[Closed] Commuting, how far is too far?

I don't know exactly where my 'limit' is, but 75 miles is waaaaaaaay past it.

What's that going to cost anyway? An additional £10/day? You'll need a £4k pay-rise just to break even.

Once a week? Fine.

Everyday? No chance!

(I do twenty minutes by bike four times a week, and Sheffield to London on the train one day a week)

I currently do min. 1.5 hrs each way a day by train/tube - it's OK if you don't have a life/nothing to do in the evening. As I like to do stuff I've gone down to a 6 hour working day to compensate... I need work closer to home.

When it all goes worng a long commute becomes a nightmare

It would have to be an ****ing awesome job to get me to travel 75 miles each way every day!

what makes you think the roads to elstree will be any better than your current roads ?

Depends on your other commitments and desire for career advancement.

Me? Mid 40s, kids still at school, no hope of meaningful job progression, mortgage paid off already. An hour on the very worst day is my limit. Which turns out to be about 11 miles by car into (and more importantly, out of) Nottingham. Usually 35 minutes by car.

I do 70 miles a day round trip and I wouldn't want to do much further. It does sort of depend on what the journey is like too, quiet motorway mile maybe, back roads and congested areas can make 5 miles feel like 50.

Is the job good enough that you would be willing to do an extra 3 hours of unpaid work every single day? In fact it's worse than that, you'll be paying for the privilege of giving up almost a month a year of your life sitting in the car.

Shove some slicks on your hardtail and you'll be reet! 😉

I once did about 60 miles (Manchester to Lancaster) but it involved a really rather pleasant 45 minute train journey, on clean, reliable trains, where I could sit and have a coffee and read the paper. And it was only a short contract.

Drive 75 miles each way? On the roads in this country? Not on your nelly!

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/06/the-true-cost-of-commuting/

Math.

Too far for me to drive every day.
If there was no choice and I had to do it,I would get the train/bus and mix it up with some car/motorbike runs on the good days.

It comes down to time not distance. I'm currently about 40 mins door to door each way. I wouldn't want it to be any more - especially if a large proportion of that was in a motionless car. But then I did all the "being ambitious" crap years ago. I just do a job now.

I've increased my commute gradually over the past few years for advancement/different jobs, and my personal rule was that I wouldn't go anywhere that takes over an hour to get to. Time added to the working week a better metric than pure distance, (clear) motorway miles being a different kettle of fish to windy old A roads. I now commute 40 miles each way which takes 50 minutes. I'll be actively looking to reduce that over the next few years; it's too much for me moving forward.

Hm backing up my current thoughts about it then! The reason I'm looking at new jobs is because there's uncertainty about the future at my current place, I'd rather a long commute than be unemployed or doing a crap job I hate. I'm in the video industry and jobs outside the London area are hard to come by! Relocating isn't really an option for me at the minute either.

What makes you think the roads to elstree will be any better than your current roads ?

Nothing that's why I asked what it's like.

Heading past Stevenage the A1 at anytime 4-7 is always a nightmare - I'd be vary wary of crossing the M25 9-5

Trains an option?

I'm about 1:50 each way, which is a bit shit, but it's the par for the course working in London. It's on the train, so time is my own, I can read/play on my phone/browse the web/sleep/work which is fine, then a nice 4 mile bimble on the Brompton at the other end.

I couldn't do that distance each way by car. It'd kill me.

I did approx 30 miles each way for a short period of time. When the traffic was good it could be done in around 40 miles, as it was 75% motorway. But it would also take 2+ hours every Friday eveing to get home, and there was generally something once or twice a week causing delays of at least half an hour (always on the way home too).

I changed jobs after 2 months, new job was 15 miles away, but was 30-35 minutes a day 99% of the time.

I wouldn't want to travel any longer than 35-40 minutes in each direction on a daily basis.

An hour each way is tops for me now. There is one caveat though - "must not require use of M62"

Having gone from a 45min - 1hr driving (traffic dependant) each way, to a 5 min cycle, I couldn't even comprehend the notion of 1 1/2 hrs. The best decision I've made was to work closer to home, I see my children, I can go out on my bike, the only downside is I sometimes have to see my wife 😉
Don't underestimate the cost of the longer commute in both £, and stress. Its no fun driving to and from work in the dark for half the year.

