What's Your Commute Time to Work?

Hello Community,

My commute to work is around 1hr 10mins by public transport (Bus and Train), which I think is kind of okish.

My commute would be 55mins if I go by car, park at a station and catch train to work.

Just wanted to find out how much you all spend in commute to work.

Poll Options

  • 452
    Upto 30 Mins
  • 380
    < 1 Hour
  • 289
    > 1 Hour

Comments

  • +13

    study on public transport, win/win

    • +27

      …while standing up in a train, shoulder-to-shoulder in peak hour traffic?

      Man, props to you!

      • +3

        which train line is it?

        i used to leave home at 4:30am to make sure i got a seat on robina to brisbane train, did a few subjects on it over the year…

        • +5

          Werribee line in Metro Victoria.

          Seats are already taken on the second station to the city. By the fourth (where I get on), it starts to get cramped and on the fifth, it's completely full. Mind you, it takes 10 stations to get to the city and it gets a little uneasy before even starting the shift.

        • @silverrat23: could always go backwards to go forwards, sort of why i live further down the line. oh well master the art of standying up and studying/sleeping

        • @silverrat23: I'm on the same line and one station prior (Williams Landing). WL is about as popular as Laverton, though seat is not a problem on early trains (7 ish) for us.

        • Wow

        • @silverrat23: Can confirm. I catch train from Williams Landing, seats taken. And, I dunno why they always send the old metro for Werribee line :/

        • @silverrat23: They've added another train to our line. I don't know what time it is for you, but it's the 8:26 from Lavo. You can get a seat on that train, and the one after it. Yes, I get to work at 9:15, but I leave work at 5:30 or so.

        • @silverrat23: hi neighbour.

          I get on at Laverton too but my start time is 7.30 in the CBD so I'm on much earlier than yourself. Even at 6.44/6.56am there's very little chance of a seat.

        • @silverrat23: Lucky you. It takes 20+ stations for me to get to the city.

      • +1

        Travel outside peak.

        • +6

          Start time is 8:30am in the city and finishes at 5:30pm. Traveling outside peak is not possible, given the time it takes to go in and out of the city (1h 15m from door to door).

        • +3

          @silverrat23: Your start times are not great, no flexible working arrangements? You should be able to get a seat on an intercity service out of Central if you're ahead of departure time. Edit: Oh Victoria…. terrible luck.

      • +3

        Study level: Asian.

      • No probs as such in my train line. Can get a seat. I will most probably go to OzBargain first and then study some stuff related to work .

      • You got headphones?
        Audio books

  • +47

    15 minutes. Canberra.

    (Yes, yes, bring on the jokes, barbs)

    I lived in Melbourne for years and had a 35 minute train ride and rode a bike as well. That was an hour each way.

    Moving to a smaller place gave me back about 7 hours a week.

    There are jobs in Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Canberra and Hobart, it's hard to see why people are desperate to move to Sydney or Melbourne these days unless they earn 200K+

    • +14

      ~15 minutes, walking. Canberra also. Canberra is great. :)

    • +5

      20 minutes drive for me travelling interstate :-D

      • +5

        Q-banger!

    • +5

      Canberra here too, 15 minutes by car to the triangle.

    • +4

      12 minutes walking in Melbourne :)

    • +3

      Canberra is awesome.
      Work is only a 5 minute drive, 8 minute bike ride, or 20 min walk away.

      Back in the day I'd travel a 4 hour round trip into St Leonards via train.
      Never doing that again.

    • +28

      Ahh Canberra. Lived there for 22 years and don't miss it one bit.
      Greatest thing about Canberra? Seeing it in the rear vision mirror when you're leaving.

    • +2

      Canberra here aswell, 4m drive to work, 3m if i get the green light.. not sure why im still driving

      • Same as mine in Toowoomba, curse that light some days.
        My guess is you're still driving cause of the weather in Canberra half the year, and i'm still driving cause the Toowoomba Bypass Highway isn't finished meaning there are too many massive trucks through the middle of town to make it safe to cycle on my commute path.

        Bring on regionalisation!

    • +4

      canberra is 15 minutes to anywhere else in canberra!!!

      • +8

        nowhere to nowhere

      • +2

        As long as you not catching a bus :)

      • Not when you live in Tuggers having to travel to Symonston during peak hour.

    • +2

      Shh, don't tell people or you'll ruin it ;)

    • +5

      I was in Canberra earlier this year for work (from Melbourne). The best way I can describe it is that is has the infrastructure of a city with the population of a small country town.

      I was driving to my 9am meeting at 'peak time' to find completely empty multi-lane roads, multi-lane roundabouts etc. The suburbs felt like a country town and the city felt like a ghost town, there was just barely anyone around.

      It was nice to get to places quickly and it was quite clean too.

      • +1

        Don't worry, the ACT Chief Planner Ben Ponton already has plans to turn 70% of Canberra into apartments… Any "empty green space" is fair game for developers these days. In his mind it's more about what we do with the "space that's left over".

        Most of the established suburbs in Tuggeranong and the Inner South are fairly safe (1000m^2+ blocks, natural parks with kangaroos, dismal internet), but you should see the abominations on the north side in Gungahlin, and out west at Coombs!

