It does raise the question of why large companies _aren't_ responsible for paying for commuting costs. We've obviously never done it that way, but is there a reason that we couldn't?
Long time ago I worked for a company where people were paid for time they were travelling to the office (with transport cost covered on top of that). This rule applied only to older folks who had their contracts signed when such terms were offered (at the time when I was joining this clause was already removed). This was in London and some people were travelling 2 hours one way (so 4 hours of paid travelling time every day). Though.. I also thought it is a bit waste of life to spend 4 hours travelling every single day.