How much of a commute is too much

mariaalice

As a bit of a follow on from the almost comical thread about free travel and commuters. How much of a commute is too much? could an individual be actually driven mad by commuting? On the other hand, have some individuals got unrealistic expectations.

On a thread about house prices, someone commented that commuting from Bettystown to the city center would be brutal long-term a distance of 44k with good public transport options a commute of about an hour yet someone thinks that is too much?

My commute is about 50 min on average, my husband about 1 hour 20 and it has been getting longer for him.

Deebles McBeebles

Anything over ten mins for me. I've done my time commuting.

Dalomanakora

I used to work on the other side of the city, and using public transport (buses), it'd usually take 2-2.5 hours each way (walk, wait for bus, get off bus, walk, wait for bus, get off bus, walk). At Christmas it took 3.5 hours each way one horrible, horrible day!


I felt fine at the time, but when I left and got a job much closer, I realised how bloody exhausted I was.


My commute now is like 30 minutes including walking and bus, or 45 minutes if I want to just walk. It's incredibly handy and I'd struggle to commute for more than an hour each way now tbh!

mariaalice

Deebles McBeebles wrote: »

Anything over ten mins for me. I've done my time commuting.

You could cycle or run that be a great way to get to work.

Shop40

For me anything under an hour is okay.

KilOit

Anything over 30 mins imo
That's works out roughly 5 hours a week's and say you work 45 weeks with rest as annual leave etc you are looking at close to 10 days sitting in a car every year

amcalester

Previously had a 60 minute cycle each way, but moved out of Dublin in order to buy a house and now spending 2.5/3 hours in the car each day.

Planning on doing it for 12 months before making any decisions, but, after 3/4 months it already feels too much.

Will be working from home 2 days a week from next month though so that should make a difference.

PlaneSpeeking

mariaalice wrote: »

You could cycle or run that be a great way to get to work.

I"m fairly sure you're aware not everybody is able bodied enough to do that ?

Plus I'm fairly sure the N7 is off limits to bikes so that's us culchies screwed.

In answer to your question, I wouldn't in a perfect world choose to have 22 hours a week in commuting but my dad is secure in the Midlands whilst I work and I have a decent house for a decent rent, not like colleagues who share a box for 1800 a month.

What commute is too much ? Cannot be answered, it's up to the individual's life and what's in it.

eviltwin

Current commute is 20 mins. I'd do an hour max. I work with people who drive for up to 4 hours a day for work. I couldn't do that.

q85dw7osi4lebg

10 mins now, used to be 60 mins. Never again.

miezekatze

For me over 45 minutes one way would be too much. I've had much longer commutes in the past and it just felt like such a waste of time, especially if you drive. I guess sometimes you can't help it though and just have to put up with it for a while.

piplip87

I do a 5-6 hour round trip. Can't afford to live in Dublin, personal circumstances also have me still living in Cavan.

Hour and a half each way on the bus plus 40 minutes Luas daily.

Up at 4:45 home at 6. Still better than sitting at home on the dole. Will relocate workwise back to city centre in the new year though.

salmocab

Anything over an hour is probably too much, unfortunately it’s necessary for lots of people but long term it will have an effect on peoples lives. Currently I do 20 mins and the wife does 10. It means usually being able to spend some decent time with the kids.

troyzer

My mate is an economist who did his Masters thesis on the health effects of a long commute.

I think the result was that 90 minutes total per day is the tipping point, after that you exponentially increase the negative affects on health and productivity.

topper75

I might manage 45 minutes for a job I really liked that would have a fixed horizon, say 18 months.

Otherwise, 30 minutes max. More than that and it will get to you - not like a single commute - but cumulatively you will find yourself wrecked.

JustMe,K

I live in Dublin, work in Dublin, between time spent getting to luas/bus, waiting on public transport and walking to my office its anything from 70-90 mins each way each day. Literally far far too much.

seamus

Driving, anything over 30 minutes is taking the piss.

Cycling, walking or running, 45 minutes is fine.

Kevin Finnerty

troyzer wrote: »

My mate is an economist who did his Masters thesis on the health effects of a long commute.