Most of the jobs I have done have involve a fairly hefty commute. Currently at 40 miles each way, but previous jobs have been 60, 30 & 50 miles each way.

The last job was 60 miles from near Peterborough down the A1 to Letchworth. I suspect you must be starting from a similar location to make Elstree 75 miles.
The A1 is pretty good in the morning as far as Baldock/Stevenage then it can get pretty heavy. Quite often when I used to come off at junction 10 (Baldock services) the traffic on the A1 was starting to slow ahead.

Other slow points are Black Cat roundabout where you can easily be queuing for 10-15 mins & Sandy roundabout can be a good 10 min or so.

I managed 60 miles each way for 2.5 years. But towards the end it was becoming a real chore & the costs start getting silly. 3 services a year on the car, going through tyres quickly, increased insurance premium when you tell them your mileage, plus the fuel costs. My Ibiza averages 55mpg easily, so I could get 4 days out of it before filling up....
Then there's the time thing. Leave work at 5 to get home for 6:20pm at the earliest. Every 15 minutes late you have to work really eats into your time in the evening.....

I wouldn't do it again......

I commuted 75 mins each way most of my working life (25 years) but thats by train. When I commuted 100 mins each way I found that excesive even on the train although I have colleagues who did that regularly. Personally I"d find that drive far too long to do day in day out although its time not distance thats important. Traffic density makes a huge difference to stress as well as time, easy to double or treble a drive time in rush hour.

Don't underestimate the cost of the longer commute in both £, and stress. Its no fun driving to and from work in the dark for half the year

I know, been doing my current job for almost 4 years, I'm very used to only seeing daylight in my lunch break!

I'm gonna look into trains again, at least then I could switch off/sleep/watch films. Plus I wouldn't need my efficient car which I could sell, get a cheaper older runaround and use the rest of the leftover to go towards the first years season ticket..

Interesting link from trailrat above - comes across as slightly biased and idealistic but sound principles behind it.

I was going to say, that's Peterborough to inside the M25 every day. No way. The few times I have been on the A1 between Peterborough and Huntingdon any time between 6am and 10am it is 50-60mph because of traffic so I don't imagine it gets much easier going towards London. I am impressed stumpy01 could do 60 miles in 1:20 hours to be honest, as it takes me 45-60 minutes to do 15 miles in to Cambridge! Google maps reckons leaving at 7am on a weekday could take 1 hr 30 to 2 hrs 40 and I reckon that's probably about right depending on if its a school holiday or not.

For me, the limit is about 1 hour each way and I don't do anything in the evening. If its not possible for you to relocate, think / ask about flexible working hours and staying overnight at least 2-3 nights nearby.

Edited: If you would reconsider the train, you could buy a folding bike and ride from Potter's Bar or similar?

yeah mmm is a bit of an extremist but i think he writes the blog that way to get his point across hard.

2 hours-ish each way was my comfort limit when I commuted. I regularly exceeded this but not for more than a few months. I didn't pay for my car or fuel though. That would be the biggest factor for me.

Let's do the (simplified) math:

Assume your pay is £25ph and your commute is 15 hrs per week, that's £19500 of unpaid labour that you MUST do in order to do your job...

75miles, each way, per day, for 5 days, for 52 weeks...39000 miles! so, not only will you need over 850gallons of fuel (£4000) you'll write off a car every 3 years and go through 2 sets of tyres each year... £2500 per year (minimum)

So, to summarise - in order to GET to work, it'll cost you (in direct costs and lost costs/time)

[u][b]*£26000 A YEAR!*[/b][/u]

29 miles each way for me most days (Bromley to Basildon via Dartford crossing)
When it is good I can do it in 35-40 mins (it is all motorway/A-roads)
However it is usually nearer 45-50mins, and when the crossing is stuffed it can be hours!

An hour each way everyday would be my limit.

I do go to Portsmouth 2-3 times per month, 90 miles from home and approx. 2 hours each way.
It is fine but I wouldn't want to do it much more often.

Bloody hell daffy I hadn't considered looking at it like that haha. Definitely not worth that kind of money!

