11 miles, 20 minutes, 4 stop lights, 3 Jackson Browne songs on my CD

I have a hellish commute. About 50 min in the morning, if I leave home by 5:30am, and it can take 1.5-2 hours to get home. I live in Seattle, where we have the 3rd worst traffic in the U.S.

DH commutes 27 miles one way. If he leaves the house by 5:30 it takes about 30 - 35 minutes. If he leaves up to ten minutes later he could be adding anywhere from 15 - 20 minutes to the time. Any later and it could be 2 to 2 1/2 times as long as the original or more. Same for heading home. He is clocked out heading for his truck at the strike of 3:00. It takes him 35 to 40 minutes to get home as long as he leaves promptly. Needless to say, he is prompt. ;-)

I luckily have no commute. Husband has the shortest commute he has ever had. It is actually why we decided to buy this house. Less than 10 minutes. He has had some very very long commutes at some of our previous homes. We felt a short commute was essential at this point and age of our lives. Especially now with my health issues. The times I have had to call him to come home urgently he was here very quickly. It is so much easier for him. We do like the house and area so it's no burden. Plus plus.

My current drive is about 6 miles and 15 minutes, one way. But I don't have to drive it every day. My husband's commute has been unusual lately; about 275 miles one way, and it can take anywhere from 4.75 hours to almost 6, depending upon traffic. Obviously he doesn't come back the same day.

Hubs and I are both retired, so our commute(s) are dependent upon where we might want to go. When we were still working, our commute was about 30 minutes in the morning and about 45 minutes on the way home. Distance was 22 miles, and we carpooled.

My husband drives about 35 miles to work. With traffic, it takes close to an hour.

Wow. I'm amazed at how far y'all get in half an hour! My current commute is from bed to desk, so the time depends on whether I eat breakfast. :) Back when I was driving to work daily, about 7 miles, it took about 25 minutes. The traffic is much worse now because a lot of rich people to the one side of me, who didn't want to drive to the far other side to work, moved their work closer to their homes, so all the peons it takes to keep one rich person working have to drive across me to the new location (where none of them can afford to live--they're lucky if they can afford to park there). It's screwy.

7 miles, 15 minutes. Some days I ride my bike.

14 miles, about 30-35 minutes depending on the traffic crossing a bridge

Since I've lived in this house, my shortest commute was 10 miles, five of them on back roads. Two traffic lights once I got to town. In good weather it took 20 minutes.

My last job was my least favorite commute: 23 miles, and no matter which of the three possible routes I took, there was always a mountain to go over. No problem in summer, but no fun in winter. Plus I worked evenings (in a library), so the trip home was always in the dark. When people ask if I miss the job, I say, "I miss the people."

I work at a part-time job that is about 12 minutes away. I used to also work another part-time job that was 25 minutes. This job was never during rush hour and going home I was against the traffic, so never any problems.

You really do get spoiled not wasting time commuting. I have hand it to people who have long commutes.

Rob, that is terrific. An hour being driven is nothing like having to drive yourself. You can get headphones and listen to music while on the train or bus.

It was meant to be!

In the mid-80s, my office was transferred from the Maryland suburbs (5 miles from my house) to Washington, D.C. (I had a view of the Capitol from my office window). I left home at 7 AM; drove 5 miles to the nearest Metro Station; then took Metro to the office (including getting off at Metro Center, going downstairs, and changing trains); then walked almost 1/2 mile to my office. The commute--on a good day--was 1-1/2 hours. I usually got home between 9 and 10 PM. It was a great job, but after 16 months, I transferred back to my original work location. Life is too short....

My husband's job is about 20 miles away and it take 30-35 minutes to get there. His other commute is about 10 steps to his office and takes no time at all. ;)

When we lived in town and I had a job, it was 7 miles away and took about 10 minutes.

Closest grocery store is 10 miles away and takes me about 15 minutes and my kids school is 9 miles away and takes 15 minutes.

I feel silly saying that our commutes are sometimes annoying given what others here deal with on a daily basis.

Guess I'm really not cut out for big city living!

My office is 57 miles from home and takes 75-90 minutes in the am and only an hour in the evening. I rarely have to drive in, I work from home full time. Absolutely love my home and neighborhood and like my job more than I like the prospect of finding a new job :-)

Commuting....so glad I don't do it any more. Commute now is across the house.

