Commute times for those who use public transportation

[0098386]

It takes me an hour to get anywhere.

60 minutes to take the bus to college which was just 4 miles away.
60 minutes to walk there too.
15 minutes in the car.

It also takes around an hour to get into my nearest city which is 9 miles away.

Buses are stupidly expensive here. It's £4 for a day pass, but since I live on the edge of a few counties you can only use it as a return. We don't have a train around here but it takes my girlfriend 15 minutes to get into the city (she lives 9 miles from the city too but on a different side) and only costs £1.30 for a return. *grumble mumble*

 

[Eraserhead]

Oxford bus, every half hour 8-6 every hour or less the rest of the time (24hr),cost £20 one way £22 return.Journey time 90 mins. It's not a commuter service but for those flying out or into Heathrow,there's probably alternatives for daily travel but I don't know them.

The other option would be a rail-air bus to Reading and then the train from there, I don't know if that would be quicker, probably as good as no difference - its much more complicated though that way.

Also I think if you do it regularly you can probably get a discount on the bus...

 

[Ttownbeast]

I hated bussing to work, sure its supposedly good for the environment, and supposedly cheaper, but you are at the mercy of the bus schedules, you either arrive consistently very early (up to an hour before your shift--and who the hell wants to show up that early? 15 to 20 minutes early is fine), or consistently late (anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes depending on how the busses run).

As to the cost the last time I bussed it it was 3 dollars a day coming out to 90 bucks a month (not counting side trips which can add an extra 10 bucks) in comparison to 70 bucks a month for fuel, ten dollars every three months for a routine oil change usually 100 dollars every six months for routine maintenance, and the added advantage of the time savings cutting commute times from 2 to 3 hours down to 45 minutes a day.

When I drove to one job I woke up at 6:45 got ready for work traveled got there at 7:45 clocked in at 8.

When I had to bus in waiting for a part for two weeks I had to wake up at 5 get ready, walk two blocks to get the 5:45 bus transfer to the next bus at 6:15 ride for 30 more minutes transfer again and just barely made it to work at 8:00 stepping off the bus and running across the parking lot. Problem here? No busses ran any earlier at the intitial stop.

 

[jpyc7]

I live between two light rail stops. One is about a 12 minute walk and the other is about a 20 minute walk. Nevertheless, I generally drive and toward the farther one which is in the direction of my commute.

Once on the train, it is a ten minute ride to my stop, then up to 12 minute walk to my office.

30 minutes total: driving and waiting at station is 8 minutes , 10 minute ride, 12 minute walk.

In snowy weather, I will walk to the closer station rather than drive.

In comparison, driving is about 20 minutes in the morning but the reverse is usually at least 30 minutes. (The same is true driving back from the station but maybe just an extra 2 minutes.)

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

I live within a 3 minute walk of a light rail station. I usually use it to ride to work.

I can drive from my place to my office in under 15 minutes, it takes me 40 minutes to use the light rail because there are 10 stops between my office and my house, and my office is about 10 minutes by foot from the closest light rail stop.

I like the rail because it's better on the environment, better on my car, and I get a free pass through my university.

SLC

 

[Kashchei]

I have a 15-minute walk to the local MARTA station followed by an 8-minute ride (4 stations) followed by a two-block walk to my office. It's a great way to get in some daily exercise. The bad thing is that I use my car so infrequently, my battery recently discharged and the mechanic told me the solution was to drive it more frequently, if not daily.

 

[CaptMurdock]

I occasionally (more in the summer) take the county regional bus. The ride itself is about 20 minutes, but given the schedules, I have to get to work three hours early and stay an hour and fifteen minutes late. Makes for a really long day.

OTOH, it's a dollar each way. Hard to beat that.

 

[Eraserhead]

Jesus that is infrequent .

 

[AndyR]

Live in Takapuna which is on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand.

10 min walk to the busway. NZD$3.30 to the city, takes 15 mins and drops me at the door of my office building. Same on the way back.