Have seen there's quicker trains from a station that's riding distance away so there's an option. It'd probably still be over an hour commute but at least some of it would be by bike 🙂

Even ignoring the cost, the time you'd be wasting stuck in a car stressed out in rush hour, what sort of life is that?

nope wouldn't, apart from the cost it would be the loss of my time. Lets say 2 hours commute each way. 4 hours a day, 20 hours a week stuck in traffic? Sod that.

like Daffy says, it will cost you a fortune. Using HMRC's 45p mile allowance for the costs of car travel then it will cost £16,200 over the 36,000 miles you'd do in a year just getting to and from work.(I've given him some time off for holidays)

I do a 100 mile round trip - but only 3-4 days a week on quitish motorways. I find that too much.

I did 50 miles each way for 2 years (A34 + M4). On a good day it was an hour, on a bad one 3. Job car, job fuel and shared driving with a colleague but only managed it for 2 years.

Now do 16 each way by bike, so a slow commute takes same time as my previous good one, but it's on a bike on largely rural roads and so is the highlight of my working day, not the lowlight...

I am impressed stumpy01 could do 60 miles in 1:20 hours to be honest, as it takes me 45-60 minutes to do 15 miles in to Cambridge!

Where's that from/to, out of interest? Cambridge is a bit of law unto itself (I used to work on the Science Park at the top of Milton road).
Current commute takes anywhere from 50-70mins - and that's home nr Peterborough to Swavesey - so I miss the A14 from Bar Hill toward Cambridge which can be carnage.

The old commute to Letchworth was fairly consistent - 20 mins get onto the A1 at Peterborough and then no delays until Sandy & then busy again at Black Cat, but I had a few alternate routes around most of the slow bits, if it was particularly bad.
I think I lucked out a bit where I came off the A1, as like I said above the traffic was frequently slowing ahead where I came off...

Have been forced into a 40mile each way commute and even though I am compensated by time and cost - I would jump at a the opportunity to get back to 10 miles.
Also check the train costs for individual day tickets if any part of your journey goes against the london commute.

eg
Woking to Basingstoke
Single - £11.10
Return - £11.20 ( ie 10p extra for adding the return)
Monthly ticket £250+ more than the cost of five returns per week ?!
I can only assume it is because it is going against commute direction

stumpy01 - Member
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Where's that from/to, out of interest?

From a village near Ely and into the centre of Cambridge, so not comparable to motorway miles, but as you say the A14 gets clogged up, as does the M11. It's much nicer riding I just can't manage 5 days a week.

From a village near Ely and into the centre of Cambridge, so not comparable to motorway miles, but as you say the A14 gets clogged up, as does the M11. It's much nicer riding I just can't manage 5 days a week.

Move near St Ives then just cycle down the guided bus way!

On these calculations don't forget that that's net not gross, your paying tax and national insurance on the income so need to add ~30% on to compare salaries.

I'm doing 30 miles each way on steady A roads that takes about 50min's. I thought i'd costed it at around £3k per year but using the HMRC model its 6.5k net or 10k off my salary. I do drive a 15 year old car though so haven't factored in car depreciation.

Somethings got to change be it new house or new job.

I'm sure someone's said it but it's the time, not the distance really.

Last year we moved and for the first time in my working life I've been out of (for me anyway) bike commuting distance. So I've been getting the train, and it's basically 2.5 hours out of my non-work day and I'm really noticing it.

On top of that, it's pretty much dead time, and driving would be worse in that respect. (I suppose I could be productive on the train but it's only about 35 mins and it's usually pretty busy, so I usually just end up staring dead-eyed into space.)

A lot will depend on your circumstances too, if you like driving and are single you might not mind but if you have a partner they might. And that's before you get on to the financial side! That said I can imagine there might be circumstances where it's worth sucking it up for a bit if it serves some wider purpose for you.

I realise my commute is probably pretty modest as they go, but after having had it good I'm not yet desensitised to the fact that I'm basically spending 1.5 working days each week just going back and forth. We're moving back closer this year and I would think very carefully about letting that sort of commute back into my life again.

Monthly ticket £250+ more than the cost of five returns per week ?!

Even ignoring the cost, the time you'd be wasting stuck in a car stressed out in rush hour, what sort of life is that?

My personal limit is 30mins by car or 45mins on the bike. Currently have 7mins in the car or 11mins on the bike which is perfect as I can now go home for lunch every day. We (as a society) spend enough time working as it is, why increase that by another 40% commuting?

I don't mind the drive right now to be honest but I miss the rush hour most of the time. But I think it's clear that driving this new commute is a bit of a non starter, gonna have more of a look at trains and the associated costs!

