HN Explorer

Ask HN: What is your commute like?

28 points by blang ↗ HN
I found it interesting how many people responded to the article about using tolls as an LA traffic solution: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13813858

Many people had opinions based on their own commuting experiences, which made me wonder what different peoples commutes were like.

I'll start with mine: I live in Seattle, Washington, USA. My office is 13 miles (21 kilometers) from my home. I drive to work and travel time is about 40 minutes. I usual drive near peak traffic time.

93 comments

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lsiunsuex
Buffalo, NY - Office is 5 miles away; takes 10 minutes to drive it at 5:30am and about 12 minutes on my way home at 1:30pm. I'd bike it, but day light is slim at 5:30am and you never know who is just getting home from work at that time and isn't really paying attention / the roads I take to get there are pretty commercial (trucks and such)
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1123581321
I live in a midwest city of about 120k. Office is 2 miles away, takes 5 minutes to drive downtown and 3 minutes to walk in from the lot.
Symbiote
If you wanted to cycle, which would take perhaps 12 minutes, would it be reasonable to do so? That is, is a reasonable route permitted, and would you feel safe using it?

Ditto for walking, it should be 30-40 minutes, depending on your pace.

1123581321
Yes, cycling is 11-12 minutes there at an easy pace and 16 back due to elevation. Sadly, my bike was stolen in 2015 and I haven't settled on a replacement yet.

Walking is about 30 minutes for me both ways, but I would rather have the option to leave later in the morning and go home for lunch. That said, it's a lovely way to start the morning, so I hope to walk more once the wind chill eases up a few degrees!

Either way, I'd be going through high-crime areas, but I feel very safe.

afarrell
I live near Old Street in London, UK. I walk 20 minutes to work and 20 minutes back.
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d--b
Paris, France - Office is in New York, so I walk about 3 feet to my computer and remote-login.
jrlocke
Boston, MA - Office is 8 miles from my home. I drive during morning and afternoon rush hour, 25 minutes to work, and 45 minutes from work.
retbull
12 min down a single road then park just inside city center. I work right next to the lot so I just walk straight over. No traffic. I like it. Bellevue WA I live in Bellevue as well.
AngeloR
Ontario, Canada - Without traffic it's about an hour.. with traffic (which is what my commute is) it's about 1.5 hours there, and 2 - 2.5 back home.
chris11
How are you dealing with that? I had a bus ride for a few months that ended up taking about an hour, and I hated it.
ncphillips
Prince Edward Island, Canada – I live about a 3-minute-walk away from the office.
[dead] ncphillips
Prince Edward Island, Canada – I live about a 3-minute-walk away from the office.
cafard
Washington, DC; just under 3 miles (just over 4.5 kilometers). I take the bus, about 30 minutes door to door, or (about three times a week) walk, roughly an hour depending on the route.
xntrk
NYC - 30 min walk to the office.
ceras
Similar for me in NYC: 25min walk or 15min using bike share. Subway when raining or snowing.
Kratisto
Denver, CO - Office (Downtown by Coors Field) is 1.2 miles from my apartment. I either walk to work, or my girlfriend drops me off sometimes. Denver has a free metro bus that goes up and down 18th/19th street. If I'm lucky I can catch it at and cut 5-10 minutes off my walk. Sometimes there isn't one there, and I just walk the whole way. If I do that it takes 20-25 minutes, but is nice and easy.
jmknoll
Denver seemed like a pretty cool city, from all 2 days that I spent there 10 years ago. Pretty vibrant downtown for a city of its size, and presumably awesome skiing/hiking/anything outdoors right outside the city.

Once you factor in salary and cost of living, how would you say Denver stacks up compared to NYC or SF?

Kratisto
I grew up in Pennsylvania, and Denver is my first place outside of there. Housing is expensive, but not near NYC/SF expensive. The tech scene is growing, but clearly isn't as big either. Overall, I really like Denver, and I'm happy with my choice. I wouldn't be opposed to trying a different city though, since I've only lived in two places.
prepend
Atlanta, GA, 17 miles, 30-60 minutes each way with an average of 45 during the school year and 35 during the summer.
mfukar
7-10 minutes from home. Best commute of in my entire life so far.
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Zikes
Northwest Arkansas - The office is about 28 miles from my house, 40 minutes drive in low to moderate traffic. My previous job was much closer, 4-5 miles from my house, but refused to pay me the median salary for my job description. With my current job, I was able to negotiate an office start/end time that avoided peak traffic times and regularly work from home.
gervase
Tempe, AZ - Office is just under 2 miles from my house. I usually bike, which takes ~10 (leisurely) minutes.

The heat can be a problem in the summer, but if I offset to go earlier in the morning and return earlier in the day, I can ensure I'll be sweaty at home in the evening, rather than at work at the start of the day.

ljnelson
I grab a cup of coffee on my way to my basement.
jrm415
I live and work in Redwood City, CA, USA. I live 1.2 miles from work. It's a 6-8 minute bike ride, which I prefer, but I usually drive my wife to the train station, which is a block from where I work, and then I drive the rest of the way to work, which takes me about 9 minutes total.
hprotagonist
Boston, MA -- 10 miles each way, and 95% of that's on a bike path. By bicycle, 35-40 minutes each way, up to an hour in heavy snow / poor road conditions. By motorcycle, anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending on route and traffic. By train, 12 minutes.
sofaofthedamned
43 miles away, through rural country roads in Gloucestershire, UK. It's a contracting gig so tolerable, but i'm looking forward to cutting it down again.

Was awful until a couple of weeks ago as it was dark when I left and when I got home. It's now light both ends and the countryside looks beautiful.

ciaranm
London, UK.

I'm a contractor so my commute varies based on my current client. At the moment I'm about 4.5km from the clients office, which I cycle in about 15 minutes (13-17 depending on traffic + lights).

nunez
When I'm home, it's a 25 min drive or 1:15 bike ride.

When I travel, it depends. Right now, my client is a 3:35 flight and drive. I get a lot done during that time.

johan_larson
I work from home in Toronto, Canada.
johan_larson
My worst commute ever was from northern San Jose to a job in downtown San Francisco. First by car early in the morning to the end of the east-side BART line, and then BART to SF. I forget how long it took. 90 minutes? Two hours? Plus I had to get to the station really early or the available parking would be gone. And on the way back the highway was just a crawl.

Complete insanity.

The only way I can see an SJ-SF commute being reasonable is if you both live and work close to a Caltrain station.