What would the folks of ph deem an acceptable commute?
Discussion
I once worked on a project at Motorola where we researched this.
A little sweeping but..
The magic figure is 70 minutes each way. Below that people think it's perfectly reasonable, beyond it they will look to another route or even job. The perfect commute is a 10 minute walk, second best is a 10 minute drive. Having the seperation between home and work is important - it gets you in and out of work mode. Having complete control is also good - relying on buses, taxis, trains or whatever is painful.
There was a certain irony in my doing this work as I was living in Finchley and working either in Basingstoke (about 90 mins drive) or Chicago (4,000 miles once a month), although when I was in Chicago I then had either the 10 min walk or drive depending on which office I was working out of.
Other things which fell out of the research are that it's why cities can be always on the verge of gridlock without ever getting there. Naturally everyone ahs a different journey, as the journey time increases to the pain point they drop out of the crowd. This keeps the city at a level where it is just at at the 70 mins for the majority of people. It's why when the greens are always spreading scare stories about gridlock they are talking b
ks.
The reason we did the research was to see what devices we might sell to commuters. As most people spend about 40 minutes each way on a bus or train we thought, when we did this work in 2002 there might be something in these "tablet" things, but Product Management didn't think we were right.
The most powerful application for the devices though is mobile learning. Specifically TEFL, if someone works in a factory and spends eighty minutes a day studying on a bus or train they can triple their salary by learning English.
So as other have said the answer isn't one of distance but time and comfort. I rather enjoyed the two lots of six hours of peace and quiet on the plane, hated the M3 to basingstoke. Actually i hated it so much when Moto bought an office in Cambridge I relocated my team to there.
Simon.
A little sweeping but..
The magic figure is 70 minutes each way. Below that people think it's perfectly reasonable, beyond it they will look to another route or even job. The perfect commute is a 10 minute walk, second best is a 10 minute drive. Having the seperation between home and work is important - it gets you in and out of work mode. Having complete control is also good - relying on buses, taxis, trains or whatever is painful.
There was a certain irony in my doing this work as I was living in Finchley and working either in Basingstoke (about 90 mins drive) or Chicago (4,000 miles once a month), although when I was in Chicago I then had either the 10 min walk or drive depending on which office I was working out of.
Other things which fell out of the research are that it's why cities can be always on the verge of gridlock without ever getting there. Naturally everyone ahs a different journey, as the journey time increases to the pain point they drop out of the crowd. This keeps the city at a level where it is just at at the 70 mins for the majority of people. It's why when the greens are always spreading scare stories about gridlock they are talking b
ks.The reason we did the research was to see what devices we might sell to commuters. As most people spend about 40 minutes each way on a bus or train we thought, when we did this work in 2002 there might be something in these "tablet" things, but Product Management didn't think we were right.
The most powerful application for the devices though is mobile learning. Specifically TEFL, if someone works in a factory and spends eighty minutes a day studying on a bus or train they can triple their salary by learning English.
So as other have said the answer isn't one of distance but time and comfort. I rather enjoyed the two lots of six hours of peace and quiet on the plane, hated the M3 to basingstoke. Actually i hated it so much when Moto bought an office in Cambridge I relocated my team to there.
Simon.
Another factor is variability. If you are on an unreliable train line (Great** .. cough) you may end up not getting to work on time, or not at all.
Or having to connect between different tube lines if you're in London.
I used to commute from Epsom to Canary Wharf and if there were problems either end of the line it was bus or taxi time which was a massive PITA. I think the quoted figure of 70-75 minutes is about right - but it depends on what is precious to you. With hindsight I would live close to work as possible, so either moving home or jobs - but for others it's the quality of life at home which is 100% priority.
Or having to connect between different tube lines if you're in London.
I used to commute from Epsom to Canary Wharf and if there were problems either end of the line it was bus or taxi time which was a massive PITA. I think the quoted figure of 70-75 minutes is about right - but it depends on what is precious to you. With hindsight I would live close to work as possible, so either moving home or jobs - but for others it's the quality of life at home which is 100% priority.
40 miles each way for me. I leave at half 7 and get in just before 9 most days and finish at half 5 and get home just before 7.
It was 15 miles each way but then we moved house earlier this year and now got a little one due in July.
Currently looking for something nearer as the time seems to be getting worse. Although I will say this week its been less than an hour thanks to less traffic
It was 15 miles each way but then we moved house earlier this year and now got a little one due in July.
Currently looking for something nearer as the time seems to be getting worse. Although I will say this week its been less than an hour thanks to less traffic
I used to work about 10 miles from home - it would take 50mins each way in rush hour. The same journey takes 15mins off peak. I've concluded that driving to and from work in heavy traffic is awful. I'm starting an hour each way on the train on Monday, I've got this idea in my head that it'll be less frustrating (in the morning at least - the train home will be crazy busy!).
