New York, D.C.-area workers face longest commutes

[cpzilliacus]

Posted this Washington Post article in the D.C. thread, but could be of interest here since it also discusses New York.

[dgolub]

A 40 minute commute is considered long?  That's what my commute is, and I thought it was good.  There are people who take 2 hours coming in from way out in the suburbs.

[ZLoth]

My workplace is 8.1 miles from where I live. On a Sunday, I can get there in 15 minutes. In the morning at 6:30 AM, it can take 25 minutes. In the afternoon, it can take up to 45 minutes thanks to a notorious bridge that crosses the American River called the Sunrise Blvd Bridge. There are a total of seven bridges that cross the American River between Sacramento and Folsom: Howe Ave, Watt Ave, Sunrise Blvd., Hazel Ave, Folsom Blvd, Greenback Lane, and Folsom Lake Crossing. Of those:

• Folsom Lake Crossing was constructed as a direct replacement to the Folsom Dam road which was closed off after 9/11.
• Folsom Blvd was constructed because Greenback Lane was extremely old and causing major backups.
• Sunrise was expanded from 2 lanes in each direction to three in the 90s.

That's it! Despite the increase in traffic in over 35 years, that's all the construction thanks to the NIMBYs who want to preserve the American River Parkway.

[deathtopumpkins]

Yeah a 40-minute commute is not exactly long...

My current commute (via public transit) is about 90 minutes, about the same as it would be in a car.

[Alps]

Yeah a 40-minute commute is not exactly long...

My current commute (via public transit) is about 90 minutes, about the same as it would be in a car.

A 40 minute commute IS long, it's just that you live in areas where it's not considered long. I've never had a commute above 20 minutes (okay, 30 in traffic), and that's the limit of what I'd be comfortable with.

[hbelkins]

My commute is a little more than 30 miles. It easily takes me 40 minutes or longer on rural two-lane roads, sometimes longer depending on traffic. It's always longer in the afternoons than it is in the mornings, even if I don't stop on the way home (and I always stop at the post office unless it's a postal holiday).

[jeffandnicole]

I don't know if I'd consider myself fortunate, but my 42 mile commute can be done in under a mile a minute, thanks to nearly all highway driving. My record is 37 minutes.  Unfortunately with traffic continuing to grow, 55-60 minutes is becoming normal for that drive.

[froggie]

My preference has long been to live close to where I work.  I've had commutes ranging from 150 steps (at-sea of course) to about 12 miles.  I'm currently (in Norfolk, not out here at sea) at about 7.5 miles.  Even in DC, I rarely had a commute take longer than 40 minutes (Huntington-Suitland was typically 25 minutes...often less than 30 even in traffic).  When I was working at the Pentagon, my bike commute was in the 40-45 minute range (much faster than driving during the weekday...coulda drove faster on nightshift but parking is a pain).

Will be a serious culture shock when I'm in Vermont next year...my likely job prospects will be lengthy distances away.

[KEK Inc.]

Some of the island commutes to Seattle are pretty bad, since you're dependent on large ferries.  Fortunately, the 4 important WSDOT ferries (Seattle-Bremerton, Seattle-Bainbridge, Kingston-Edmonds, and Whidbey Is.-Mukilteo) are very efficient and relatively punctual.

[dgolub]

Yeah a 40-minute commute is not exactly long...

My current commute (via public transit) is about 90 minutes, about the same as it would be in a car.

A 40 minute commute IS long, it's just that you live in areas where it's not considered long. I've never had a commute above 20 minutes (okay, 30 in traffic), and that's the limit of what I'd be comfortable with.

My subway ride is about 15-20 minutes, but I've got a 5-10 minute walk at each end, plus waiting for the train, so in practice it's rare that I'll do in in less than 40 minutes.  With the disaster of traffic and parking in Manhattan, it wouldn't be all that much faster if I drove to work.

[PHLBOS]

One item worth noting, taken from the OP's web-linked article (Bold emphasis added):

they're not sitting in their cars. The data show people who live in New York and near Washington rely most heavily on public transportation. Six in 10 residents of Kings County and Bronx County took trains, subways or buses to work, as did 38 percent of residents of the District of Columbia.

If one were to break down the number of transit commuters that have to make at least one transfer from one transit service line to another; the results would likely show that a shorter transit commute distancewise w/tranfers posts a longer travel time than a more distant transit commuter that doesn't need to make a transfer or connection.

[yanksfan6129]

When I took the park-and-ride bus into the Port Authority in NYC, to the subway, doorstep of my house to lobby of my building was about 75-90 minutes. And that's 30 miles. And I don't think of that as being a terribly long commute. Of course I'm aware that IS quite long in the context of the entire country.

I'll add that when I drive into the city on the weekends, home to midtown takes about 45-50 minutes, assuming no traffic.

[NE2]

There's also a big difference between 60 minutes of driving and 60 minutes of sitting on a bus/train and counting sheep/reading/wanking.

[hbelkins]

There's also a big difference between 60 minutes of driving and 60 minutes of sitting on a bus/train and counting sheep/reading/wanking.

Yeah. One of those is considered indecent exposure.

[NJRoadfan]

I guess I'm the out liner with a sub-10 minute commute....

That being said, if I had to go to NYC, I'm within walking distance to an express bus to Port Authority. It takes about 45 minutes to get there.

[aerules]

I don't have set commute.   Depends on the day.

[Brandon]

There's also a big difference between 60 minutes of driving and 60 minutes of sitting on a bus/train and counting sheep/reading/wanking.

Why wank when you can have Rebecca DeMornay on that train?