When I worked in Chicago, I drove. It was about 35 miles one way and on a good day, it took an hour. Normally it was 1.5 hours. With weather, 3 hours. I ended up working longer hours to avoid traffic so I was never home! I changed jobs and was able to take the train. Commute was 1.5 hours door to door. Had to drive to the train station, walk a quarter of a mile to the train, 45 minute train ride and then walk just shy of a mile to the office. I was up at 4:30, left the house at 6:00 at was at my desk at 7:30. On the way home, I left at 3:45 and arrived home at 5:00.

I think my longest commute was when I lived just north of Trenton NJ and worked downtown Philly. I drove it for a while and then took the train for a while. Gosh, that was so long ago I can't recall how long the drive took but it was 50 miles one way.

One of the reasons DH is able to get to work so quickly is that we are less than 2 miles from the freeway entrance. He gets there before the metering lights go on so he can zip right on.

Our public transportation is horrid here. We have light rail that goes nowhere and is so slow due it can take an hour to go 10 miles. Our buses don't sync with other transportation like light rail or trains or even their own routes. Night workers are out of luck because many routes shut down in the early evening.

DH worked not far from where he does now some years back. It was just a bit farther than now and took about 45 minutes to drive. He noticed the train station was directly behind the building he worked in. We have pretty good access to a train stop. So he decided to try the train even though it would be a bit longer trip. Figured he could relax on the train so the little bit longer commute would be worth it. Well he got off the train and found he was not allowed to cross the tracks to his building and there was a locked gate. No worries. Company would pay for a shuttle. So he walked the couple blocks to the shuttle pick up zone. And waited and waited and waited. A little over a half hour later here came the shuttle. Yay. He gets on and finds that shuttle doesn't just serve the trains but also feeder buses and a number of companies in the area. He looks the 2 blocks behind him at his building thinking they will cross the highway and drop him off. Nope. He rides that shuttle for another 1/2 hour "loop" while they do more pick-ups and drop-offs. His 40 - 45 minute highway commute had turned into over a two hour and 15 minute commute by the time he was done. Then the same thing on the way home. By the end of the week he was back in his truck. Not driving was too stressful.

Back when we were working: for 17 yrs we lived in San Francisco, out by the ocean. Taking public transit it took me 22 mins to get into downtown SF. But that didn't count the time walking 'back' a few stops so we could always get a seat. Spouse rode in with me, had to connect to the subway to cross the Bay to reach work, then walk from the station.

His commute was an hour if he was lucky and made all quick connections. 1-1/2 hrs (each way) if he wasn't.

When we bought a house we moved across the Bay and then his commute was 10-15 min by car. He dropped me off at the subway system, where it took me about 20 min to reach downtown SF and the office.

Commute traffic has gotten much worse but we are fortunately retired now. We plan activities around the traffic patterns.

One of our favorite places to visit (we try to travel midweek) is Monterey/Carmel. Avoiding rush hours, we can drive the 110 miles in about 90 min or so. But if we're caught in rush hour or on weekends, there have been times it has taken us 2 hrs 45 min. for the same distance!

Watchmelol, I'm lol'ing! Surface streets around here are more often faster than the freeway, so that location wouldn't be a big boon. :) At any hour. I've had to drive coming up on rush hour to a place 40 minutes away by freeway without slowed traffic (and not readily accessible by surface), when I didn't feel well enough to feel good about going at freeway speed. I would smile to myself, wait until at least 4:00 p.m., and get on the freeway. No worries with going 25, with a lot of slow and go (or dead stop) between. :) Just park myself in the 2 lane, chill out and listen to tunes. :) Way too congested and slow for jerks to be weaving in and out. Maybe a too fast lane splitting motorcycle, but that's not an issue in broad daylight--easy to see him coming. Yep. Heavy traffic can be relaxing if you just get into it. :)

I'm retired, the best part is I never commute! I used to live 40 miles from my job, no car-pooling or mass transit available, so i drove every day. The savings in gas money alone is wonderful!

When I worked for my hometown newspaper I drove a couple miles from home to the office, then ten minutes from our newlywed apartment. DH drove 20 minutes from our apartment to his also-suburban office. Soon, though, DH was working in the Loop -- never more than an hour, door to door, from wherever we lived, and always with the major distance on the RR -- but always involving a car for a short distance to and from the RR.

In retirement, we moved twice as far from the city, but still are only a mile-plus from the RR.

It seemed like a good idea when Ike expanded the nation's highways, but it's time to put money back into alternative means of transport. Car makers and road builders will be sad, and government clout will have to be dealt to others.