Nick Grant said:
I commute 40miles each way. I could do it in less than an hour driving but I choose to walk to the station get the train and walk the other end. Six miles a day walking adds another hour a day to my commute but covers off my exercise at the same time 
I WFH one day a week.
Hi Nick I WFH one day a week. Paul1302 I did 3 years 198 mile round trip.... 5 hours a day in the car.... How the hell I did it I don't know.
Previous to that Wolverhampton to London every day on the train.... 6 hour a day comute...
Last 5 years before I retired, 40 mile a day round trip, no traffic, it was actually quite relaxing.
Previous to that Wolverhampton to London every day on the train.... 6 hour a day comute...
Last 5 years before I retired, 40 mile a day round trip, no traffic, it was actually quite relaxing.
NDA said:
I find commuting time is good peaceful down-time as it happens.
I had a 32 mile commute to a teaching placement some years ago, it took a reliable 38 minutes and was "the break" between the workplace and home at the end of the day (it gave enough time to mull over the events of the day and wrap them up then "switch off" and enjoy the ride before getting home and lesson-planning and the rest of a trainee teacher's lot). Quite cleansing 
.My current commute is 11 miles, between two towns in the North West (including a substantial ring road which is pretty clear even in the rush hours) - my best time is 26 minutes (the usual time is 28 minutes, a bad day is 30), which is enough to separate work and home
. 15 minutes' crowded-roads commute in an old job just didn't cut the mustard (I didn't realise this for over a decade), and I was stressed out by it most of the time at home as well as at work
.Longer commutes on clear roads are definitely the way to go!
ecs said:
I used to work about 10 miles from home - it would take 50mins each way in rush hour. The same journey takes 15mins off peak. I've concluded that driving to and from work in heavy traffic is awful.
I was thinking that too - a shortish journey in heavy traffic with no sensible alternative route must be the most frustrating of all. Especially if you're on fixed hours and can't really vary your travel time.One of my daughters does 11 miles and it can take an hour. And this is in Cheshire - it's not like she's commuting in some log-jammed SE area.
Edited by Sheepshanks on Thursday 1st January 23:43
Depends on the stage in your life partially and what the alternative is. I've done a 40-45 min each way commute in the car for about 14 years, it was worth it because I liked working there and it was time to think or wake-up or detach from work. In recent years I just got fed up with it and would get out the car with my last memory being getting into it with little recollection of what happened in between. I always said it was the maximum I would ever consider and was the most I ever did.
Just before Christmas I left and became fully self employed. My commute now is about 5 seconds from breakfast table to study, maybe double that if the cat gets in the way or up to 5 mins if the cat and the dog are both in need of a fuss.
Just before Christmas I left and became fully self employed. My commute now is about 5 seconds from breakfast table to study, maybe double that if the cat gets in the way or up to 5 mins if the cat and the dog are both in need of a fuss.
Edited by Shaolin on Thursday 1st January 23:30
Spent the last few years with a brisk 25 minute walk each way, or 10 minutes on a push bike. Previously it was 30 minutes drive then another 10 finding on street parking. It feels so much better not being stuck in traffic.
Reliability and consistency are important, but I wouldn't limit that to public transport. A journey may normally take 30 minutes, but if there is an accident somewhere, is there a sensible alternative?
Reliability and consistency are important, but I wouldn't limit that to public transport. A journey may normally take 30 minutes, but if there is an accident somewhere, is there a sensible alternative?
I drive 30 mins to work in the morning and 45 coming back mid afternoon (slightly more traffic). I find even that short time really boring. Mind you that's because early morning radio is such dross. It's either guffawing nonsense on Radio 1, Chris Evans on R2 (I've nothing against the guy he's just way too chirpy in the morning) and our local station which isn't much better. I need a digital radio in my car!
A colleague of mine lived 10 minutes away from the depot, he has now moved to Edinburgh to be with his woman and the commute takes him 90 minutes each way now, as Huey Lewis put it "that's the power of love". I'd be bored stless!
A colleague of mine lived 10 minutes away from the depot, he has now moved to Edinburgh to be with his woman and the commute takes him 90 minutes each way now, as Huey Lewis put it "that's the power of love". I'd be bored s
tless!I'd say it's more about the headache than either the time or distance. I used to do 35 miles, the first 30 or so across rural B roads and the last 5 into the centre of Newcastle on busy but moving roads. Took a bit less than an hour and was really no hassle at all. At the other extreme 6km down a main road in Bangkok with stop start traffic, blocked junctions and that special kind of misery that only Bangkok traffic can bring. Took about the same amount of time and was obviously less distance and fuel but I would take my old 35 mile commute every time.
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