The true cost of commuting is actually the stress that piles on you, bit by bit.. it can contribute to divorce, physical disease, high blood pressure, loneliness, etc. Just ask anyone that has to ride their car into NYC traffic, or even take the crowded subways on a daily basis.
The True Cost of Commuting
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Re: The True Cost of Commuting
#22In an earlier life, I lived in the Dallas area. Moving to be near work sounds great, but it would not have been practical. - I lived there for nine years. My average tenure was 18 months for each employer: Laid-off, right-sized, down-sized. Finding a new house for each new employer would have been costly. - One employer was way the heck out by the airport. There were no houses within biking distance. Or not ones I co…
> My house is two miles away from the office. I still need a car: biking to work in the winter is just crazy. I grew up in Minneapolis, you should check out the bicycle commuting scene where you live. It varies by location, but in Minneapolis I was able to bicycle commute at least 4 days a week all winter long thanks to good plowing of bike paths, studded tires (only occasionally) and substituting a bus ride in right…
For me the biggest part was having a place to change. I commuted rain/snow/shine for almost 2 years straight in Chicago, but I was only able to make it happen because I had a gym membership in the building. Some places around here are (supposedly, so I hear) getting better about having more of a locker room style bathroom to allow for people who ride to work and not be a sweaty mess when they get there.
Re: The True Cost of Commuting
#23I work from home, but I still "commute" to get a fresh breakfast every morning - by scooter. It is such a joy to ride a scooter in London traffic that I deliberately go to much farther shops just to extend the amount of time I'm zooming past the traffic...
Quite frugal on fuel (I get about 70 MPG, but I ride a fast 300cc scooter and don't have a light throttle hand), and I can do most regular maintenance (oil & filter mostly) myself.
Re: The True Cost of Commuting
#24"For each of these miles, you waste about 6 minutes in the round trip..."
This little line here has a huge effect on the computation, because it assumes you are only traveling at 20 mph on your commute. So all this only applies if you are in a heavy traffic area or commuting to a city center.
Re: The True Cost of Commuting
#25"Error establishing a database connection" So very true. When I lived 60 minutes from work and this would happen, it was a freaking nightmare. If I was lucky, someone else would be on call, but if I wasn't, it meant a 2 hour round trip to fix what usually ended up being an unplugged cable of some sort. Sometimes it just needed a power cycle. -sigh- ... That wasn't the article? I wonder if the article is as insightful…
Ah, here we go. "And it also doesn’t count as using up your personal time because it is adding something that nobody except Olympic athletes is doing enough of anyway – exercise. You can take your 10 minute bike ride directly out of time you would have otherwise spent in the gym, or waiting in the doctor’s office for prescription medication." I was wondering how he managed to eliminate that from his calculations. He…
There are a lot of problems with driving too: parking, traffic jams, cost, etc, but you are conditioned to take those for granted.
As a full-time bicycle commuter I have to say that your complaints are more minor inconveniences than serious problems. Do I have to shower after biking 9 miles to work? No, a change of clothes is sufficient. Am I limited to where I can go to lunch? Not compared to my colleagues who mostly walk to lunch, I can easily cover a mile radius of restaurants, and I can do it faster than anyone who opts to drive because of traffic and parking.
Granted if you have to ride open highway or wear a suit to your job, then the downsides become much stronger, but I naturally factor those into my living choices. I would never live in a distant suburb or work an an extremely isolated office park.
The point of all this is simply that I don't view bicycle commuting as some big sacrifice that I make for abstract reasons. I save money and I am more productive at work.
Re: The True Cost of Commuting
#26Funny. I drive from Ft Collins, to the same Broomfield he's talking about (yay Colorado).
I love my 50 minute commute. I use it to listen to podcasts and music. It gives me time to unwind and think. And most importantly, it came along with a raise that more than makes up for the monetary costs of driving.
I'd love a mass transit or car pooling solution, but I haven't run across a viable one yet.
Anyway, I really like my commute. Although, we'll see how it goes in the winter as roads get gross sometimes.
Re: The True Cost of Commuting
#27The problems with long commutes all revolve around home ownership.
People want big houses on big yards. Most can't afford that close to work, which means they make the economic choice to trade the commute time for that "dream".
That's fine but the problem is that government subsidizes that dream to a ridiculous degree. Urban sprawl has a huge cost in infrastructure, largely borne by the taxpayer.
Low-density urban sprawl largely also makes public transport uneconomic (public transport works best in high density cities and countries).
Lastly, home ownership decreases the flexibility of the labour market. People are less able and less inclined to pick up and move to find work opting instead for lower-paid employment or no employment at all.
Re: The True Cost of Commuting
#28"For each of these miles, you waste about 6 minutes in the round trip..." This little line here has a huge effect on the computation, because it assumes you are only traveling at 20 mph on your commute. So all this only applies if you are in a heavy traffic area or commuting to a city center.
Some days I wish my average speed was 20mph on my commute. My commute is ~17 miles and it sometimes takes an hour or more.
Re: The True Cost of Commuting
#29The author of the article completely ignores public transit. Commuting by train has at least two advantages: (1) it (can be) cheaper than driving, although the exact economics depend on a lot of things, and (2) you can do something else, such as work, during the commute time, so it need not be wasted time. Also, commuting an hour to a job sure beats not having a job in the same state as your significant other (my sit…
As a related point, podcasts (tech podcasts specifically) have made my driving commutes more bearable. Sure, I can't do actual work while driving, but I no longer feel like I'm wasting my time. The result is less stress. Now when my trips are quick sometimes I'm annoyed I didn't get to hear more of the show!
Re: The True Cost of Commuting
#30I work in Seattle and have a one hour, one way commute. I live 15 miles away. Getting to the bus stop, waiting for the bus, and then walking from the bus stop to work really adds up.
Seattle proper -> MSFT campus?
That commute is the main reason I've never entertained any thought of joining MSFT. The choices are to live in comically stereotypical suburbia, or to suffer that commute daily.
Amazon is hiring...