How long is a commute to work too long?

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alatif113

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I have to go to orientation for a new job for 4 consecutive days in Stamford CT and I live in Paterson NJ. Google is telling me this is a 1.5 hour drive but with traffic this is most likely going to be upwards of 2 hours (plus a butt load of tolls). Should I just ask the company to pay for a hotel to minimize the number of trips from 8 down to 2?

To keep discussion, what's your work commute like and what's the maximum you'll be able to go before it becomes too long?

EDIT: Should clarify this is with a car.
 
It all depends on if the drive is worth it or not. I drove 3 hours rpund trip. 5 days a week for about 7 months before. Luckily my company had opened another location which made my drive 50 minutes round trip.

If the pay is good then it's not a big deal. If you're working for peanuts and driving extremely long then it's probably not a good idea.
 
My commute is an hour in the morning and 2 hours in the evening due to traffic.

Its about 120 miles total each day. I couldn't do any more than that. I do find that I enjoy the long commute as it lets me wind down after work.
 
My commute is an hour on the dot. I leave the door to my condo at 6am and I get to work at 7am. I used to have a 15-min commute when I lived in a downtown apartment close to work - I just had a 15-min walk. But I'll take my commute now 100%. Longer commute but WAY better living standards. I own my own place (instead of rent) and my condo has many amenities I didn't have with my apartment.

I think anything more than 1.5 hours each way would not be tolerable.
 
If its only for 4 days, I'd just do it. You can bring up a hotel if you feel comfortable with that and if that happens more at the company.

For daily commute, I wouldn't do more then 45 minutes.
 
I've had to do 1h15 to 1h45 each way commutes before, I can handle it when everything works fine but throw the occasional sickness/train traffic issues and it can be a pain.

Shoutouts to getting stuck an additional hour in a train without air conditioning during a heat wave and just roasting in there lol.
 
My old university was a hour and 15 minutes away. I drove for the semester. Apparently I know people do 3 hours one way for their jobs. I don't think I can manage that.

And there's a really good school a hour and a half drive from here that I REALLY want to go to. I think I'll make a compromise and take classes in certain blocks days so I don't have to drive it everyday. I'll just go to school part time while I work at home then.
 
An hour and a half. I have to catch a bus and two trains.

2 hours is my breaking point.
 
For orientation, they definitely should put you up in a hotel if it is that far away and not your regular working facility.

In general, 45 minutes was my limit. But now it is about 8. Much better long term.
 
I'd say anything over 2hrs is too long.

Currently mine ranges from 1hr to 30mins depending on method of transport (cycle, bus or train) I use to get to work.
 
My commute for school used to be 50min to 75ish min depending on traffic and which side of campus I had to get to. It sucked.

I think 45 minutes is a good cutoff, an hour is really pushing it. Although when talking about work, you really do need to take into account money and hours spent and all that.

An hour commute to work 10 hours is a hell of a lot easier to swallow than an hour commute to work 3 hours.
 
Half an hour each way to drive 16 miles. My commute in Miami used to be an hour each way to drive 8 miles. Gonna be moving soon, which will make my commute 15 mins each way. Feels good.
 
up to two hours one way? yeah I'd say request a hotel. it's unreasonable to ask you to commute that for a week. If they say no, then request to be reimbursed for gas, mileage, and tolls.

chances are it will end up being less hassle for them just to get you a hotel room.
 
Takes me about 45 mins to 50 mins to get to work, give or take.

I'd say that's my limit. It's tolerable but I don't like it. It's the bus to the subway station that really kills it. If I lived really close to a station it'd only be about 30 minutes. I refuse to move downtown to live closer.
 
I make just over minimum wage, and by commute is supposed to be 26 minutes. Sometimes I can get there in 18. That is too much, but I put up with it because I have a week of vacation in taking next month.
 
Long commutes are a mind boggling thing to me. It's a waste of gas, money, time, and your car's lifespan. It's the most stressful driving time and probably one of the most dangerous as well. I think it probably impacts people's ability to do their jobs if they have a bad commute in the morning.
 
I would probably drive an hour or so each way comfortably. I could do more, but I would probably look into moving for the job or find another.
 
krameriffic said:
Long commutes are a mind boggling thing to me. It's a waste of gas, money, time, and your car's lifespan. It's the most stressful driving time and probably one of the most dangerous as well. I think it probably impacts people's ability to do their jobs if they have a bad commute in the morning.
Click to expand...

Different people can handle different things, it really does depend. My commute was bus and subway. Decently cheap, I could read, etc. Much better than driving to me.

Some people can't stand public transit for a variety of reasons. Maybe they really want to sing out loud, whatever.

But the one thing we can all agree on that sucks is the time it takes.
 
My commute now is about 1 hour and 10 minutes by bus, and I'd say that's pushing it. I think 45 minutes and under would be my preference.

Since I transfer to two other buses and the buses are either ~7 minutes early or late, that has meant that it has taken me 1 hour and 45 minutes some days (assuming they don't break down which has happened often). One time, the buses were late in exactly the right way and I got there in a mere 40 minutes.

It's worse, too, since it would only be a 15 minute drive. But I don't have a license, a car, or a parking space.
 
My current commute is 20 minutes. I love it.

I actually don't think I'll ever buy property because god forbid I needed to find a new job, I really would much rather move to where new work can be found than be tied down to a location and just pray that new work opens up somewhere within a reasonable area from where my property is.
 
Depends on the traffic. I drive 40min to work and it's fine because it's out in the countryside and there's little traffic and it's rather peaceful. But in the city with all the stop-and-go and traffic? No thanks!
 
My commute is a 10 minute bike ride followed by a 5 minute walk. Or a 30 minute walk if I don't feel like biking. That's as long as I'd like it to be. I used to sit on a bus for over an hour each day and it was terrible. I can't imagine having to spend an hour or more of my day on the subway/streetcar/bus to get to work anymore. Driving would probably be even worse.
 
It really depends how much I'm getting paid. With what I'm getting paid now, anything over 30m is too much. Let's say I get a big raise something like 10-20k more a year, I would tolerate 45m to an hour.
 
My commute is about 1.5 hour by bus, but it seems manageable to me so far, gives me plenty of time to read every day. Of course when winter comes, I will probably regret it and have to think about moving.
 
I'm currently at an hour to an hour and a half, which is too long, but it's a temp job that'll only be for a few months (and mostly via train which I don't honestly mind - good time for reading and podcasts). For a more permanent position I wouldn't go over an hour.

I can't imagine 2+ hours of driving and traffic a day. By car, man, I don't think I'd be willing to go over half an hour. Gas prices alone...
 
It's more about the quality of the commute than the time.

The commute to my college is 35-45 minutes by subway, but it involves two trains, one of which is always extremely crowded. I really dislike going to my college for this reason.

The commute to my internship is 40-50 minutes by subway, but it involves only one train that's empty when I get on it. Even if it were longer (like an hour), it would still be a much better commute for me.

In general, though, an hour is a good commute time for me. I actually enjoy riding the train and listening to music, and sometimes I wish the commute were a little longer...
 
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