IT-Podcast I like to listen to Buzz out loud. They produce about 30 minutes every workday.
Finding enough information-dense podcasts can be difficult, and programming books on tape may not exist at all, but my occasional long commutes got much more bearable after discovering that an iPhone can read technical books out loud with text-to-speech. Turn on VoiceOver in iBooks to do it. Many O'Reilly and Pragmatic Programmers books do rely on narrative, and you can always tackle the remaining code listings later.
My last job had a commute of one hour each way on public transit (bus). I didn't notice the commute until we had lay offs. I wasn't laid off, but left within 8 months.
Now I'm a 20 minute walk to work and 2 minutes from the gym. That might be the best part of the job, even in cold Canadian winters.
I wonder if walking commutes are qualitatively different. I have about a 25 minute walk to work, technically above average, but I don't find it particularly onerous, except around Christmas as I have to cross 5th avenue. I was a little surprised that 24 is the US average, but I think the year-and-a-half I spent doing Berkeley-to-Sunnyvale colored my perceptions.
I commute on the caltrain for 1 hour in each direction. However, I get online as soon as I get on the train and time seems to fly. I'm often amazed by how fast it feels.
I refuse to commute by car more than about 20 minutes each way. If I do have to commute I prefer a bus ride where I can at least get some dedicated reading time in.
I have an hour and a half commute each way.
I take the bus for half an hour and ride my bike for about an hour. (or if I feel lazy I'll just take the bus longer)
I feel much better than when I was driving but making a 30 minute commute.
Not only is the bus more interesting, it gives me time to think and read sometimes and even meet girls.
Plus the excercise really gives me a boost for a full day of programming.
I agree. The total time in a commute doesn't really mean as much as the method of transportation (for me at least). I find myself usually very exhausted after a long car ride (45min+), but usually pretty refreshed after a long bus ride (45min+) because I can zone out and just relax while riding a bus. I think it also plays into psychology a little bit -- when I drive, I feel like it's almost like a "me against the world" type of situation where I usually begin to dislike every other driver on the road. When I'm riding public transportation it feels more like I'm sharing time with other people or something. I don't really know... It just feels a lot more calm.
On the contrary. My commute is 45 minutes of biking along a river, and I love it. My metabolism is way up, and because of showers at work I can change into something less sweaty when I get in.
(Employers: showers are a cheap perk that pay off bigtime in the long run.)
I'm currently commuting from Oakland to Mountain View by car nearly daily, and it takes between 35 and 60 minutes door to door each way. I don't really mind (I enjoy driving, have a great car, and listen to music, CNBC/Bloomberg/BBC, audiobooks, etc., or make phone calls), but it would be nice to be able to drop by my office more spontaneously -- doing one roundtrip in a day is fine, but two would be horrible.
I'd prefer a 1h driving commute on interesting/high speed roads (i.e. interstates at off-peak hours, or something like HWY 17) to a 30 minute public transit commute or stop-and-go driving commute.
Interesting article that matches up with my long (driving) commute experiences. Driving well requires you to be alert and focused for that entire time, which is effort better allocated elsewhere.
I'm currently job-hunting, but recently turned down a promising interview simply because it was 50m away, with no traffic at all. I'll take a train for that same time with no regrets, but driving it? No thanks.
The reason for this is that people who like to commute don't like it at home so much, otherwise they wouldn't like to commute. They would divorce anyway and they seek out commutes (and overtime, evening meetings, dinners with clients etc) to minimize home time. People who like their family / home life will try to minimize commute and actually not commute at all. If you like your commute; analyze your relationship and find out (really digging deep and honest) why you like it; it's not a good thing for sure.
Not commuting enhances your life, gives you more time with your loved ones and time for your hobbies, while commuting, usually gives you nothing but waste. Yeah, you listen to your Spanish course; you'll learn Spanish from a good teacher in a few hours faster than months of sitting in your car.
Personally I don't understand people who commute more than 30 minutes, but that's just me. People who commute for over an hour simply have a problem with their life, goals and relationship.
