Commutes

[alleyallen]

Previously, I was driving 33 miles each way to get to my last rag. Now that I'm out of the business, my new job is much closer, but because of interstate construction it takes nearly as long as did my other job.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

30 miles, almost all traffic congested freeways. Can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and ten. And there's a few rare days when the combination of rain and accidents makes it "well, ****, you'll get there when you get there."

The key to shortening the time is to use the right lanes. Every bonehead yahoo around here feels compelled to get to the innermost, non HOV lanes, leaving the far right lanes the least congested. Go figure.

Have pretty much always had an hour, one way commute for most of my working life, so I'm kind of immune to it by now. And until the kids get through high school, moving closer is not an option.

 

[User 4755]

A folo:

Do you guys/girls like a little bit of a longer commute to calm down a little bit before you get home from the stress of the daily deadline?

Yeah, had a job once where I lived way out from where I worked and traveled the 67 miles home every night at 1 a.m. on an empty MassPike. Quite nice, because the job was a major deadline-stress-fest. Kept me from the bar and allowed me to unwind so nicely that I'd get home and fall right asleep.

 

[expendable]

20 minutes, all freeway. Then a five-minute walk to and from the car because I refuse to pay my employer for a parking space.

You have to pay for a parking space? WTF.

I pay for a parking space, but it's in a garage. I only use it probably 10 days a year, though, if there's no street parking on the street directly around the building or if it's going to snow or ice.

Otherwise, street parking. $20 a paycheck to use it 10 days. Goddammit.

Damn, that sucks.

Our only problem is we sometimes don't have enough parking spaces for everyone that works here. Like this week, we've had a roofing company here putting a tin roof on the building, and their equipment took up a whole row of spaces in the back parking lot Wednesday and a whole other row today in the front of the building.

You get used to paying for the garage. It blows, but unless you know you've got a free place to park -- within reasonable walking distance -- what else can you do in the city?

I have a reserved spot with my name on it. And once or twice a year I get the pleasure of calling the tow truck company.

Whew. I'd like to see that check stub of yours.

Small sign with Expendable's name on it: $25.
Expendable's pay stub: More than $25, but still way below the poverty level.
Getting to tow some illiterate college kid's car (usually much nicer than Expendable's): Priceless.

Some things are impossible to buy with Expendable's paycheck, but it's damn entertaining to watch Main Street Towing haul Blaine's Daddy's car down the road on a hook.

 

[CRM]

I used to live five minutes from the office at my old gig. New one had me at 27 miles and about 35-40 minutes, sometimes over an hour if there were traffic jams. Just moved to a better location and it is a nice easy 25-minute drive, no matter the traffic. It makes a difference.

 

[fishwrapper]

37 miles, 42 miles or 47 miles depending on which way I go.
Time? It has taken me anywhere between 40 minutes to three hours.

 

[Buck]

If I take the subway, I'm at the office in about 17 minutes, coffee stop included. If I walk -- or amble slowly -- takes about 20 minutes.

Thank god for the train.

 

[forever_town]

Some of these commutes are shorter than mine. And I thought I had it great.

My commute takes me anywhere from seven to 12 minutes, depending on a street light.

 

[accguy]

I live 7.5 miles away. It's about a 15 minute drive. 20 with bad traffic.

It's not that bad at all.

 

[playthrough]

Mine is about 20 steps, bedroom to office.

First newspaper job though was about 55 miles. I was living with my girlfriend (now wife) and she had a good-paying job, while mine definitely was not. Like some said earlier, the longish commute was nice to listen to the radio coming into work and then settling down after work, etc., but it was so damn long that I was all radioed- or settled-out by about mile 30. Plus it was a job where our coverage area was huge, so I would spend at least another hour every day driving to/from games and such. A very long year for the Jeep Cherokee.

 

[Dyno]

My commuting rule of thumb is that the commute is too long if I can't withstand the drive on a hypothetical day when I was sick and needed to leave early to go home. So for me 30-something minutes or less is doable.

My current commute is right about there. Some mornings it's closer to 45 minutes. I drive 9 miles on pretty congested city streets.

 

[Editude]

We used to live in outer-ring, good-school suburbia and have decided that we will sacrifice many other things (even home ownership) to have a reasonable commute.

 

[PHINJ]

Door to door:

1. Leave house at 1:45.
2. Walk about a mile to train station, usually stopping for coffee/paper.
3. 70 minute train ride.
4. Walk into office around 3:35.

 

[Bob Slydell]

My last job I was 0.9 miles from the office. Now I'm 40.

 

[jmm1412]

Mine's about 10 minutes. Plus another 10 for the parking lot/walk from the lot to the office. And, yeah, we pay for parking too. Have to. The company leases spaces from a bunch of close/semi-close lots, and we get spaces at a discounted rate. The train would be ideal. There's a train station literally a block from home. And tt would be cheaper than paying for a space, but, alas, the train stops running before I get out of the office. So I drive.

 

[micropolitan guy]

12 minutes tops, less when the tourists are out of town over Christmas break and the summer.

 

[Eagleboy]

Somehow, I'm lucky: 25 minutes to the school, 25 minutes to the office and 25 minutes from school to the office.

I never realized that until now. But it's rather neat, I think. Of course, traffic often makes that 40+ minutes - it's about 16 miles each way.

 

[TrooperBari]

About 20 minutes on the highway, more if there are turistas enjoying the view.

I like having a little bit of a drive (I could walk to my last gig in 20 minutes). I can usually get through 4-5 good songs on the playlist ... 8-10 if I get into the punk selections.