BrettC

Hi Everybody.

This is a bit of an open ended question with very specific answers but I'll ask it anyway.

I have just moved to a remote bit of Bedfordshire and as a result I am going to have to commute as there are no companies (currently recruiting) local to me in my field.

What sort of distance/time commute everyday is pretty much bareable? Ive never had to really commute before so I just wondered peoples views on their commutes.

How far/time do you travel each day for work?

Cheers

Brett

BrettC

I know what you mean about the trains. The train v Bike thing.....I might be late going by train but with me on a bike at least by train I should eventually arrive alive
Me and bikes don't mix together very well!

One of my potential jobs would be 2 hours each way and I'm concerned that after the first week that it will be a reet pain in the ar*s!

BrettC

The 2 hours was by car. I think it will be even longer by train as it would involve a change of line, a bus, and a walk.

If i go by car, i would have to buy a second car (diesel). Thinking about it, im starting to think a total of 4 hours of 'stuck in traffic' driving a day on top of 9 hours of work might be pushing it a bit or am i being soft?

stevencotton

If you are anything like me you will end up hating it. Don't work out how much time you will spend commuting in a year because for me it's over three weeks solid, and that's a lot of time.

TURBORAY

I comute 45mins to w*rk at night but when i travel home the next morning it can take anything up to 1.5 and 2 hours in the morning depending on what the traffic is like

milo

my view is that i HATE commuting. so much so that when i last changed jobs i moved to be within a 5 minute cycle of work.

if i were u id consider moving, or if you cant do that, try to get a job working from home.

its amazing how less stressful your life is sans commute.

Dr Nick

This is all about quality of life.

For you I hope the benefit is that you like where you now live, the penalty is the commute.

I live in quite a nice spot myself near Bracknell but have to commute to Greenford every day.

I have been doing it for nearly 9 years and it is finally starting to drive me nuts.

Because I have no tolerance at all for queueing, I set off to work at about 0615 which gets me in comfortably the 26 miles in 45 minutes. I always try to leave at 4 pm and it usually takes about the same. So its not too stressful. But I find myself having to be in bed quite early.

Over the years I have watches in horror as stupid low speed limits and bus lanes have been put in all along my route and finally I have had enough. I am getting a new job and I am going to move house and walk or cycle to work. This mens that fatty two jags doesnt get 80% petrol tax a month amounting to more than my mortgage when this money is already after income tax.

Sorry for the rant bottom line is I suspect you will be able to put up with it for a certain length of time dependant on your personality/tolerance/patience level.

Cheers!

gutter-rat

I have a 20 mile commute which takes approx an hr by car on a good day, 3 on a bad.

I'm completely fed up with it!
It's not so much the time it's the sitting in traffic getting nowhere!

On my bike it always me about 30 mins
Second vote for a bike!

Just watch out for brain dead drivers in the morning

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

currently have a 45minute drive of 30miles along some nice twisty B roads..

have done upto 1.5hour comute but find anything upto about an hour is fine and achieveable.. anything beyond that and the pay has to be huge.. lol

I did an hour and a quarter commute for 6months with no time off and I was exhausted by the end of the six months and that was mainly due to the busy commute which was 80miles.

Biggins

I just love my commute and I really DO mean that. I have been doing the same journey now for 15 Years, same job, from tea boy to MD (75% shareholder).

It is 15 Miles door to door and my record is just over 15 minutes in my old STI V Type R Ltd. (obviously there is a large stretch on private roads).
The average journey at sensible speeds is 19 Mins. and this hasn't varied in the 15 Years. It does make me smile when I hear people moaning that their 5 Mile commute takes them 1/2 Hr.

It did take 21 Mins. this morning due to a very icy B road, but it was FUN FUN FUN!!

BrettC

Thanks everybody.

I can't move really as my better half has just got a job that she really loves and I would rather do the commute than worry about her doing it if you know what I mean.

Also, in my line of work the pay is never good (despite the last 8 years being in higher education) and I can't work from home, again, due to the nature of the work.

I think i will try to limit my commute to an hour each way. I think I could live with that for a while.

Whats the traffic like around Cambridge in rush hour like? I think I know the answer but I'll ask just the same.

Anyone out there with a biological science background yet works in something completely different? Having to consider this cos of lack of companies in the area.

Dr NIck: Fatty two jags!!
Milo: 5 minute cycle....very jealous.

Commuting peeps: Do you have a dedicated second cheap car (diesel) + something nice for the weekends or just something nice and put up with petrol costs etc.?

thanks again
Brett

BrettC

Biggins: 15 minutes indeed and in a type R at that. You are not helping!!

davyboy

around 90 mins drive in the morning, and 60 mins on the way home. 100 mile round trip.

milo

its horrendous for traffic, especially city center and the a14. but then again so are most city areas.