I think the result was that 90 minutes total per day is the tipping point, after that you exponentially increase the negative affects on health and productivity.

I did a 240km round commute 5 days a week driving myself to an 8 to 10 hour day for 8 months once. Never again, I was mentally and physically drained at the end of it.
I relocated eventually.

Lia_lia

This is something I’ve been thinking about recently. We are thinking of buying a house and we are looking at a town which would be about 40 mins from my work and 20 from his. My commute at the moment is 10 minutes and his is about 20.

Is 40 each way too much? I love my short commute but also really like this particular town.

PlaneSpeeking

Kevin Finnerty wrote: »

I did a 240km round commute 5 days a week driving myself to an 8 to 10 hour day for 8 months once. Never again, I was mentally and physically drained at the end of it.
I relocated eventually.

That would be a killer, mine's about 90km door to door and that's just at the top end of enough.

Stark

Depends on the format of the commute I think.

An hour in the car is too much. An hour on a not too crowded/train bus is fine imo as I'll just relax with a book for the journey. Or an hour that's broken up with walking.

At the moment it's a 35 min cycle for me which doesn't seem like much but I do find mentally exhausting due to the stress of cycling through the city centre. I've actually taken the hour bus option some mornings as a "break" from the cycle commute...

jiltloop

I used to have to spend 45-60 minutes each way on a bus every day. Thankfully I'm now lucky enough to live within a 20 minute cycle from work which is such a great change to my day. I leave for work at 8am and I'm home by 5.30pm. I don't think I could ever go back to spending more time commuting than I do now.

Badly Drunk Boy

I haven't properly commuted since I was in college in the first half of the 90s. That was 10 minutes walk to the train station, 30 minutes to Heuston, and 20 minutes walking to Trinity. I remember that it took a girl on my course longer to get in from Skerries than it took for me to travel from a different county.

For 20+ years, it's been 6-7 minutes on the bike or 15-20 minutes walking to work. At this stage, anything over an hour would be too much, although I'd probably get used to it.

PlaneSpeeking wrote: »

I"m fairly sure you're aware not everybody is able bodied enough to do that ?

Plus I'm fairly sure the N7 is off limits to bikes so that's us culchies screwed.

I'm sure she meant that a 10 minute commute in a car converted to a bike ride would be doable for an able-bodied person.

duffman3833

my commute is a 15 min each way trip to work. It a lower paid job than what id get in Dublin but id rater have a comfortable life than a tired, stressed life traveling to and from Dublin

PlaneSpeeking

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

I haven't properly commuted since I was in college in the first half of the 90s. That was 10 minutes walk to the train station, 30 minutes to Heuston, and 20 minutes walking to Trinity. I remember that it took a girl on my course longer to get in from Skerries than it took for me to travel from a different county.

For 20+ years, it's been 6-7 minutes on the bike or 15-20 minutes walking to work. At this stage, anything over an hour would be too much, although I'd probably get used to it.


I'm sure she meant that a 10 minute commute in a car converted to a bike ride would be doable for an able-bodied person.

My apologies! Yeah I completely agree, there's colleagues here who cycle in 30-45 mins, no worries. Others take the car from Sandyford - there's a bloody LUAS right there!

incentsitive

I think 45 minutes each way driving is tolerable (like I do at the moment although the trip home can take up to 1 hr).
Having said that, I say tolerable, but I am already looking for work closer to home.

I would do 1.00-1.15 each way if I got 2-3 days a week from home. If I got 4 days a week from home, I'd do a 2-3 hr commute 1 day a week no bother.

But for me, the key to moving out to the sticks is to get a job on a train line and not live or work too far from the train stations. The old "ah sure its only 20 minutes drive from the train station" is rubbish.

Being honest also, I would take a lower salary or more menial job rather than a hellish commute every day. F that life is too short to waste away on the M50 every day.

Richard Hillman

It takes me an hour to get to work. I like to be early so I leave an hour and 15 minutes before I'm there. I only live 8km away from work but it's awkward to get to.

I used to do 4-5 hours a day going to and from college, so it's an easy commute for me

CrankyHaus

seamus wrote: »

Driving, anything over 30 minutes is taking the piss.

