Lying about your commute

[Sal Ammoniac]

Has anybody else noticed this? I mean, that people routinely lie about how long their commute is? Yesterday, for instance, I was talking to a colleague who lives in the suburbs of Boston, and whose husband works in Rhode Island. How long a commute? "45 minutes," she says. Now, granted, if you were to go at 3:00 in the morning and speed a little, you could probably do it in 45 minutes. This is a typical response, I find, to the subject -- people take the absolute best-case scenario, shave 10% off, and represent it as their usual commuting time.

Drives me nuts, and I think they're lying to themselves as much as they're lying to me.

[Winnie]

I've noticed this, too, and I'm not sure the incentive for doing it. I live in the DC area where commutes are notoriously long. Someone I know was thinking of moving to Front Royal, which is an ungodly long distance from DC or even the immediate suburbs but remarkably cheaper. Another co-worker said "oh, but if you leave your house at 7:00 you should have no trouble getting in by 7:45 or 8, that's how long it takes me". What a crock! I couldn't get from Front Royal to DC in 45 minutes to an hour if it was like you said, 3 in the morning and no one else was on the road and the cops were on a donut break.

Maybe they don't want people to know how absolutely crazy they are for living out in the sticks so they can pay $40,000 less for a house but add on 45 minutes to the existing commute time.

[Caricci]

Oh, I do that all the time with my IL's. We moved away from NYC/LI to RI and the lifestyle is easier for us than it is for them. But, of course they think their way is better so I do like to represent my 15 minute drive to work as 9 minutes. Whatever it is, it's better than my SIL's 1 hr. 45 ride on the LI Railroad so that she never sees her kids.

[Athena]

Did you ask them what mode of transportation they're using? Maybe they have one of those personal rocket jet things.

I have a 45 minute commute... if I walk, very, very slowly, and take the long route :D

[Trunk]

Funny question.

I DON'T lie about my commute, but sometimes I get the feeling people THINK I do. I've had a conversation VERY similar to this a couple times. . .

"I can make it home in 45 minutes."

"WHAT? I was just driving through there the other day, and it was like a traffic jam. It took me 1:15."

"Must have been an accident, then."

"Nope. It's just the way traffic was."

[Metacom]

Perhaps because, at least where you have people commuting from a suburb to a large city, land and housing is more expensive near the city and having a shorter commute implies a higher economic status?

[TellMeI'mNotCrazy]

I had the opposite situation - and yet the opposite of Trunk, too. People always thought I was lying about my commute because it was so long (minimum, 2.5 hours each way... typically, 3 hours each way.)

[xbuckeye]

I have a 45 minute commute... if I walk, very, very slowly, and take the long route :D
I could stretch mine to 45 if I stayed on the bus, rode it to the other end of the route and came back to work to avoid crossing the street. I've thought about it, but then when would I read the SDMB?

[Hampshire]

I've noticed people not only do this with their commute, but also when talking about road trips they've taken.

"Oh, Minneapolis to Chicago? It takes me around 5 hours."
"Baltimore to Orlando? 12 hours."
"Daytona Beach to Tampa? 2 hours."

[Geobabe]

Someone I know was thinking of moving to Front Royal, which is an ungodly long distance from DC or even the immediate suburbs but remarkably cheaper. Another co-worker said "oh, but if you leave your house at 7:00 you should have no trouble getting in by 7:45 or 8, that's how long it takes me". *snort* I presume they're commuting by helicopter--I just double checked and it's 70 miles one way.

It could be some weird mental block where they don't remember all of the trip, though I wonder if people just don't want to admit that they're wasting so much of their lives commuting.

[Stringer]

Now that you mention it, I've been guilty of shaving time off my commute when discussing it with other people. I can't for the life of me figure out why I do it though.

[Who_me?]

I don't lie about my commute, as a matter of fact when people ask me about how long my commute is, I just say 60 miles each way.

