If you go to work, chances are you have to hop into your car or board a train to get there. Maybe you also take a bus, maybe you can bike, or perhaps you can walk. Hey, if you’re really lucky, maybe your commute takes you from your bedroom to your shower to your office just off of the living room. Whatever the case may be, traveling is involved.
Some people base their decisions on where to apply for work, what jobs to accept, and even where to live based upon the commute. Most everyone would like to see theirs shorter, but for one reason or another, this can’t always be done. There is some consensus on what constitutes a “long” commute, but by no means do all people agree since some have a higher tolerance for it than others.
Before I resigned from my last position to relaunch my career as a writer, I had a job approximately 30 miles away and on the other side of the Hudson River. The drive typically took me about 45 minutes in each direction, but what made my morning commute so egregious is that of those thirty miles, about three or four were highway. The rest of my drive was mostly one-lane roads and traffic lights galore (at least 35 in each direction — trust me, I had plenty of time to count). In many cases, all it would take was one school bus or one — shall we say older driver and all of a sudden, the commute gets even longer. There I am, in a 55 MPH zone of a one-lane road going 40 because of who was in front of me, and it happened far too often. On the way home, the route was a little different, but there were also more small towns (and therefore a few more lights and 30 MPH villages).
Now, to many, a 30-mile, 45-minute commute with somewhere between 35 and 40 traffic lights each way is an abominable, intolerable commute; I agree. For others, that would be a welcome break. My father, on the cusp of retirement, has been traveling a 50-mile, 65-minute commute every work day for decades. The difference is that his is virtually all highway, so there’s at least the chance he can get out from behind the slowest driver on the road, and he won’t get stuck at a dozen traffic lights.
And then there are people who spend two hours a day on the train in one direction getting to work, and even others who drive literally hours upon hours between jobs just to make ends meet. I’m sure they feel like their commute is long, and I doubt any of us will disagree.
If you’re looking to quantify this in numbers, I can try, but this is only my opinion.
One-way commute times, including traffic:
10 minutes or less: Short commute
10-20 minutes: Tolerable commute
20-30 minutes: A little long but not awful
30-45 minutes: Alright, now we’re pushing it
45-60 minutes: I hope you’re getting paid well for this
1-2 hours: Well that’s just not fair
2+ hours: I admire your resolve
Ultimately, it’s up to you to figure out what’s a “long” commute and what isn’t. If you’re going to complain about a 10-minute drive, however, just don’t expect a lot of sympathy.