When I rode to work it was always an hour each way, five days a week.

Then I moved too far away and while the distance only increased by 50% the commute time in a car on a motorway (M6) was never less than the riding time.

Now, I work in London three days a week, in a North West one day and at home one day. Total commute time is now 10-12 hours a week, with two journeys accounting for around 7 hours.

The reality of the UK is that it's not unusual to find yourself with an industry/skillset/experience level that means the South East becomes the main option.

I did 100 mile each way for around 8 months, it pretty much killed me, almost literally one night. On a train maybe, as you can do something else. In a car you are screwed, it's just a waste of time.

Spending 3 hours a day in a car is nearly two working days - just on driving, I would only do it if I had to

Look into staying away if the job or money is that good.

gonna have more of a look at trains and the associated costs!

I used to commute 90 miles each way into london in the car - mainly because it was faster door to door than the massively unreliable, expensive and cramped trains. Its misery, regardless of what anyone says. I wouldn't get home until 8'ish at night, it destroyed my car and it also destroyed my back from all the sitting in one position for upwards of 2.5 hrs each way, each day.

You spend your weekends recovering from the whole ordeal, only to start again come monday. In my opinion trains are no better - until recently I was commuting into London by train which was 1.5 hrs door to door each way. The trains are really expensive, ALWAYS late (took me four hours the other night due to a lack of train drivers (!)) and you pick up every single cold, cough and illness going. They harbour disease. You also become massively grumpy, the crunch for me was someone eating a bag of crisps near me as I sat plotting how to push them under the train when they got off at Cannon St.

I've changed my commute now, driving 25 miles then cycling the 16 into Londres. I'm knackered (using the Fixed which is a bit over geared) but I'm home about the same time and saving myself £30 a day.

Seriously - don't do it. I'd rather be unemployed than have to face that sort of drive ever again

Having to commute by train would drive me nuts. Nope. Nope. Nope.

I remember looking at a sign in a station proudly announcing that only 10% of services were significantly delayed and thinking, yup, that's about right, at least one of my journeys every week is a disaster...

(Wasn't a problem in London when I was single because I'd just head to a pub and drink. 🙂 )

Having to commute by train would drive me nuts. Nope. Nope. Nope.

Having done an hour each way by car and by train, I'd take train over car every time. Although now I just have a 12min bike ride...

Since 2006, I've been able to commute by bike for at least 3 days of the week. I've had to travel nationally since 2012, but a typical maximum of 2 days per week - and balanced off with 1-2 days per week at home.

Given that cycling to work is so important to my base fitness and how well WFH works for the family, there's no way I'd now commute somewhere by car or train 5 days per week... let alone 75 miles every day!

i did a cycle to the train - train - walk at the other end .....

too many times i found my self stuck in aberdeen due to missing trains/canceled/missed/broken down trains.

i had to travel that way for just over a year while my mrs taught at the local school . at least once a week the train was significantly late - twice a month the train i was waiting on wouldnt show(more so in winter) and there were at least 2 occasions where all trains were canceled with no replacement bus service expected any time soon..... and i had to then call the mrs to come get me - and then go collect my bike....

Now - that wouldnt be so bad except that i only worked in the uk for half the year...and we wonder why people push back on it...

I thought season tickets were basically the same as 3 returns per week? Or is that just London Midland?

Nope, varies by route/operator. That Basingstoke/Woking one is really really odd. Even if you travelled every single day (as opposed to weekdays) if the month had 30 days it wouldn't be worthwhile!

Mine is less than 2.5 days a week to be "worthwhile": £41 a day, £392 a month. Like I say, it's a bit shit, but I earn more than I would locally. Also means I never use my car, IMO most people vastly underestimate the cost of using a car by only looking at fuel expenses.

I do 10-11 miles ATM. 20 might be OK, 15 I could cope with particularly if it avoided going g into the city centre. Even on the bike it slows me down a fair bit with lights and stationary traffic.

I wouldn't really consider anywhere too far to cycle, at least not long term.

Doesn't that basically mean never changing your place of work? The options within 10 miles of one's house, without going into a city, must be incredibly limited?

75 miles is too far.

I'm doing a long commute at the moment (waiting for house purchase to go through), should be 1hr40 door to door, but about once a week or so trains or late, or too full to get on, delaying things further. On Wednesday it was almost 3 hours.