Cycling, walking or running, 45 minutes is fine.

Pretty much agree with this. If you can include exercise in your commute it's not so bad because you don't have to set aside time for it at home. Sitting in a car for much over 30 minutes gets frustrating though, especially if it's stop/start stress.

Hector Savage

Door to door mine is 45 mins, which is grand, I read on the train/bus.
Approaching an hour tho each way would annoy me, that's 2 hours a day every day = too much.

LollipopJimmy

Cycle for me takes ten to fifteen minutes depending on traffic lights.

If I take public transport it takes and hour and ten minutes which just shows up the joke of a public transport system we have, however this is made worse by the sheer amount of people who drive into the city centre. There are three people in my company who live a walkable distance to the office and they drive in daily and then pay stupid parking rates.

PlaneSpeeking

incentsitive wrote: »

I think 45 minutes each way driving is tolerable (like I do at the moment although the trip home can take up to 1 hr).
Having said that, I say tolerable, but I am already looking for work closer to home.

I would do 1.00-1.15 each way if I got 2-3 days a week from home. If I got 4 days a week from home, I'd do a 2-3 hr commute 1 day a week no bother.

But for me, the key to moving out to the sticks is to get a job on a train line and not live or work too far from the train stations. The old "ah sure its only 20 minutes drive from the train station" is rubbish.

Agreed - home in the summer I can walk to the station in 20 minutes, winter it's a five euro cab ride. Work is two LUAS trips from the station but not a massive deal breaker.

MarkY91

Some people's commutes sound depressing. I would hate to be I nsuch a situation where I'm spending literally days of my life each year on a bus or in a car. It must get a lot of you guys down and demotivated?

I currently have an 8 minute cycle to college and 20 minute cycle to work.

Going to work on a bus with rush hour traffic would take about 50 minutes with barely moving traffic.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Depends really. Takes me about an hour to get to work and between an hour or two to get home. I have a book so I don't notice the time at all.

Plopsu

About five hours per day but I do a four day week and one of those is from home. Still required considerable amount of adaptation. At that eleven years now (though the WFH only started this year).

I know a chap who leaves Ennis before 6am daily, drives into Limerick for the train to Heuston. Reaches work in city centre by nine, out of there before five for return journey and is finally home around 8pm. Dedicated for sure, but he assures me the pay compensates. Personally, anything over 30 minutes is excessive.

CrankyHaus

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I know a chap who leaves Ennis before 6am daily, drives into Limerick for the train to Heuston. Reaches work in city centre by nine, out of there before five for return journey and is finally home around 8pm. Dedicated for sure, but he assures me the pay compensates.

What's keeping him in Ennis?

GoneHome

My commute (driving) is 45 minutes each way in the Summer and up to an hour in the Winter depending on traffic into Limerick city, it doesn't bother me, I've been doing it for years now but I think anything over an hour would be too much. As it is it's well worth it for living in a beautiful rural area with a small mortgage for a great house in an area I love.

incentsitive

Deleted User wrote: »

I know a chap who leaves Ennis before 6am daily, drives into Limerick for the train to Heuston. Reaches work in city centre by nine, out of there before five for return journey and is finally home around 8pm. Dedicated for sure, but he assures me the pay compensates. Personally, anything over 30 minutes is excessive.

14 hr day - not if they paid me 7 figures.

CrankyHaus

CrankyHaus wrote: »

What's keeping him in Ennis?

A stubborn nature, he is happily settled there and doesn't want to relocate closer to Dublin. At least he can kip on the train.

wakka12

I cycle for 15 mins which is great. I wouldnt mind a long commute if it was on the bus and I could read or watch a show on my laptop. But sitting for hours every day in a car in traffic to get to a job I hate sounds like hell

erica74

I did Waterford to Dublin and back 5 days a week for a year on the train. I had to get up at 5am every morning, on the train at 6am, off the train in Dublin between 8:20 and 8:45 (Irish Rail, what a service!), then up to Grand Canal Dock on the luas, usually in work between 8:45 and 9:10. I was supposed to finish work at 5pm but, because of the gap between the evening trains, I used to stay until around 5:45, then head for the 6:35 train, off the train in Waterford between 8:50 and 9:15, then back in my home around 9:30. At the time, it was either work + that commute or no work at all so I did it for a year until eventually, something came up closer to home.

