Many people have to devote an inordinate amount of time commuting to work. I propose this poll:
I. What’s the longest commuting you have (or had) to put up with, and by what means (including walking) ? :
1. In miles (km if not in the U.S.)
2. In time (on average)
II. What’s the longest commuting miles, for other peoples you know ?
I’m 42 miles each way in 40 minutes. (Yes I do speed a lot, only way to keep sane)
My Boss’s boss is 86 miles one way. (Yes I think he is nuts)
Jim
A few years ago, for about 18 months, I commuted about 160 km (100 miles) each way to work, by train. If everything went smoothly, it was about 3 hours (from 5 am/pm to 8 am/pm) each way. I suspect that is about the longest commute that is sustainable on a medium to long-term basis.
The longest commute I ever had was driving the 35 miles from my suburb to downtown LA. Could take anywhere from 25 minutes (Friday morning leaving the house at 6am) to 90 minutes (Tuesday morning leaving at 6:30am, or any weekday coming home after 4pm).
Then someone introduced me to the concept of Metrolink. I leave my house at 6:50, catch the train at 7:05, get to Union Station at 7:40, catch the subway, get to my office at 7:50. Meanwhile, I’m relaxed, reading or chatting with friends…life is good.
The longest I know other people to commute is from Temecula (about 90 miles ESE of LA). They’ll drive up to Riverside and THEN catch the train into downtown. I think it’s about 2.5 hours each way.
I drive 62 miles each way to work. This takes 65 minutes when I leave my house at 5:30, my usual schedule, and about 75 minutes to get home in the afternoon. When the weather is bad I am allowed to telecommute.
My commute is an hour one way, door to door. This is around 30 km by the driving directions given at Google Maps. If I owned a car and drove, it would be around half an hour, but a lot more expensive.
Bus to subway station, subway two stops west, then express bus along the freeway direct to work (stops across the parking lot).
Longest commute mile-wise I’ve ever had was just about 10 miles - had I driven from home to the office it would have been less than that, but I would have spent an hour trying to park. Also, I don’t have my own car, so house -> train station -> office was about 9 miles. Took about twenty minutes.
Current commute is about the same time but only about a mile, walking. It takes me about 15 minutes to walk there, maybe five minutes if I’m on my bike, and about 20 minutes walking/10 by bike getting home. (gotta love living in the mountains).
Longest commute I’ve known of was when my father worked in Virginia for a spell (insert comment about the economy here) about three years ago. It was something like 4.5 hours each way, about 250 miles. He only did that Sunday and Friday afternoons (obviously).
My commute is 40 miles one way but there is little traffic so it isn’t that bad. My wife’s is 52 miles one way and there is the potential for serious traffic. Average time in the morning for her is 1.5 - 2 hours and has been up to 4 hours on a bad day.
The longest sustained commute in miles that I have personally witnessed was my mother. She had a 120 mile one-way commute for three years while I was in high school. The bright side was there was little traffic so it only took her about 2 hours each way although the gas bills were hell.
I used to commute from approx. South 56th Street in Tacoma, WA to South Seattle - it was about 30 miles, and usually took me at least 40 minutes. Sometimes it could take an hour, if traffic was bad or there was an accident on I-5.
I drive about 25 miles one-way - about 50-60 minutes in the morning, 60-75 in the evening depending on traffic.
It sucks.
My current commute is 15 miles, but it involves two freeways, a downtown, and a bridge, so it’s typically 30-45 minutes.
At one previous job, I did a 90-minute commute, both morning and evening, for three hours total each day. I had no car and the bus routes sucked. I quit after a week.
When I lived in SoCal I did a 37 mile commute that demanded three freeways. If I left at 5:30am and there weren’t any accidents I could do it in 45 minutes. If there was even a minor fender-bender it would be an hour and a half at least. One morning a family in a mini-van ran into the back of a disabled diesel and were killed: Five hour commute (poor family, but I sure did need to pee!)
Here in podunkia I commute 16 miles and it takes 16 minutes (weather withstanding.)
About 35 miles, 2 hours one way.
I live in Brooklyn and work in Orangeburg, NY. I walk 15-20 min to the subway, transfer trains (at Times Square; it takes about 10 minutes to walk from one end to the other), catch a shuttle at the GW Bridge, then ride the shuttle for about 20 minutes. That’s the morning.
In the evening, I do it backwards.
It sucks. We’ll probably move to be closer to work in six months or so.
145 miles each way, some of it down hideous dirt roads, to be at work by 6 AM. 7 days a week.
But only for a little over a month, the rig either moved closer to town or we would all move to a closer town. That kind of drive is a real pain.
I used to go an hour to work, but it was opposite to rush traffic so it was an easy ride, there was no morning glare in my eyes, and I actually enjoyed it.
I also knew it would only last 4 months, which helped.
You didn’t ask about shortest, but right now I live directly across the street from work.
My husband’s commute is 160 miles round trip from rural Los Angeles county to downtown. 4 days a week. Takes an hour and a half on the 'cycle, a little longer in the car.
For a 3 month period I lived in San Diego Co. and worked in Los Angeles a commute of about 21/2hours each way.
When I got a job closer to home it was still 45 miles each way… oh and I worked 12 hour night shift.
If you want to count my travel nurse assignments… I drove from San Diego to Austin Texas without an overnight stop, it took 27 hours, but then I stayed 3 months. 
I worked in Omak Wa and lived in Seattle a 300 mile drive, one way. I worked 6 days on 6 days off so did the drive one way or the other every 6 days.
You might not consider those true commutes, however.
My longest comute was 65 miles each way. I live near where interstate 5 and the 405 come together, and I worked near where interstate 5 and the 405 come together, just not at the same end. :smack:
Longest comute I have ever heard of was a guy I worked with. He lived in Salt Lake City and worked in West Los Angeles. :eek: Drove in Sunday night, drove home Friday night.
I’m exactly 50 miles from work – one hour each way.
It didn’t bother me that much until I did the math on it.
2 hrs per day x 5 days = 10 hrs per week x 4 weeks = 40 hrs, or one work week, per month spent commuting.
So, essentially, I spend 11 work weeks per year (we’ll knock one off for vacation time and such) going to and from work. Grrrrr…