Who has the longest commute?

[Noah930]

For 10 years, once a week I'd commute from LA to Bakersfield. 99 miles each way. Fortunately it was a "reverse commute", so it would usually be 70 mph the whole way (90 minutes).

[mattdavis11]

It depends. 65 each way normally. 145 miles coming home today, had to go 65 miles north to end the day, and I went the long way home (extra 15 miles, no traffic) and visited a friend along the way to break it in half.

[red-beard]

I had a 54 mile commute, each way. It was almost all Interstate Highway. 50 minutes each way. I've known guys with longer time commutes of under 20 miles.

The only time it was bad, was the winter. Snow could turn it into about an hour and 15 minutes. An ice storm once turned it into 3-4 hours. Fortunately, I had a 2M radio and someone called my wife for me.

[Drbraunsr]

73miles each way, 5 days a week 1:35 each way thru the upper desert above Los Angeles on the infamous "head-on highway". It's moniker is not a exaggeration - from personal experience.

In the beginning you're thinking you're nuts, but after a few years it seems normal and not a big deal. It IS a big deal wasting your life away in a commute. Looking back I'm surprised I did it for 10 years.

[Tobra]

I have not really had a commute since I lived in Texas. Covered a few peoples' office when they were off, but that has always been short term.

Whenever I had a commute, I usually had a pretty decent back way to go, and it has never been more than 30-45 minutes. Now that I think about it, I have always had a back way to take on most of my commutes. I used to drive to Huntsville from Lake Conroe, maybe 32 miles on the interstate, 40 miles on the lightly traveled back road, past the Walker Co Fairgrounds, through the middle of nowhere to Montgomery. It took maybe 5 or 10 minutes more, but it was worth it. Had a good back way to The Woodlands too, but I think they built a bunch of GD houses in there. Pretty much due S of the Sonic on 105


There was a nursing home I went to in Navasota, I drove right by Chuck Norris' house on the way back.

My best friend did a 90 mile commute for 20 years, rather commute than uproot his family.

[Rapewta]

For me it was 90 miles max in good traffic. An hour and a half in the car is enough.
You get home and are tired. You have to turn around and do it again all week.
Anything over 1.5 hours and I am staying near the job in a motel.
I'm talking about constantly going to different construction jobs.

[LWJ]

8 miles 15-25 min. That was pre-COVID.

Now? I roll out of bed and flip on my computer. Post espresso.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

Another thing you might want to consider is, how many different ways are there to get to the new job, ie alternate routes.
When I was working my commute was 31 miles one way. No real viable alternates either. I once spent upwards of 4 hours getting home in a rain storm that had flooded the freeway to the point of shut down. Surface streets sucked just as bad.
Good luck, I'm glad I'm out of that rat race.

Where did you worked, Scott? There is no easy way going in and out of OC on that 31 miles of nightmare during rush hour. Oh yeah, first day of daylight saving, with a bit of rain is always best to just sit and wait. worst if it falls in a Friday. A few years ago, I went out to AZ on Friday in heavy rain. I left at 3:30pm. I got to Riverside and ate near UC Riverside at 8pm. Crawling, big mess.

[Geronimo '74]

75 minutes for 58 kilometers.
Mostly due to structural traffic jams.

[look 171]

I worked out in Riverside after college and lasted exactly 2 months. The drive was against traffic but still, it was 60 miles. I had a 72 GMC 1 ton truck I had used throughout college for my construction business. Oh yeah, I installed a Holly four barrel carbs, intake and all the good stuff to.... waste more gas. 10-12 mpg was the norm. It doesn't matter if tailgate was up, tailwind, or downhill, same damn mpg. I was an estimator for a cabinet mfg firm.

In the past 10-15 years, I tuned back a bit and only take one jobs maybe two a year if its far away, that's 30 miles and only if they are interesting. My commute is normally less then 10 miles. I usually wait until traffic dies down before I get out the door.

Tell you guy the truth, I really think the traffic in LA is much worst then the Bay area. We were up there a couple years ago. Your traffic flows and moves along slowly and its over once you leave the city. It flows pretty well. In LA, a 60 miles traffic jam is not unusual on that 5 going through OC or into Riverside or San Bernardino.