I certainly wouldn't recommend it for an extended period of time. I was absolutely exhausted all the time. Monday to Friday you've no time to do anything because you're either commuting/in work/absolutely exhausted. Then on Saturday and Sunday, you're trying to cram in your social life, grocery shopping, household stuff, life admin, etc, and, before you know it, it's Sunday night and you've to go to bed at 10pm.

Now, my commute is 15 minutes each way by motorbike and I'm very grateful for that.

PlaneSpeeking

erica74 wrote: »

I certainly wouldn't recommend it for an extended period of time. I wad absolutely exhausted all the time. Monday to Friday you've no time to do anything because you're either commuting/in work/absolutely exhausted. Then on Saturday and Sunday, you're trying to cram in your social life, grocery shopping, household stuff, life admin, etc, and, before you know it, it's Sunday night and you've to go to bed at 10pm.

You've described my life there Erica!! Ah what doesn't kill you and all that!

incentsitive

There is a PhD in the cumulative effect of long distance commuting, I bet if you examined the health of those commuting on the M4 or N7, it is significantly worse than those who work locally, or commute a similar time by train.
Car pooling really hasn't taken off in Ireland which is a shame. It is at least in some part the answer to this hell.

My commute is 4 hours a day, 2 hours there and back. Generally I don't mind the morning commute, I tend to enjoy my bit of time to myself browsing online, listening to a podcast or reading, but that 2 hour commute home is a killer, particularly in these dark wet evenings

Thankfully it's a temporary job so I'm just getting on with it for the moment, I've done long commutes in the past and on a long term basis it's just not worth it.

CrabRevolution

An hour each way here, maybe 45 minutes in the summer. I find it OK as I'm always moving and never stuck in traffic, so the trip time doesn't vary.

Whenever I've to drive to dublin it's maddening. The trip might be an hour as well, but the stop start nature of it and constant traffic really drags on me and makes it feel longer.

chrissb8

The hardest thing about work is the commute. That is the part I found most stressful coming into Dublin from Wicklow. Not that far I know, but the bus was my only feasable route as the train would leave me miles away from whatever stop I got off. Hour and 20 minutes each way.

Then spent the last year up until June working 15 minutes from where I lived. Dramatically lowered tiredness, stress, anger etc. There is nothing like prolonged time on public transport crammed with people to bring out the worst in you/break you.

Now live in London and I still only spend 30-40 minutes each way at the peak times.

In short. Ireland just has a F'd up transport system that lets down people far too much for such a manageable flow of people. I can't understand how we haven't got a tram to the airport still. Basic stuff.

alchemist33

I do a one hour drive across the border. On a bad day -weather, roadworks - this can stretch to 1.5 hours, usually leaving me knackered by the time I get home. If Brexit causes border issues I might just have to give it up because I don't think I could handle longer than 1.5 hours

mickoneill31

For me 1 hour door to door is the limit which limits my employment options in Dublin. Its a small city but for me in Swords the commute can be crap (and only getting worse) . An hour door to door gets me to the city centre with maybe 10 mins to spare.

I'm lucky enough to be in a reasonably in demand role and I've turned down jobs that would exceed that commute. And any job that requires me to go on the M50 is an automatic no.

oceanman

30 mins is the max for me, anything more than that and I would be looking for another job...lifes too short.

LollipopJimmy

incentsitive wrote: »

14 hr day - not if they paid me 7 figures.

Any COO on €150-€200k would typically work 10-12 hour days, then add whatever commute to that

incentsitive wrote: »

Car pooling really hasn't taken off in Ireland which is a shame. It is at least in some part the answer to this hell.

I cycle along the canal every morning and the cars move quite slowly but each car only has one person in it.

Trigger Happy

I am lucky enough to have a short commute and a 35 hour working week.
Would hate to go back to losing 50+ hours per week of my life to work and traffic.
But never say never, you need to do whatever is necessary to feed the family.