The longer the commute, the more of a pain the unreliability is.

I could drive, but it would be 2 hours minimum of sitting in traffic and the train delays would simply be replaced by traffic delays when someone inevitably has an accident and the roads get gridlocked.

Doesn't that basically mean never changing your place of work? The options within 10 miles of one's house, without going into a city, must be incredibly limited?

I work in academia, and there are a lot of people trying to work from home as much as possible or coming from a different city Mon-Weds and staying over, stuff like that.
I guess this is because even in a good-size city* there are only likely to be a couple of employers, and if you have a partner or family or own a house and moving is difficult then boom, you can find yourself doing a big commute if you fancy or need a change.

*That isn't London, and even then it's a pretty small pool.

Where are you coming from? That's my vague neck of the woods, and the traffic round there is horrendous at rush hour.

My worse commute was about 8 months doing London to Cambridge, it was about 65 miles each way, took me about an hour, maybe slightly more. I hated it to be honest, it was a boring drive up the M11

Now I do 45 minutes from home to Central London. Same time by bike or tube

Having to commute by train would drive me nuts.

I like it, as long as its not too busy.

10% of services delayed, but by how much? And how often do you get stuck on the motorway due to unusual congestion?

In my experience I'm delayed about as often on trains as I am in the car.

My worse commute was about 8 months doing London to Cambridge, it was about 65 miles each way, took me about an hour, maybe slightly more. I hated it to be honest, it was a boring drive up the M11

How come you didn't go by train? Would have been against the flow, so loads of space...

10% of services delayed, but by how much?

It's been a long time since I did it but I seem to remember that a train didn't make the 'delayed' stats until it was properly late. Not just a handful of minutes. So, plenty of trains I used were late but only 10% were disastrously late. Or something like that?

I used to commute 55 miles each way for 2 years (4 times a week) but was on quick roads and only took me an hour each way.

Anything above that would have been hard.

Its fine on a good day but when traffic or accidents effect you things turn ugly (and risk is increase due to large distance).

@footflaps - I live in North London, so would have to get myself into London for a really quick train, or take a local line in the direction of Cambridge but change at least once and it would be more of a stopper. Also the office wasn't near the station, it was a good 20 minute walk

I was technically on secondment so all my mileage was paid. Just a bit of a boring drive, and a waste of time. I was young then and didn't have kids etc, would be a waste now

A 1 hour commute is my rough limit now

I do 25 miles on the M1 in that area (MK to Luton) each way each day. Often takes close to an hour. Your 75 miles in an hour and a half is WILDLY optimistic. Take the train, at least you can use the time productively.

One of our staff does an 1.5 hr commute each way. Everyone thinks he is bonkers. BUT:

- he leaves early and works on the train, so he has already done over an hour of admin before he arrives.
- everyone knows he has a huge commute so nobody expects him to hang on at the end of the day.
- he does more work on the way home.
- he misses out on "after work drinks" and social stuff - but I think that suits his personality!

He may be no worse off than someone working 8-6 in the office and driving 1/2 an hour each way which people would think relatively normal. He is at a level where those sort of hours would not be abnormal.

- his annual season ticket is about £4k though; but in true cost it would cost him that to drive and park anyway.

I wouldn't do it (and he could move) but if the job is right it might not be as bad as you think. That said if I interviewed anyone who said it was there plan I would be thinking - they won't stay too long!

Think about the planet

If I can't cycle to work in under an hour then it's a deal breaker.

One of our staff does an 1.5 hr commute each way. Everyone thinks he is bonkers.

Not in London then? I wish I was given concessions for a long commute!

+1 for Neilsonwheels. Did a 50 mile each way M25 commute for a year and a half and 35 miles on A roads for the 2 years before that, took anywhere from an hour to 2 hours on a bad day. Completely FAT.

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Quite a few studies have found that commuting time is one of the only factors that has a long term effect on happiness. More money makes you happier briefly, but you soon return to a similar level of satisfaction as before. Same if your income drops. But if you increase your commute it is likely to have a permanent effect on life satisfaction.

I wouldn't go above what I could cycle, so 15-20km max, because of the above, and because I don't think it's responsible to drive everywhere all the time.

Sleep in the office? My commute involves three flights and 4,500 miles. Not so bad when you work 45 days straight, spend some time with family afterwards and have £423,000 debt to motivate you to keep doing it!