[aigel]

I had a train + bicycle commute which made for a long day. 1.5 h each way vs. 1 h if I drove. But the cycling is more than half the time when I use the train, so I get out ahead.

I can't say I miss the commute. Yes, biking, but same trail day after day. I have been down the same trail 600+ times per strava. Now at home I can ride my road bike and mountain bike from my house at my leisure, no panniers, no riding when the weather is ****ty.

ANYWAY, make sure you try that commute. Some of the 'counter' commutes in the Bay Area have become very busy too. Look at google estimates as well. When I drive in from the East Bay, there is a ton of traffic coming the other way!

It is nice to have a new career mid way. Congrats on that. Get the foot in the door and then look at finding something closer!

G

[ebreinholtz23]

Live in Houston and commute to Las Vegas 2-3 times a week for work.
So far I think I’m in the lead for longest commute.

[sc_rufctr]

My last job was a 45 minutes commute... I was glad when they made me redundant back in March.
Anything over 25 minutes is too long IMO.

The job before that was home based and I only travelled when I couldn't fix something from my home office. On average I would go to a client site about twice a week and never during peak hour traffic. I did that for more than 16 years.

[ckelly78z]

My commute for years was 26 miles, and about 35 minutes, I have since transferred back to my home town in a much better/easier job that is 9 miles, and about 15 minutes.

[GH85Carrera]

When I bought my first house I looked for a place close to my job. One day I had prepared the evening before and backed my 74 914 2.0 into the garage. I opened the garage door, and from ignition on to ignition off was 55 seconds. I will admit to some slight speeding in the 45 MPH stretch of road. And redline in 1st to my parking spot. It was 7/10th of a mile. Normal commute was always under two minutes.

Now my commute is to walk 18 steps down the hall from the master bathroom to my home office, with a stop at the bed to kiss my wife goodby and "off to work". Since she is retired we are both home all day.

I worked with a guy at one job that drove in from very rural area in south Oklahoma every day. His commute was 85 miles each way. He was virtually always on time. Rain or snow or sunshine. He had an old Dodge pickup, that he had converted to run propane. He could get the propane cheap at wholesale prices from a buddy in the business. He did not remember if the truck had 800,000+ or 700,000+ miles. He had to rebuild the engine every 240K on average.

[sc_rufctr]

Glen, I know a guy that commutes 110 kilometres each way everyday. His small Nissan truck has been converted to use LP Gas (Liquid petroleum. That's close to 4 hours a day on the road) He lives on a farm but works in town. I couldn't do it myself but some people have no problem with it.

[jcommin]

I have always lived close to where I worked. With one exception, I did a reverse 60 mile round trip commute for 2 years. Took over 1-2 hours depending on weather and traffic.
When I changed jobs, I was 4 miles away from the job. Took 15 minutes - Initially, I didn't know what to do with the free time.

I live in the city - 5 miles away from where I work. Depending on weather, traffic and the time of day, it's 15 minutes to 45 minutes. On those 45 minute days, I sometimes think it is just better to walk home.

[Scott Douglas]

Originally Posted by look 171

Where did you worked, Scott? There is no easy way going in and out of OC on that 31 miles of nightmare during rush hour. Crawling, big mess.

I worked at the military/industrial complexes that reside in Redondo Beach and El Segundo up next to LAX.
They finally made the 405 fwy smooth, but only after I'd been laid off for the second and final time.

[A930Rocket]

For awhile last year i was traveling between Charleston SC and Bluffton SC every day. 100 miles door to door and two hours. It was against traffic after the first 30 minutes, then just cruising, listening to the radio and making phone calls.

1,000 miles a week added up fast and sucked down the gas. i was filling up every day and a half.

[Zeke]

I'm a wuss. I superintended a job in Westwood near the big Mormon Church on Santa Monica Blvd. 2010 and traffic was as bad then as last year.

So, I rented a room in Beverly Hills which was the closest I could find on short notice. Stayed there 4 nights a week instead of commuting north on the 405 in the early rush period. (It's jammed up by 6am). That saved me 12 hours a week even though I did have the Monday morning/ Friday afternoon commute, about 3 hours if I left on Friday by 3.

For 700 hundred bucks a month for 2 months it was well worth it.