Iwan

5 minute walk each way

ajm

About 9 miles/20mins on an normal day. It can be as little as 10mins out of rush hour or as much as an hour if some muppet flips a caravan on the M5, or if they are tossing around with the Avonmouth bridge again!

BrettC

Thanks all. Its given me a good idea of distances and associated times.

Brendan Hughes

45 mins each way comfy train + crappy bus. I could stretch it to an hour but wouldn't like more than that.

If you're single it's bearable. When you're living with someone and want an evening together, you start to wish for your time.

Driving long distances can be very stressful. If you can minimise the number of transport changes, then 45 mins sitting on one train with a book / paper / eyemask / gameboy is not so bad. If you have to keep getting up and changing, it would be crap.

Buzzer

I have an 8 mile journey in the morning which can take from 30 - 45 mins. On the way home 20 mins.

It has been known to take 1 1/2 hours to get to work when theres an accident

................. and i can knock at least 10 mins off those times when the kids are off school We live about 200 yards from a junior school and the bloke opposite takes his kids in the car .............. but then he is a little *strange*

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

I do a 6 mile commute through suburbia that takes on average 25 mins. 15 mins during half term.

Used to do a 1.5 hr train/tube commute when working in the city. Just about bearable - usually get a seat on the way in, stand crammed like sardines for half the journey on the way home - thats on a good day when the trains are less than 15mins late / more than 4 carriages long. All for £1500 pa, what mugs we are God knows what they charge now

supna

160 Mile round trip commute. Live near Cambridge, Work In Reading. I've been doing it for the past 4 years now and its not so bad. I leave at 5:30 in the morning and leave work at 3pm just to avoid traffic. Also I work one day a week from home which helps!!

T4molie

Brett,

I live in Bedfordshire and have been commuting to London and back everyday for nearly 7 years now - takes about 1.5 hours each way. I only do it cos I can earn more money than what I could if working locally

As someone mentioned earlier... NEVER sit and workout how much time you spend commuting a year cos it'll just depress the hell out of you

My previous job I used to drive to Uxbridge and back approx 100 miles round trip - the annoying thing was if you drove off peak then you could do the drive in an easy hour (1 way) but it usually took around 2 hours each way ......

TBH I much prefer getting up and sitting on a train and relaxing rather than having to drive for 1-2 hours... again as someone mentioned earlier, with a train you may be late sometimes but atleast you don't have to worry about concentrating while driving... getting done for speeding.... worrying about some other idiot driving into you while they're reading the paper (I jest not this happened to me) and so on......

Are you N/S/E/W Beds?

Andy

BrettC

Hi Andy

I am about 8 miles north of Bedford.
I would prefer to commute by train, but there is no train station in my village so would have to drive into bedford everyday and then also have the cost of parking which I was trying to avoid.
Your 1.5 hour commute into London...is that right the way into the centre?

Cheers

Brett

BrettC

Supna.

Thats sounds horrendous...I hope they pay you well!

EddScott

Think my journey is about 3 miles max. Quick walk takes about 20 minutes. To work is great as its downhill, walking home is tiring as its all uphill.

During the summer its lovely walking the nipper to school which is on the way. When the roads are being dug up its possible to walk past neighbours sat in cars who left before me and are getting to the same place.

Danny B

2hrs per day
20hrs per week (based on a 5 day week)
940 hrs per year (based on 47 working weeks)
That is just over 39 days sat in your car for 24hrs per day
or 117.5 working days (8hr days) spent driving to work.

4hrs per day is madness..
Get a job nearer to home or move.

T4molie

Brett,

Yip right in the center... I work in Golden Square (next to Piccadilly Circus) - so it's train from Bedford to St Pancras and then tube from there.

The parking used to be no problem until they put in the CPZ - although there are some streets within 10 mins walking distance that are outside of the CPZ, but I wouldn't park a nice motor there for too long!!

I think they charge about £5 / day in the station car park, but on the opposite side there is a Focus DIY store who I believe let you park there for less money / day?????

Andy

S11EPS

Brett, I'm living in St. Neots, so I'm guessing we're not a million miles away from one another.

I drive into West London and back everyday, approx 120 miles.

I tend to leave at 5.45 to 6.00, as I hate sitting in traffic. By leaving at that time I'm at Apex Corner by 6.45 and, by avoiding the North Circular and taking the back streets, I'm at the office by 7.05.

Coming home takes a bit longer, If I leave at about 5, i'm home by no later than 6.45, but again, this can be reduced by not just sticking to the A1.

As many have said, don't think about the time spent in your car, it will get you down. What I think about is this - If I wanted a brand new 4 bed detached house (like I have now) much closer to work, I'd need £750k, rather than £250k.

Saving half a million quid is worth an extra 3 hours a day IMO, as well as NOT being in London when it comes to weekend fun (driving the **** of my cars).