Funny you mention this, because I read a popular book today "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", that claims that being conpletely responsive to a crying/fussy baby tends to be less about creating a nurturing parental relationship, and more about hiding from one's relationship with one's spouse.
I'm sure I can't be the only one who's not seriously bothered by commute. I value my time as much as the next guy, but when I'm stuck behind the wheel I listen to podcast or crank up some MP3s, and when I'm on a train I read.
[+] [-] zwieback|15 years ago|reply
I called up the county car pool number and got set up with three other people to start a car pool and I can't say enough good things about that experience: it's very therapeutic, like having your daily support group. It also forces you to be efficient with your time because you always leave at a fixed time. Most employers and coworkers won't give you a hard time because you're doing the "right" thing.
On days I couldn't car pool (rare) I listened to books on tape. My favorite was "Tale of two cities."
I'm glad those days are over, though, now I have a 20 min bike ride along the Willamette.
[+] [-] crikli|15 years ago|reply
"[Commuting] correlates with an increased risk of obesity, divorce, neck pain, stress, worry, and sleeplessness."
"Long commutes cause obesity, neck pain, loneliness, divorce, stress, and insomnia."
[+] [-] kwis|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|15 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] jancona|15 years ago|reply
I'm suspicious of this sort of research for lots of reasons, but concerns about the direction of causality is pretty low on my list in this case.
[+] [-] frankwiles|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thomasgerbe|15 years ago|reply
I have a 30-40 minute commute each way from the burbs to SF.
I end up reading interesting books, sketching ideas, or sometimes pop out the laptop to do some quick work.
The savings on rent by living in the 'burbs is a decent tradeoff for having more expendable income for my hobbies.
[+] [-] davidwparker|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rokhayakebe|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bane|15 years ago|reply
When I first started that job the commute was ~45minutes to 1 hour each way. Over the years, as the city grew, the transit time started going up. Then all of a sudden, some sort of critical mass hit one year and the roads became absolutely jammed to the point that my commute was 2-3 hours each way.
I went through something like the 7 stages of grief, especially 6 or 7 months of intense "anger" then "bargaining" -- manifest as an endless trying of new routes. Even longer routes were considered more optimal if I was able to stay above 45mph for some percentage of the trip.
When I finally did get to work, I'd lock my self in my office for a couple hours, unable to get any work done, but decompressing from the commute. It killed my productivity.
The worst was the caged animal feeling. Most days I was bored out of my skull, the radio had nothing interesting to listen to, I had exhausted my music library, I started reading books on the way in. But eventually I started behaving like a prisoner stuck in solitary confinement so intense that I wasn't allowed to even stand for 6 hours a day.
The end point was not exactly stage 7 "Acceptance" but instead manifested in a Zen-like turning off of my brain while in transit. I literally could not recall a single thing along the route from my home to work. Sometimes I would arrive at work with a hot coffee in hand, no recollection of ever having picked one up.
In the end I switched jobs for one with a "mere" 1 hour commute (at highway speeds) and never looked back. It was revelatory. Immediately, accumulated stress started to drip away. Constant headaches turned into every-so-oftens, my memory started improving, my mood changed for the positive, my health started picking up.
Lots of people suggested I move in closer, or carpool, or some other method of changing things. But in the end, I didn't like any of the areas I could afford closer in, and nobody in my area carpooled to within a 30 minute walking distance to my employer.
I eventually left that job and have a 15-30 minute drive every day (depending on traffic) and wouldn't look back. I've had offers to go back to that original job at a significantly higher position than I hold now and turned them down flat (unless they had an office out my way I could work from).
I have to agree that my commute was literally killing me, and I advise lots of people not to get into a situation like that if they can help it.
[+] [-] filiwickers|15 years ago|reply
Personally, my bike commute makes me happier and healthier.
[+] [-] thingie|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] robryan|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kmfrk|15 years ago|reply
Using the bus or train is not unequivocally good (nor bad).