Timewise, since I start work between 6 AM and 6:30 AM, it takes me about an hour to get to work. Going home from 1:15 to 1:30 unless there is bad traffic. On Fridays going home, I skip the Washington Beltway and go cross country which make my trip a little shorter distance-wise and I miss much of the traffic that backs up on that day.

[Athena]

I don't lie about my commute, as a matter of fact when people ask me about how long my commute is, I just say 60 miles each way.

Yeah, but if it was 3 in the morning and no one else was on the road and the cops were on a donut break, it'd probably only be about 52 miles, don't you think?

[gotpasswords]

Strange. Around here, long commutes almost seem to be a badge of honor, or more likely, a means or garnering sympathy.

"Oh poor me! I have to leave the house at 5:30 to make it to my office by 8:00!"

Oddly enough, I did have a 2 1/2 hour commute for about two months about 12 years ago. Left home at 5:30, drove 1 1/4 hours to the train station, then catch the 6:53 train for a 55-minute ride, then a 15-minute walk. Almost beat me to death, but I sure didn't brag about it.

[Sal Ammoniac]

I wonder if people just don't want to admit that they're wasting so much of their lives commuting.

That's my theory, too. People want to feel justified in their life choices, however absurd.

[yellowval]

Okay, I'll 'fess up. I usually tell people my commute is two minutes, but it's probably more like three. I'm such a terrible liar!

I've noticed this too, though, especially with trips like Hampshire is talking about. I've also noticed that it goes both ways. If you're going on a car trip with my grandmother that takes an hour and a half, you have to leave two and a half hours before you need to be there because she thinks it takes much longer. If you're with my husband, you tell him how long you think it will take, and he'll insist that it takes half the time.

Maybe it has something to do with the human tendency to exaggerate? It's a good question.

[bouv]

I like to tell people it takes me a minute to get to work. Honestly, it's closer to three. :p

But it IS a one minute drive. The other two mintues are getting from my car to my office.

[interface2x]

People always thought I was lying about my commute because it was so long (minimum, 2.5 hours each way... typically, 3 hours each way.)

Wow, your username is quite accurate, but after hearing about that, I don't think I can tell you that! :D

[TellMeI'mNotCrazy]

Wow, your username is quite accurate, but after hearing about that, I don't think I can tell you that! :D
;) Luckily that commute is firmly in the past tense. I enjoyed my job, but that commute was contributing to my stress in many ways.

[Sunspace]

My commute to work, under ideal road conditions, is an hour door-to-door one-way, including wait time for the outbound freeway-express bus at Islington subway station. I usually take a bit longer going home, if I'm not going downtown or doing something else.

I travel against the major traffic flows, and even then there are enough jamups and blockages on the Evil Death Highway of Doom known as King's Highway No. 401 that I cannot really guarantee my arrival times. 95% of the time, it works according to the published bus schedules, but that other 5%... man. I'm glad to have professional bus and train drivers handling the works.

I can't imagine how people heading into the city do it every day. Every day I pass through the 401/427 interchange, and the inbound lanes are always jammed jammed jammed. And they think I'm mad for taking the bus to work? At least I can read or sleep on the way there. My friend spends $200 a month on road tolls alone! (He's moving house to eliminate that problem.)

I have to be envious of my other friend though... he teaches at the Collège Français downtown and lives across the street. His only problem is if the elevator is a little slow...

[missbunny]

Yesterday, for instance, I was talking to a colleague who lives in the suburbs of Boston, and whose husband works in Rhode Island. How long a commute? "45 minutes," she says. Now, granted, if you were to go at 3:00 in the morning and speed a little, you could probably do it in 45 minutes.

Depends on which suburbs of Boston and where in RI they're going to. Taunton to Providence is very doable in 45 minutes. Salem to Westerly is not.

(There are some would disagree that Taunton is a Boston suburb; being 35 miles away - but lots of people do think of it that way.)

[ElvisL1ves]

(There are some would disagree that Taunton is a Boston suburb; being 35 miles away - but lots of people do think of it that way.)Feh. Of course it is.

