Commuter Travel

joolsybools

I do a 45 bike ride each way or if I'm feeling lazy a 40 minute tube ride.

Graham_Devon

Cleaver wrote: »

Are you not tempted to get a bike? You could do 6 miles in about 20 minutes no probs. Would probably beat the 2 hours on a bus and pay for itself after a couple of months.

Or a car, car sounds good

wymondham

Thanks for all the replies. It seems that about an hour seems to be acceptable to most. My other half travels 10 miles on the bus each day and she likes it as it allows her to wind down. She often tells me of conversations she overhears (older people are quite saucy!!) and usually falls a sleep and ends up in the next village - kind of exciting!

Generali

Mr_Matey wrote: »

For a while in Sydney I did 1 hour on the awful cityrail network. Never again!

Cityrail is terrible but still beats London commuter trains hands down, at least the lines I've seen.

LydiaJ

I live just over a mile from work. If I was on my own, I'd probably cycle. However, I have to combine it with the school run. I drive past my work, and then on another mile and a half to my kids' school, and then back again to my workplace, dealing with the town's one way system twice. It's just over 4 miles in total. It takes about 15min to get to their school, 5 min to see them into the playground etc, and 10 min to get to work, so half an hour altogether.

I used to live much nearer the kids' primary school, but the landlords needed their house back, and the rented house we found at short notice was over this side of town. As the regulars know, I'm looking to buy. The houses I'm looking at are near the secondary school I want for my kids, which is the other side of their primary school from here. So my home - kids' school - work journey will be shorter, even though I'll actually be a bit further from work.

Prudent

My commute has to be the biggest downside of my day.... I really don't like commuting

It isn't excessively long either. It is 20 miles/35 minutes by car. By public tranport it would take 1 hr 45 mins due to number of changes.
I would prefer to communte by train as I could comp and earn, like the matched betting idea.

However it is solely my choice. House prices are the same as where I live. I like where I live, stunning views, great neighbours and my life is here. Also teachers living in the catchment of their school often feel under scrutiny. It is nice to be away from work in that sense.

I try to make the best of the time by catching up on current affairs on the way into work. On the way home I either listen to classic fm and relax or to a book on cd if I am still able to concentrate.

ash28

Cleaver wrote: »

Another question would be whether anyone enjoy's their commute?

I used to drive about 30 miles each way, which took over an hour in normal conditions with a lot of stop start. Really used to hate it with a passion.

I now find the 15 minutes on public transport quite pleasurable. Either read my book or listen to music / podcast. It's actually quite a relaxing start and end to each day.

I was in a similar position - with 50 mile each way commute which took over an hour and I left the house at 6.30 - 7am - to try and reduce the time it took.

I didn't mind it at first - but like you I ended up hating it with a passion and used to try and get home in the shortest possible time and had even been known to show signs of mild road rage - I'm normally the most passive of drivers. It did nothing at all for my stress levels. I was like a coiled spring by the time I got home.

I managed to get a job a 15 minute bus ride away - what a difference and it was a pleasure compared to the driving I'd done before.

PasturesNew

Mozette wrote: »

I live about 6 miles away, travel is £42 pcm bus pass, takes 45 mins to get there at stupid o'clock (two buses) and oh god anything up to 2 hours to get home, which is a bit of a beggar. Thank heaven for an MP3 player! (with in ear noise cancelling earphones - I hate it when other people 'share' their taste in music with the rest of the bus)

Why don't you cycle? It's only 6 miles. My first job was 6 miles from home and it was perfectly normal for everybody to cycle those distances. I had one of those old lady bikes from the 1960s - with a big wicker basket on the front and a 3-gear lever. Tyres were often shredded/bald, brakes rarely worked... but that was what a bike was back in those days (non of your hi-falutin mountain bikes, fast bikes, light bikes, trendy bikes).

If there's a hill or 3, then you push the bike up those - but freewheel down them.

Even I can do 6 miles/hour on 1-in-4 gradient areas by pushing/freewheeling (and I'm rubbish).

Oh ... and I did get a moped after about 6-8 months, but that wasn't because of the route to work, but because I wanted to leave my village in the evenings and the last bus home was at 10.30. It was after that that I started to have friends outside of my own village (it beat sitting on the village pump every night chatting to whoever else was there). So a moped's possible too. Or an electric bike.

6 miles is nothing though...

PasturesNew

Anyway ... talking of commutes, I've just done mine: down to the kitchen for a coffee and back up here. Now, crossed-legged on my bed.... I'm off to work. Got an article to write about party plan

Cya.

marklv

wymondham wrote: »

I'm curious as to how many people commute long distances so they can afford to buy/live in better area etc, and how this impacts on them, with the costs of the travel and the time eaten away from their 'home time' - is it worth it?

I work about 10 miles from where I live and often do work on the way in/home so this is nothing compared to most. I did do a stint working in London, but found the commute both in terms of time and money simply wasnt worth it and gave this up after a few months with the attitiude 'work isnt everything' !

who travels the furthest, and why, how much do you spend commuting? Discuss!

I commute from Reading into London and it costs me £4,030 for a season ticket including tube fares. With fares going up higher than inflation, the cost will no doubt rocket next year :-(

Unfortunately I have to commute as there are no suitable jobs for me locally. My wife also works locally, so it makes no sense to move closer in.

I hate the commute - 1.5 hours each way, that's 3 hours a day wasted on travelling. If I'm still working at my current employer next year, I will request that I become home-based, to limit my travel.