My worst commute was after IBM sold our plant to Siemans, they closed us. I then got a job in Denver 90 miles away, 12 hour shifts that rotated nights to days every 4 weeks, 3 days a week. When I worked days I had to dress up, pay for parking and walk 5 blocks into work in a 20 story building. 7am-7pm/7pm-7am When it snowed I'd leave @ 4am before they closed the highway often following an 18 wheelers tail lights to stay on an otherwise unmanageable road. Did that for 3 years, then the bank sold us and they moved their data processing to the centralized location of the mother company. My commute gave my DH the opportunity to stay comfortably employed with his local employer, where he's been for 24 years!

25 miles one way. Takes about 30-35 minutes on the weekend and get to park in the hospital parking garage so I can leave a half hour later. Weekday, depends on how late I leave, anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. Coming home on my 8 hour day is a nightmare. Takes at least an hour, most of it spent getting out of Lexington.

Before I retired...many of my commutes were by air to many U.S. states, europe and the south pacific....working for a large mainframe company.

About 40 miles, 2 hours each way, 5 days a week. Some driving, most on the train, which is late more often than not.

New York sucks.

When I worked, I did different times and places being a nanny and went to different homes to look after the kids. ONE home I would get stuck behind the school bus there and back but the driver was so good, would wave me to go ahead and that was so nice of him to do that. The winters were horrible due to my vehicles didn't drive the snow and plus I freak out and I would have to park my vehicle down below somewhere and then walk up our long driveway in the dark and same in the morning too. So, it was long times especially in the snow and dark.

Then I went to work last place and it wasn't far but same thing, winter and she never came home to let me go before it fell and made it very hard on me.

And seems for whatever reason the seniors would all be out when I would drive home and take forever to get home due to them driving too slow, drove me crazy as why were they out there at this time and I just wanted to get home and cook supper and so tired I was.

kathy

I live about 1.5 miles from the office. Sometimes I walk. When I drive, it takes about 6 minutes. Well, sometimes longer, if I get caught in traffic near our elementary school. :)

My commute is to the coffee pot in the morning and out into my studio. Same with my husband.

I live in Columbus Ohio and my commute is 15 miles one way. Without traffic I'm able to make the drive in 19 minutes. However, with traffic, rain, snow, accidents the drive takes 2 hours.

Many people laugh at me because I refuse to work a 9-5 job. If I left the office at 5 pm, it would take 2 hours to get home, so I refuse. I have to drive through 3 construction areas currently which makes everything an absolute mess and the expressway is a parking lot from downtown Columbus.

bob_cville, if you remember the expressway 315 in Columbus. All lanes are being repaved, and they are rebuilding the exit from 315 onto 270 that merges with 23. Its always been a nightmare but they are finally doing something about it. However that construction project is taking 4 years. I can't wait until its over.

I also think a commute is easier or more tolerable if you're actually driving and not sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. That just creeps along. I could park my car and walk faster. But 15 miles is a long walk!

paw print, I agree completely with this:
I also think a commute is easier or more tolerable if you're actually driving and not sitting in bumper to bumper traffic

I do remember 315. Before I lived just off Sawmill Rd in Dublin where I could see my office on the other side of the Scioto River valley, I lived near campus and usually would take 315 from the campus area out to 270 and that over to the 161 exit in Dublin.

One morning I needed to do some errand on the way to work, due to which it made more sense to take I-71 out to 270, rather than 315. I absentmindedly went under 270 to take the second exit for westbound 270, only to realize that both eastbound and westbound exits for 270 are before you go under the highway. At the time the next exit from I-71 was the Delaware exit, 15 miles further.

4 minutes. That's how long it takes to get to the golf course. Hey, someone's got to do it!

Hi Bob,

I remember when Delaware was the next exit. I would have made an illegal uturn in the burm where all the police sit and watch traffic.

Now they've added a couple more exits because they built a mall in the Polaris area. If u remember back far enough, Polaris was and still is Powell road! Which still takes you to the zoo and still 1 lane each way. Another nightmare. (By the mall is 4 lanes each way but it goes down by one lane after every stop light).

Lately they have been closing the 270 exit from 315 & I have to drive all the way to the zoo and cut back east on Powell rd.

Every night I am amazed at the amount of traffic here in Columbus. But our park & ride bus system is an even worse commute causing more cars on the road.