Love it

 

[creator2456]

I live about 20 miles outside of Chicago and commute in for class three days a week. I have two options which I use regularly.

I can take Metra (commuter rail) which stops 1/2 a block from my apartment all the way down and catch a bus from the station to class. It takes about 60-75 minutes door to class depending on delays and waiting for a bus. Cost comes to about $6.50 round trip.

My other option is to drive halfway into the city to the CTA Blue Line and take that the rest of the way. Total time door to class is just about an hour. Both the drive and CTA are about 30 minutes. Total cost for parking & gas comes to about $7.25.

I tend to take my second option as it allows me some more flexibility with the schedule and so far this semester seems a little more reliable on the 60 minute commute.

 

[-aggie-]

I have a 1.5-2.0 hour commute. Yes, life sucks. By car, who knows if I'd ever get in.

 

[Blinkwing]

• Ferry (10-15 minutes)
• Wait at Train Depot (10-15 minutes)
• Train (30-40 minutes)
• Walk (10 minutes)
• Total (1h - 1h20m)

All in all, its around 20km.

If I drove, it would take 2 hours because of traffic. I would also have to wake up 30 minutes earlier than usual.

Live in Takapuna which is on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand.

10 min walk to the busway. NZD$3.30 to the city, takes 15 mins and drops me at the door of my office building. Same on the way back.

Love it

Hah, a fellow New Zealander! I catch the Bayswater Ferry then a train to Mt Albert. Student prices so its around $4.50 per way.

Public transport is a relatively stress-free method of getting around compared to a car.

 

[.Andy]

My public transport trip is train and takes 50 minutes to an hour. I've got a 15 minute walk to the station at one end and a 30 minute walk (through parklands with parrots and ponds with beautiful waterbirds) or a 10 minute bus trip at the other. I love my commute. A podcast or a good album and a takeaway coffee in the am - the best part of the day .

 

[nick9191]

I commute inter-campus (live on one, study on another). Free travel with a student card, takes about 15 mins on the bus.

 

[lionheartednyhc]

Depending on the time of day, about 20-25 minutes to get to my job by bus (although I worked late tonight, on a sunday and it took about 15 to get home). But I still give myself an hour ever morning to get to work, just in case some crazy crackhead stops the bus or something...

The best part, is its door step to doorstep.

 

[MorphingDragon]

My public transport trip is train and takes 50 minutes to an hour. I've got a 15 minute walk to the station at one end and a 30 minute walk (through parklands with parrots and ponds with beautiful waterbirds) or a 10 minute bus trip at the other. I love my commute. A podcast or a good album and a takeaway coffee in the am - the best part of the day .

Shame!

So glas Im not living in Auckland now.

 

[AndyR]

Hah, a fellow New Zealander! I catch the Bayswater Ferry then a train to Mt Albert. Student prices so its around $4.50 per way.

Public transport is a relatively stress-free method of getting around compared to a car.

Actually a Brit who has just moved to Kiwi land. Used to take me anywhere from 15mins to 1.5hrs to travel 15 miles in the UK to work via motorway. Couldn't go via bus/train as there was nothing remotely close and thats near a large city!

So loving getting around Auckland. So much easier and more relaxing to walk to a bus, sit down for 15 mins and be dropped of at work.

Shame!

So glas Im not living in Auckland now.

How come?

 

[Schtumple]

Depending on the weather, between a 30 minute or 10 minute walk.

I have taken the train in times of taking large amounts of equipment to and from campus, which cuts the journey time down to about 3 minutes

 

[iAlan]

I live in Tokyo and public transport here is great.

My commute to work:

Home - Tokyo Metro Station = just under 5 minutes
Tokyo Metro travel time = 19 minutes
Tokyo Metro Station - Office = also just under 5 minutes

The trains are usually on time and frequent, so very little waiting time once at the station.

My company pays my travel (as is required by labour law in Japan I think) and I can use my pass to get on and off anywhere between the designated stations 7 days a week. The monthly fee for the pass is 7,410 Yen / $US 81.98 / $AUS 89.83 / 60.10 Euro / GBP 54.15

 

[Ttownbeast]

I live in Tokyo and public transport here is great.