[+] [-] hugh3|15 years ago|reply
Of course it depends on your particular situation, but I live about three miles from the office so it's a fifteen-minute drive. If I bike, it's more like 45 minutes, I'm in constant danger of getting killed by idiot drivers, and there's a very big hill. If I catch public transport, it takes anywhere from half an hour upwards, it's filthy, often late, and I gotta share personal space with people I'd rather not share personal space with.
Nope, when you live three miles from work in a city with bad traffic, often-bad weather, and one very big hill, you're much happier if you're driving.
[+] [-] mynameishere|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] foob|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Impossible|15 years ago|reply
I didn't like how much of my life was being eaten away by commuting, even though it was on the train and I would use the time to listen to podcasts, music, or play games. I'd also get less sleep than I like because I'd stay up late to make up for lost time and get up early to make it to work semi-on time.
[+] [-] chicagobob|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Todd|15 years ago|reply
I now have three options: 1) drive for 35-60 minutes at a cost of $27-$34 per day ($16 for gas [my camping truck was never meant to be a commuter vehicle], $11 for parking, and a new $7 toll which I can opt out of for a more congested route). 2) Buy a car with better gas mileage, which would be the same duration, but cheaper. 3) ride the bus for $5 per day.
Now the thing is, I'm very lucky. It turns out that there is an express bus from my town straight downtown to a location close to my workplace. This sounded perfect. In practice, it has been punishing. The bus ride itself takes exactly one hour. Getting to the park and ride and walking to the office adds between 15-30 minutes depending on timing. So I have upwards of 2.5-3 hours of my day lost every single day.
I've tried coding on my MBA. I've tried podcasts and music. I've tried reading my Kindle. Nothing works. This article may cite questionable research, but I can tell you from personal experience that it is absolutely true.
[+] [-] e40|15 years ago|reply
I know I'm lucky, but if you have the opportunity, even for less money, I could not recommend it more.
[+] [-] GFischer|15 years ago|reply
I just moved in with my girlfriend, and we chose the small 2 bedroom apartment option, with a 20-minute commute by foot for me - it makes all the difference.
We'll probably choose a house when we have children, but for childless couples, I don't see why you'd need the space (I believe people tend to accumulate too much stuff - we had to throw away or sell a lot of things!)
[+] [-] narrator|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] biafra|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ashearer|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ageektrapped|15 years ago|reply
Now I'm a 20 minute walk to work and 2 minutes from the gym. That might be the best part of the job, even in cold Canadian winters.
[+] [-] oddthink|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kapitalx|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ecspike|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] InclinedPlane|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TheRevoltingX|15 years ago|reply
I feel much better than when I was driving but making a 30 minute commute. Not only is the bus more interesting, it gives me time to think and read sometimes and even meet girls. Plus the excercise really gives me a boost for a full day of programming.
[+] [-] shantanubala|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chrismealy|15 years ago|reply
http://www.amacad.org/publications/spring2004/frank.pdf
[+] [-] lsb|15 years ago|reply
(Employers: showers are a cheap perk that pay off bigtime in the long run.)
[+] [-] rdl|15 years ago|reply
I'd prefer a 1h driving commute on interesting/high speed roads (i.e. interstates at off-peak hours, or something like HWY 17) to a 30 minute public transit commute or stop-and-go driving commute.
[+] [-] BenSS|15 years ago|reply
I'm currently job-hunting, but recently turned down a promising interview simply because it was 50m away, with no traffic at all. I'll take a train for that same time with no regrets, but driving it? No thanks.
[+] [-] tluyben2|15 years ago|reply
Not commuting enhances your life, gives you more time with your loved ones and time for your hobbies, while commuting, usually gives you nothing but waste. Yeah, you listen to your Spanish course; you'll learn Spanish from a good teacher in a few hours faster than months of sitting in your car.
Personally I don't understand people who commute more than 30 minutes, but that's just me. People who commute for over an hour simply have a problem with their life, goals and relationship.
[+] [-] lurker19|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Urgo|15 years ago|reply
I work from home. :)
[+] [-] Vivtek|15 years ago|reply
So do I, since 1996, and they couldn't drag me back into commuting at gunpoint.
[+] [-] amyshelton|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sans-serif|15 years ago|reply