I live just outside Boston and commute to southern Maine, for pity's sake (don't worry, only 75 miles / 1:15 each way, against the traffic). The locals are quite willing to admit that the area has become suburban Boston. There are quite a few commuters into town from there, and I really don't want to know how bad it is. I get a good enough view across the highway barrier.

[Sal Ammoniac]

Depends on which suburbs of Boston and where in RI they're going to.
Newton to Smithfield. It's more than 45 minutes by my reckoning, even on Sunday.

[sj2]

I gotta friend that does that too. He says it's a 20 minute commute. Another friend works closer to home on the same route and it takes 45 minutes.

For me, well, it is hell. I must crawl out of bed and make my way to my living room/home office. ;)

[Cat Whisperer]

Commuting times make up a big part of my decisions on where to work and live. I simply refuse to spend too much of my waking life in my car in traffic. I will do what it takes to not do that. As for lying about the times, I think people have hit the mark already here; some people exaggerate to boast about how badly they're wasting their lives, and other people minimize to justify wasting their lives.

[Duke of Rat]

Right at 2 miles for me. I can generally make it in 4 minutes if I don't catch the one traffic light on the way. Can take as long as 8 minutes if I have to wait on a a train at the crossing.

Oh, who am I lying to! It takes 9 minutes if I catch the train..

[levdrakon]

Strange. Around here, long commutes almost seem to be a badge of honor, or more likely, a means or garnering sympathy.

"Oh poor me! I have to leave the house at 5:30 to make it to my office by 8:00!"

Oddly enough, I did have a 2 1/2 hour commute for about two months about 12 years ago. Left home at 5:30, drove 1 1/4 hours to the train station, then catch the 6:53 train for a 55-minute ride, then a 15-minute walk. Almost beat me to death, but I sure didn't brag about it.

Oh yeah, I've heard this around here.

"I leave the house at 5:30."
"5:30?? God you're lucky. I leave at 5:00"
"5:00?? I wish, I leave at 4:30!"
"4:30, that'd be heaven! I don't even sleep!"

:rolleyes:

[Cervaise]

Around here, long commutes almost seem to be a badge of honor, or more likely, a means or garnering sympathy.That's the way it is here in the Seattle area.

"Yeah, I gotta take I-5 south, through downtown, then I go across the I-90 bridge, then I take 405 south, and it's always backed up. It'd be twenty minutes at midnight, but at 7:30 it takes me like forty-seven years. I listen to Dostoevsky books on tape every morning. Books, plural."

"Really? I take 522 eastbound over the lake, connect to 405 south, shoot west across the 520 bridge, and I wind up thirty yards from where I started. I've celebrated more than one birthday in a single trip."

It's like this weird macho thing to be able to handle a hellacious commute. I'm surprised to hear about people under-estimating their driving times. That's just not the way it's done around these parts.

[Cunctator]

I'd have said the opposite. My feeling is that people here exaggerate their commuting times.

[Push You Down]

Yeah I only hear people exaggerating not low balling their commute.

I know some people who don't count their time on surface streets as part of the commute only time on the freeway.

[Shagnasty]

I hear people lowballing their commute for the most part around hear. They lie about travel times to get most places actually. People that live in the city claim that everwhere else in the city is 10 -15 minutes from everywhere else in the city. I live almost 40 miles from Boston but is still a Boston suburb. Travel times can run from 45 minutes to get to the west side of Boston/Cambridge up to several hours if there is snow with accidents.

[fruitbat]

I live in the DC area and commute every day from the city to Centreville, VA. I have noticed this phenomenon myself although whether they are lowballing or highballing their commute seems to vary depending on the tenor of the conversation. If I am talking to one of my coworkers who thinks I am crazy for living in the city they insist their commute from Culpeper to Fairfax is a 45 minute jaunt. At other times it is a bitchfest and that same commute becomes two hours if they are lucky.

