How far do (or would) you travel for work?

[Deleted User]

Mrs_Ryan wrote: »

Used to be: Lift from OH/bus from my house to Leicester
Train from Leicester to Nottingham
Bus from Nottingham city centre to work (near Nottingham racecourse)

Average time going to work - 2 and a half hours

Coming back - no buses so work supplied taxi to city centre
Tram to station (taxi was only allowed to drop off at one place and it was at the other end of town)
Train to Leicester
OH picked me up at Leics station.

Work finished at 9pm - home by 11pm. I did that for a year and eventually cracked up due to pressures of job/travelling and I now work 20 mins away from home by car or about 30 by bus. It used to cost me nearly £300 a month which given I was only earning just under £600 a month was a nightmare - I was always late as well as something was always going wrong with the trains :mad: I was over an hour late one day and had to leave an hour early because the trains were in such a mess - fortunately I had an exceedingly understanding boss...

WOW! That's pretty extreme, especially since travelling costs were half of your monthly salary. I can imagine how stressful it is relying on public transport all the time. I used to get the bus to uni which took over an hour and there was always something going wrong (driver not turning up usually) which made me frequently late for lectures. I imagine it's even worse when you have to be in work for a certain time. Glad your commute is significantly shorter now!

[Deleted User]

jungle_jane wrote: »

its exhausting though - i would LOVE to find a job where i could travel for one hour each way, enjoy my job and get paid my normal rate...

You commute exhausted me just reading about it. You sound like you have an amazing job, just so far away. It seems too much to ask for a local job that pays well and is enjoyable. All the jobs in my local area seem to be extremely underpaid carers positions with irregular hours.

magenta22

I think really that it depends, is it a job worth doing the commute for?

My last role (FTC) was 15 minutes door to door which was great, before that my journey without traffic was 40 minutes but with traffic it could take up to a hour and a half which as this was more often the case as it was mostly motorway it did get very frustrating hence I looked for something which was a bit nearer to home.

What you also have to bear in mind is getting there and back in bad weather. As you know this country doesn't cope well with winter so could you get into work or home again easily in winter weather conditions?

How much is the commute going to cost? Does the salary cover that well enough?

Gettingtherequickly

KiKi wrote: »

1h 40 there, 1h 20 back, currently. 3 trains in the morning; 2 in the evening - assuming no-one throws themselves under a train around the East Croydon area.

KiKi

And Croydon council are always trying to encourage new employers into the area. Luckily, I drive there, but I do feel for anyone having to deal with the consequences.

KiKi

Gettingtherequickly wrote: »

And Croydon council are always trying to encourage new employers into the area. Luckily, I drive there, but I do feel for anyone having to deal with the consequences.

I work in London, but go through East Croydon. I don't mean this insensitively, because I'm not that heartless, but January is suicide month on the Brighton line. Five substantial delays last month due to suicides, mostly around Norbury or ECR, which impacts the Brighton line.

KiKi

System

1 hour each way by car.
If I want to be green I can do it in 2.5 hours by bus and train at a cost of 5* petrol but would also need my boss to agree to working only 5 hours a day instead of 7.5

anxious_mum

I work in Europe, so my average commute is:

1 hour to Birmingham Airport (depending on the time of day)
1 hour waiting at the airport
1 hour flight to Brussels
45 minute drive to Gent

So, on a good day, almost 4 hours :-) That's not counting flight delays, motorway madness, missed flights etc.

CCFC_80

It's up to the individual, I personally hate driving (too many w****s on the road) and would not want to drive more then 45 minutes each way.

Also the salary should be taken into account, I would want to earn at least £10.00 per hour if I was spending 40 to £50 each week on petrol plus the wear and tear on my vehicle and also to take into account a obvious higher insurance premium for the extra travel.

uk_american

I currently work from home, although commutes in the past have ranged each way from a 20 minute drive to a 1.5 hour bus+train combination.

Like previous posters said, it depends on personal preference, and balancing the money earned vs cost (time & money).

Maybe do a test run, go out on Sat and Sun, drive an hour twice a day to replicate your shift and see how you feel being in the car for this time period two days in a row? Or extend your normal commute by 40 minutes each day for a week to see how the increase feels?

Amanita_2

Deleted_User wrote: »

Hi all,

I have an interview for a job I would really like for a well-known company. My only problem is that the job is a 1 hour drive away and I'm wondering if that is too much. I have always worked fairly close to home, no more than 20 minutes (I've been lucky in that respect). This would be worse if the job was 9-5pm and I'd be caught in traffic but I'd be doing the back shift and working 4pm to 2am four nights a week. I'd be interested to find out how long it takes you to get to and from work and how you find this.

I have an hour's drive to work each morning ( 45 miles) and an hour back again. I've been doing it for the last 6 years and will probably continue indefinitely. Yes it gets boring but I have a good selection of music and a "fun" car. Not keen on the petrol bills though.