# How far is your daily commute to work? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 2, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020 "2009-11-02T04:16:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/41 "2009-11-02T16:15:16Z")
25 miles. County highway through the mountains. Pretty much zero traffic in the morning, with a little more on my way home. I drive through Breckenridge every day. During the Christmas season, I get to see a great light show as I drive through the quite town before most people have gotten up. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/42 "2009-11-02T16:21:27Z")
Mine just changed last year, from a 60 mile one way commute, to a 6 mile one way commute. I am in heaven, especially since I started riding my bike to work. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/43 "2009-11-02T16:54:57Z")
32 miles each way. It takes about 37 minutes. StG ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/44 "2009-11-02T16:58:42Z")
Downstairs, 10 feet to the left. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/45 "2009-11-02T17:10:58Z")
Less than a mile, which I either bike or walk (if I drove, I’d need to walk nearly as far from the parking lot). Yay for on-campus housing! ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/46 "2009-11-02T17:41:12Z")
A tad less than a mile. By bike - 4 minutes to get in (downhill) 6 to get home (uphill). It’s mostly on a proper bike route so I don’t even have to contend with traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/47 "2009-11-02T17:56:38Z")
We moved my office earlier this year. What was a 15 second walk to the third floor is now two steps across the bedroom. I could quite literally go from bed to work without touching the floor. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/48 "2009-11-02T18:01:59Z")
Currently back in school, but my weekend job which becomes close to full time during the summer is 53.1 miles away according to Google Maps. That’s the price of living in the center of the urban sprawl and working at a horsepital (technical term) out near where the horses are, which happens to be on the OTHER side of the sprawl. The shortest it has taken is 55 minutes, which involved not just bending but breaking speed laws on highways in two different states AND hitting all of the traffic lights perfectly. Usually, it takes about 65-70 minutes, but coming home in rush hour (at the end of a day shift OR at the end of the night shift) takes closer to 2 hours. If I’ve worked a night shift and it is now a weekday morning, I usually stay for rounds so that I learn something and I don’t have to sit in traffic for 2 hours - it wears out my middle finger (I kid, around here I’m afraid I’ll get run off the road if I show any aggression). My last job was 45-50 miles each way depending on which route I felt like taking. I.e., there was no ONE good way to get there from the highway. I commuted to that job 5 days a week for 3 or 4 months before finding a part of a farm house to rent. Then, my commute went down to about 7 miles. I loved living on a farm, but I’m stuck back in the 'burbs for school. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/49 "2009-11-02T18:15:35Z")
Switched jobs last year, my commute went from 6 miles (15 minutes) to 13 miles (30 minutes). It’s not terrible though. Biggest disadvantage is that I can’t run home for lunch anymore. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/50 "2009-11-02T18:18:13Z")
7 miles each way. Commute time with no traffic is around 10 minutes. Then again, there isn’t a moment of the day when there is no traffic in NoVa. Real commute time varies from 25 minutes to 1.5 hours. If I could drag fat ass out of bed even half an hour earlier, I would get into work in half the time. Today was pretty normal - around 35-40 minutes. I tend to get home faster because I won’t leave till 6.45 or 7. Being sat at the desk usually beats being sat in traffic. And my new car, she no like congestion. Muscle was not necessarily the smart way to go living here, but damn if she isn’t the prettiest. ---
**Author:** ![MissMossie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/51 "2009-11-02T18:20:23Z")
Maybe a two minute walk if I’m being leisurely. The school I work at is on the same piece of property as the building I live in, so it’s just a walk across the lawn to work each day. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/52 "2009-11-02T18:48:59Z")
> [@](#): > > 20-50 miles - Not so great, but that’s the price of living in the 'burbs. I do it backwards - I live in Manhattan and commute to the NJ 'burbs. I used to commute 2 miles downtown but things changed and here I am. For all practical purposes I’m an itinerant pharma worker the way things have gone with layoffs and restructurings the past few years, plus the wife and kids like the city (although our dwelling is tiny), so we stay in the city. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/53 "2009-11-02T18:53:00Z")
**MissMossie** - How about an update? Are you still happy living with the sisters? When does your year end? StG ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/54 "2009-11-02T19:20:15Z")
Wow, so many people with short commutes! Do a lot of you live in cities? I live in what is called a “bedroom community” and the only businesses within 5 miles of here are a home daycare and a U-Haul place. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/55 "2009-11-02T19:31:55Z")
10 minutes, door-to-door, and that’s because traffic is pretty thick. Mapquest says it’s 3.07 miles. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/56 "2009-11-02T20:10:50Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Wow, so many people with short commutes! Do a lot of you live in cities? I live in what is called a “bedroom community” and the only businesses within 5 miles of here are a home daycare and a U-Haul place. I live downtown in my city. I chose to live here so I could easily be in walking distance of work and bars. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/57 "2009-11-02T20:19:39Z")
I work across the street from my house. Yay me! ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/58 "2009-11-02T20:31:13Z")
1.4 mile walk, takes about 30 mins. Oddly enough, it only takes about 5 minutes longer to walk home that it did when I was driving. ---
**Author:** ![Umbriel2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/4af34b/32.png) [@Umbriel2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel2)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/59 "2009-11-02T20:44:39Z")
About 60 miles one way straight line, 96 by road per Mapquest. I drive 30 miles (about 35 minutes over limited access highways before rush hour really starts) to the train station, then take a 75 minute express train ride, then a 20 minute walk to my office. Because I can sleep on the train, I actually find it less tiring than when I had a 45 minute high traffic drive to my previous job, though the time it takes out of my day is still unpleasant. The benefit is that I get a NYC salary while keeping a suburban Philadelphia cost of living. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020/60 "2009-11-02T21:53:27Z")
I voted less than a mile, because it’s about one kilometre if I walk across\* the railway and catch the shuttle bus.\*\* Thing is, though, that takes half an hour, or more if there’s a queue for the bus. So, when I don’t care about my carbon footprint, the commute is 5km driving, which only takes ten minutes at the worst. - under, actually; there’s a foot tunnel. \*\* I know it seems a bit odd to ride a bus for a distance of less than 1km. Thing is, it’s up a 1:10 slope, so it would take even longer to walk. (After this post, anyone familiar with Cape Town will be able to say quite precisely where I live and work. :o) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-is-your-daily-commute-to-work/516020.md?page=4)