My commute is the one thing I know like the back of my hand. Traffic is so bad in the DC area that every time I leave home, or head home from work I am guessing how long it is going to take me, and whether it will be under or over my normal commute. My drive in is 53 minutes, the drive back is 71, there is no ambiguity over how long it takes me on average. The only question is how much will it vary from that average today.

[Caricci]

Depends on which suburbs of Boston and where in RI they're going to. Taunton to Providence is very doable in 45 minutes. Salem to Westerly is not.

(There are some would disagree that Taunton is a Boston suburb; being 35 miles away - but lots of people do think of it that way.)

My husband did East Providence to Taunton for awhile and it was about 40 minutes. It wasn't as bad as Barrington to Newport and they're both in Rhode Island. You know, I have friends who go to a Boston suburb from Barrington, RI (I forget which suburb) and they do it in about 45 minutes. At any rate, they all beat Glendale, Queens to Wall Street hands down ...shudder...

[Morbo]

Oh yeah, I've heard this around here.

"I leave the house at 5:30."
"5:30?? God you're lucky. I leave at 5:00"
"5:00?? I wish, I leave at 4:30!"
"4:30, that'd be heaven! I don't even sleep!"

:rolleyes:

"WE had to live in a Lake!!" :)

[ShibbOleth]

I've noticed people not only do this with their commute, but also when talking about road trips they've taken.

"Oh, Minneapolis to Chicago? It takes me around 5 hours."
"Baltimore to Orlando? 12 hours."
"Daytona Beach to Tampa? 2 hours."

I've done Tampa to Cincinnati in just over 12 hours, but trust me when I say it's not a safe or healthy thing. No more than a five minute stop, just pee and change drivers. Averaged about 93 mph. It was ridiculous. It's taken me as long as 20 hours (with the kids, not including spending the night) and more typically 14-16 hours. Daytona Beach to Tampa may have once been possible in 2 hours, but there is no freakin' way, day or night, that you could do it right now. Too much Orlando traffic and if that doesn't get you then the I-4 construction, which is pretty much all the way from Kissimmee to Tampa, will. Maybe they count from Orange County line to Hillsborough County line?

There was a woman I worked with in Baltimore, lived somewhere near the Pennsylvannia state line, that swore her drive in to Locust Point was only 15-20 minutes every day. It's just not humany possible, unless her drive way launched straight out on to the expressway (it didn't) and the work parking lot was a highway off ramp (it wasn't). She was an otherwise very sweet and honest person. I truly believe she was just in denial of how much of her time she spent driving in.

[Angel of the Lord]

People think that I'm lying about my commute time when I say, "um...35-40 minutes." They deeply underestimate the flow of traffic on I-90. Hell, if I'm going only 10 over the speed limit, the COPS out there get pissed off because I'm going too slow.

But, then, I've seen people claim that their commute takes much longer than it actually does. I just chalk it up to their inability to use back roads.

[levdrakon]

I live in the DC area and commute every day from the city to Centreville, VA. I have noticed this phenomenon myself although whether they are lowballing or highballing their commute seems to vary depending on the tenor of the conversation.

One thing I noticed when I lived in DC was that the answer to everything is "I'll be there in 15 minutes." Didn't seem to matter where they were, how far they had to go, or what time of day it was, or even if they had to take a shower first. "I'll be there in 15 minutes."

That used to infuriate me, especially when it was someone who lives all the way up by Germantown, MD.

[Hypno-Toad]

I'm lucky to live between 3 and 4 miles from my job. As much as I hate having a job that starts at 7:30 AM, it does make things easier on the commute. So I usually take about 10-15 minutes to get to work. But once, when I left for work an hour early it only took 8 minutes. Therefore, I tell folks the 8 minute time.

I agree with Fruitbat. Exageration or lowballing commute times seems to be a form of one-upmanship. Some people must have the BEST commute or the WORST. If I complain about how long it takes, theirs is longer. If I brag about how fast it is, the same person suddenly has the quickest time.