My commute to work:

Home - Tokyo Metro Station = just under 5 minutes
Tokyo Metro travel time = 19 minutes
Tokyo Metro Station - Office = also just under 5 minutes

The trains are usually on time and frequent, so very little waiting time once at the station.

My company pays my travel (as is required by labour law in Japan I think) and I can use my pass to get on and off anywhere between the designated stations 7 days a week. The monthly fee for the pass is 7,410 Yen / $US 81.98 / $AUS 89.83 / 60.10 Euro / GBP 54.15

do they acually have dudes wearing white gloves shoving passengers in the trains?

 

[Schtumple]

do they acually have dudes wearing white gloves shoving passengers in the trains?

I've always wondered that too, ever since I saw that insane video of them doing that, I often wonder whether there was any investigation made or whether there was a public outcry for more/bigger trains to be brought into service.

 

[pjarvi]

I took public transit for about 5 years from the age of 21-25 in Silicon Valley (San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View). My last job before I bought a car was in South San Jose (IBM@Cottle and IBM@Santa Teresa), my average daily commute was an hour and a half each way:

10 minutes walk to bus stop
40-45 minutes bus ride to the light rail station
25-30 minute rid on the light rail
5 minute ride on company shuttle from station to front door of office building

Sometimes I would mix things up a bit and ride a bike to the bus stop and from the light rail station to the office, or just ride the bike the whole way to/fro. I've also worked places where I was able to take 1-2 buses to get to work which averaged 35-45 minutes.

After I bought a car my commute went from an hour and a half each way to 12 minutes each way. I lived just down the road from an on-ramp to the freeway which made the commute very short.

I've since moved to Illinois and public transit here is a joke (outside of Chicago). I can drive to a Metra (train) station but due to express trains that skip stops there is only 1 train that stops off where I live that also stops at the station closest to work. However, that train arrives at the station near work 15 minutes before 8AM leaving nowhere near enough time to get from the station to the office. Not to mention that the only bus that runs by the station towards work only stops on the opposite side of a 4 lane road with no sidewalks/crosswalks/crossing signals. My only hope would be to ride a bike to the train station, but there are no bike lanes and it snows 3 months out of the year.

My commute by car takes anywhere from 35 minutes to 2 hours depending on weather, traffic delays, Canadian freight trains that take 10-15 minutes to pass by (I've heard they're over a mile long), and road construction. Ever since they finished widening I-94 it has gotten much better though. Living closer to work isn't an option either due to lack of apartment buildings in the area, as in none. Living in the suburbs is fun!

 

[iAlan]

do they acually have dudes wearing white gloves shoving passengers in the trains?

I've always wondered that too[SNIP]

Yes.

 

[splitpea]

45 min door to door at my last job for $2 each way. Distance was under 10 miles, but would have taken about as long by car at rush hour (it's about 25 min at midnight), and that's not counting finding and paying for parking and tolls, plus the car's TCO.

30 min when I lived nearer the city center (3.25 miles to work), 25 if I took the local from closest subway stop and transferred to the express instead of just walking to the express stop. I also sometimes walked to and from work (about an hour, great exercise) or took the bus (40-50 min).

When I lived even closer in (with my parents, though, ick) -- 20 min.

Oh, travel breakdown.

The 45 min was a 7 min walk to the station, 3 min waiting for the train to leave (last stop, so you just get in, and always get a seat), 2 min walk on the other end.

The 30 min was a 10 min walk to the station (3 min if I were going to the near station), 0-5 min waiting, 2 min walk on the far end. Bus was across the street to the stop, 5 min waiting, 1 min walk on the far end... but better scenery.

The 20 min was a 5 min walk to the express station, 0-5 min waiting, 2 min walk on the far end (or 2 min walk to the local station plus more waiting because of the transfer).

I love public transportation. It's cheap and it means you can actually do something useful with part of your travel time, even if that something is reading or sleeping.