What is a reasonable commute time to get to work?

I think one hour is just about okay. My current jobs takes 52 minutes, I manage it okay, obviously like the commute time to be shorter, but there is nothing I can do. My previous job took 20-25 minutes.

I think anything up to 1 hour is a reasonable commute time. I spend 8-9 hours at work, add on another two hours of commute time, then that's is nearly half the day gone.

What do you consider a reasonable commute time?

Reply 1

Zorg

18

I think it'll depend heavily on where you're based. If I was in London say, I would prefer to live outside the M25 and commute in for an hour than to live in the M25 unless it was central London but that's quite expensive.

Also, most people will compare their student commute to this, but I've always held the idea that education would require more work outside of the regular working mans hours so a commute that takes most of the day would heavily affect this.

Reply 2

zaliack

16

I'd say 45 minutes would be reasonable, but it really depends on your job. I would never commute over 20 minutes just to work at a Tesco, but I would happily commute one and a half hours for a "good" job.

Reply 3

Duck and Cover

15

Mine's a 40 minute drive, which I think is a nice time as it gives you time to get yourself in gear for teh day and then wind down on the way back.

Saying that, I used to work a 5-10 minute drive away which was bliss!

Reply 4

Georgiina_Tee

14

Mine is 45 minutes during peak times like 'on the school run' but can take less than 20 on a good day (via bus) In the Car its literally like 12 minutes or so. Like the person above yeah, it gives me enough time to properly wake up in the morning get into the right frame of mind and wind back down on the way home good thinking time as well,

Hmm for work I'd probably only travel like an hour max on bus (I think how many I would need to take would need to be taken into account as well)

Reply 5

Charzhino

19

mine takes 45-50 minutes drive which is not bad. I thought I would be tired but it has gone quite well. One of the major deciding factors in getting a job for me is the commute time and I nearly rejected this current job because of the distance. Anything over what I am currently doing would be unreasonable for me, no matter what job it was

Reply 6

grumbeale

9

LMAO @ people wasting 2 hours every day simply travelling to and from work. I live <1 mile from work. The longest commute I have ever had was 15 minutes, and you can do it under 10 minutes consistently. Probably explains my ****ty pay though. A lot of the work I do now is elsewhere in the country, but I get paid whilst driving to these jobs at the full hourly rate. So four hours down to a job - I get paid for, as it's technically "work" and not a commute.

Reply 7

evantej

18

Original post by grumbeale

LMAO @ people wasting 2 hours every day simply travelling to and from work. I live <1 mile from work. The longest commute I have ever had was 15 minutes, and you can do it under 10 minutes consistently. Probably explains my ****ty pay though. A lot of the work I do now is elsewhere in the country, but I get paid whilst driving to these jobs at the full hourly rate. So four hours down to a job - I get paid for, as it's technically "work" and not a commute.

The Job Centre stipulate that you have to look for work within 90 minutes of your home, and that is one way. Not everyone lives in urban areas; and even those who do still often commute for work (take this thread as an example).

I think reasonableness depends upon the job and how you are travelling. For example, I live in a rural county and have to travel 30 minutes on the bus to get to the nearest town and 90 minutes to get to the nearest city.

I would dislike travelling long distances in a car by yourself, no matter what the job was. I used to travel 30 minutes in a car to work in a prison (15-20 miles). I loved the job. Driving was actually the quickest way to get there so it made sense. I personally do not mind travelling on a bus because I can read and it is cheaper than running a car. I do not think I would like it if I was travelling to my local city every day for some crappy job, though.

Reply 8

grumbeale

9

Original post by evantej

The Job Centre stipulate that you have to look for work within 90 minutes of your home, and that is one way. Not everyone lives in urban areas; and even those who do still often commute for work (take this thread as an example).

I think reasonableness depends upon the job and how you are travelling. For example, I live in a rural county and have to travel 30 minutes on the bus to get to the nearest town and 90 minutes to get to the nearest city.

I would dislike travelling long distances in a car by yourself, no matter what the job was. I used to travel 30 minutes in a car to work in a prison (15-20 miles). I loved the job. Driving was actually the quickest way to get there so it made sense. I personally do not mind travelling on a bus because I can read and it is cheaper than running a car. I do not think I would like it if I was travelling to my local city every day for some crappy job, though.

I've never used public transport to get to work, hate it entirely. I live in a rural area too, but there's a few businesses on the outskirts of the village where I live where I have worked, which is ideal for me, but obviously getting highly paid here is rare. If I want good money I'll have to move.

Reply 9

Tokyoround

16

1 hour each way is the limit of most peoples sanity.

Reply 10

Bella138

2

My commute takes 1 hour on a good day, 1 hour 10 mins sometimes, and 1 hour 20 on a bad day. I live 30 miles west of Paddington and commute into east London every day for work. However I have a two hour window from 8 to 10am for when I can get into work, so it's not so bad at all really.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 11

Laissez‒faire

11

Anything more than 1 hour will make you miserable. <30mins is ideal.

Reply 12

MonsoonFlower

22

Original post by GuyUK

I think one hour is just about okay. My current jobs takes 52 minutes, I manage it okay, obviously like the commute time to be shorter, but there is nothing I can do. My previous job took 20-25 minutes.

I think anything up to 1 hour is a reasonable commute time. I spend 8-9 hours at work, add on another two hours of commute time, then that's is nearly half the day gone.

What do you consider a reasonable commute time?

The reasonable average in my personal opinion and experience would be 45 minutes. I used to commute over 1 hour which used to kill my motivation and stamina. :sadnod:

Luckily now I commute half an hour from home and can't be more happier! :roll eyes:
Obviously those who have a car would say driving to work is easier because of the distance but that's even more expensive than public transport! (road tax, the car itself and a hefty insurance).

You just can't win these days. :sigh: