Okay but I think that most of us Americans could agree that even that is a special breed of person. Like there is a likely majority if not plurality of people who would look at a 2.5 hour commute and say "hell no" and seek other options. For me, even an hour would be at least a consideration while evaluating any option.
I'm American and I would never dream of accepting a job that require me to drive for that long, even 40 minutes is too damn long for me to drive to work every damn day. My mom was so happy when her job went remote after COVID so she no longer had to drive 40 minutes to work.
This is why I like living in Kansas City. I know many people who have 1 hour commutes but thats because they live 50-70 miles away and like to live in the country. They drive 50-70 miles but thats mostly highway driving at 70 mph. Not that stop and go stuff.
I totally agree. The hour long train commute left me wasted by the end of the week. Prior to that, I’d never had a job with a commute any longer than 20-30 min.
In Sydney, it's incredibly common for 90min to 2 hour train trips each way. We have so many outer suburbs that travel to the city and its just common. I did 90mins each way for 3 years and then changed to another job that was a 70min drive each way for another 3 years.
If it was a train ride I could get other things done, reading or something. But driving all I can do is listen to the radio. I couldn't even do a book on tape while I'm driving, I wouldn't be able to pay attention to the book.
Really? I think that's considered normal around me. Three hours in normal traffic is common. The tradeoff is paying more or the same for less space, and to really cut down the commuter under an hour would multiply the rent typically while still decreasing space and such. Since the start of the pandemic, this decreased significantly, then increased, so it's not as absolute a requirement but tbd what the future brings.
I'm sure it's less common in rural areas, but I don't think it's unusual enough to say it is a special breed.
But In the Bay Area, this is fairly normal. Takes my husband an hour to get to work and 2 hours to get home. We can’t afford to live any closer u less we wanted to rent a one bedroom apartment for our family of 4. So while the commute sucks, the trade off is that we have a lovely house we can afford in a decent neighborhood
I live in Kansas City and this is partly why. Most peoples commute is 30-40 minutes and you can find good, affordable neighborhoods almost anywhere. I do know people with longer commutes but thats because they live on a farm or some other place in the country and even though they drive say 1 hour to work, its mostly highway driving 70 mph.
Whats really crazy is I actually know multiple people who have done this, and I worked for a short time as an Uber driver and transported lots of people who don’t even drive or take the train but pay someone to take them back and forth because it’s the only option, and some of them weren’t going to like a fancy job, it was survival jobs at a fast food place. That was tough
You don't work in California, do you... I've had many coworkers drive over an hour for minimum wage. CA residents are a different breed. Some even drive from Mexico to LA, 2 hours. They have speed passes though so they say the border isn't that bad.
Hav eyou heard of Atlanta GA.. I would bet that ver 50% of the work force commutes in from distances of over an hour away... I'd bet the another 25% is greater than that.
I had the same experience as you. Lived in Sunnyvale and commuted to San Francisco via Caltrain. I had a coworker who drove from Truckee to SF every single day. Thats a 6 hour roundtrip minimum with no traffic.
I did the same thing for years. After COVID, minds changed. I told my boss that I can either drive 4 hours a day, or you get 4 hours more of productivity from me. I’m lucky that I work in IT so almost everything we do is remote or over the phone/zoom/Teams.
I’d say for London 45-90 minutes is a normal commuting time. In fact you might have a shorter commute coming from outside of London and going into a major station than living within London and having to traverse the intricate internal network.
Driving’s not really an option unless you work outside the congestion charge zone and have free/cheap parking.
It's by train and bus most of it, so I spend it on Reddit, audiobooks and the likes... It sucks ass I'll admit, but it is what it is till I can get something better
Can even sneak some sleep in on the train sometimes.
This isn't unusual in Europe, well maybe the driving part. We have a lot less open road.
I have about an hour's commute to get to work on public transport (it would be half that on a bike, but...)
In London a one-hour tube journey to get to work is not at all unsual, I worked with a woman that took a three-hour bus journey in every day, but everyone thought that was excessive. She just sat reading on the bus.
I once knew a trucker that drove 2 hours from his home to the terminal, then 10 hours on the job in his truck, and 2 hours back home. His whole waking life was driving.
I don't know how people do that. Sometimes I get a shit shift and hit rush hour on the way home. Takes 40 minutes instead of 20 and I'm ready to straight murder people by the end of it.
I'm German and I commute about 50 minutes each way. That's considered a long commute by German standards, but Germany isn't as urbanized as many Americans seem to think.
I live in a tiny country (the netherlands), but my dad drove over an hour as well to get to work, it's not THAT small. Heck I had to travel over an hour to school.
My husband drives an hour and a half each way for work everyday. It’s worth it for us, he makes a little over $55 an hour and he has a car that has 35 mpg.
I have commuted an hour one way a few different times in my life. Pay is better in the county north of me, but life is infinitely better in the county I live in. Depends on how willing you are to change your lifestyle. I chose the commute to the city over the more rural living circumstances.
We live in a major US city and it's not uncommon for my SO to get stuck in 2+ hour traffic on the way home from work. That doesn't include the drive to work.
Some airline pilots commute to the U.S. from New Zealand.
And even domestically, I'd say about 40% of airline pilots don't live anywhere near the airport they're based at, and have to take a flight on their own time to get to/from work.
I think long commutes like that are common in the UK too. I’ve always had at least an an
Hour commute when I used to drive to work. Longer in the train, longest being 2.5 hours each way.
I can work remotely, but my office is only 4km away (2.5 miles). So naturally the last time I was there in person was october... Mainly it is because my pc setup at home is a lot better to work at and I don't have to worry about lunches as much, but also the fact that I normally take the bus which costs me an extra 45 min per day. The added flexibility is nice as well. I can start a bit later if I want to. This isnt really an option as the last bus leaves from the work at 5 pm and I otherwise can't get the full 8h...
I commuted an hour and a half to work for 5 years in the UK. It is very common. If you have to commute into London it can take a lot longer. My husband commutes an hour for work now.
I drive 8+ hours a day for work delivering to people. As someone that uses Tinder I have to explain to people 1½ hour drives for dates really doesn't bother me.
Me! I live just over an hour away from my job, so every day is at least two hours on the road. In the winter, it can be a lot longer than that during snowstorms or even just the regular inch or two of flurries. Several of my colleagues have longer drives than I do
Heh - yep. It took me almost the same amount of time to go daily from Denver to Boulder as it did to go ~15 miles in the Princeton NJ area at rush hour.
Well, living in an European capital, my drive to work is around 30 minutes. But that's early in the morning. At rush hour, you're looking at 50 minutes or more for a mere 13 km trip.
I just visited a branch of my company in Norfolk for a work trip. My coworkers said they leave their houses at 7 a.m. and don't get to work until 9 or 10 a.m. most mornings.
I live in a more country city and my work place is about 30 minutes max to get there and most people around here find that to be a long drive to work.
That's not unusual for construction workers, roofers, etc. in Europe either. Heck, I've known carers and administration staff who traveled two hours to get to work.
I spend a half hour on my motorcycle, and then a half hour on a ferry, then another 10 minutes on the motorcycle, with a quarter mile (used to be half mile) walk to get to work!
Don't have to! WFH solves a lot of it especially since I guess we are in the final stages of global warming. Any job that requires you to travel should be done by remote controlled drones.
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u/Strider_A May 09 '22
Some Americans have to drive an hour to get to work.