    • Yep another + for Canberra. An easy 5 min walk to work

    • 25 minutes Canberra also. That Cotter road traffic kills it at the moment!!!

      • Mine is about the same, and I complain about it occasionally. 26 minutes in Canberra is a long time! (Or a 56 minute bike ride)

    • +1

      About 10 minutes drive, Canberra.

      A lot of people give the place slack, but I enjoy living here. I'm a musician and it has a really great local originals scene.

    • It usually takes me longer to park the car than to drive to work in Canberra.

    • +2

      I'm in Canberra but it still takes me more than half an hour, although not by much. I use the transport Canberra park and ride because I refuse to pay for parking in the city.

    • As long as you have the luxury of owning a car (and a parking permit for ANU or work in the city). My bus commutes were regularly 1.2+ hours (one way)… with a frequency of once per hour. That's the other side of the story no-one ever talks about.

    • 6 minutes drive - canberra as well :-)

  • +3

    15 mins, motorbike. Usually at least 30 mins by car

  • +93

    1 minute - from the kitchen to my home office

    • Best!

    • +39

      Invest in some runners and you could reduce this to 10 seconds or less!

      • +51

        Walk too fast and I will spill my coffee and/or drop my croissant

      • Go buy Usain Bolt edition runners.
        You might cover it up in sub 5 seconds. :)

    • +10

      How big is your palace, your highness?

      • +8

        Big enough for his wrong rug he bought off eBay.

        • I guess if he doesn't have to commute he could consider investing in a high yield investment luxury car

    • +3

      My walk is only about 15secs, much smaller home office I guess. You probably live in a castle :)

    • +1

      Save that minute and work from bed? :D

    • +1

      2 days a week I have this luxury, the other 3 about an hour commute to the Sydney CBD (Circular Quay). Nice views from our offices though!

  • +10

    1hr15 on a good day 1hr45 to 2 hours on a bad day - Sydney.

  • 15km in 20 minutes. Screw public transport :)

  • +10

    2hrs each way door to door. It's an issue i'm struggling with - the lifestyle and surroundings where I live (on a couple of acres) are very seductive, but 20hrs commuting each week just to enjoy the lifestyle is difficult (doubly so in winter - leave and arrive home in total darkness).

    The thing is, I used to live 3km from Sydney and it could sometimes take 40mins to get home so in some ways the extra 80mins to travel 95kms seems proportionate… I need to be able to work in my pyjamas for the best balance :)

    • +2

      95Kms? Where do you stay mate?

      • +2

        Wollondilly shire

        • +1

          Same here, Wingecarribee. I know 'bad days' happen a lot.

        • +2

          @ajGold: I can only imagine if we had European style regional trains in Australia. Your trip would be 30 minutes on the train, then maybe 10 minutes on the subway!

    • +1

      Gee respect. Any days you can work from home?

      • +2

        Tried, and no :( appreciate your kind words - half of me thinks I'm a frigging idiot. But then the other half of me thinks living in apartment for 10 years was a damned idiot too!

    • Could you work 9h30 on four days a week (so still full time hours)?
      Or can you find a similar job in Canberra? I live on a farm 20min from work (south of Canberra), and my mum and dad have a property 40min from their work (north of Canberra).

    • +1

      I'm in a similar situation, Monday's i commute to the office and it takes about 3 hours each way (200km each way). but then Tuesday-Friday i work from home. So only a 6 hour commute a week. beats the old commute though of 1 hour (on a good day) each way 5 days a week when i lived in Sydney. pushing to be permanently working from home, but the boss wants me in the office more… time to hit up seek!

    • Find a job in Campbelltown, instantly half your commute?

      • And instantly half your pay.

        I live in CTown and commute to city everyday. Sucks the big one but that is where the money is!

    • I feel that pain. I lived in Tahmoor for a number of years. First 6-7 years of work i was spending similar hours on the road to you. Moved to Leumeah and cut the commute down to 55min door to door each way.

      Moved to Adelaide 5 years ago and now its 25 mins door to door by car. Thanks to Sydney property prices, when we sold the Leumeah place, we were able to afford a big block within 10km of the city in Adelaide. I work on the city fringe here which means i have no direct bus service (eastern suburbs) so driving is really my only option

  • 1 hour and 15 min if I run to catch my train after I got off the bus so I can sit throughout, or 1 hour if I choose to stand on the train :P

  • +4

    About 3 minutes, 5 if I have to wait a long time for the lights to change.

    • Why are you not walking if it's so short?

      • May be he / she is talking about pedestrian lights.

        • +2

          But pedestrian like cyclists don't wait for the lights to change ;-)

      • Sleep in longer

  • +2

    Five minutes by car. I deliberately rented very close to work just for that reason (and the related $$ savings). I'm also immediately adjacent to a motorway exit so I can get to the CBD in about 25 minutes off peak.

    • +4

      why not walk / cycle to work ?

      • +8

        I have to use my car for work. Otherwise I would.

  • Perth. Bus + Train

    30-40 minutes
    20 minutes during school holidays

  • Car to Station + Train to Work about 1hr 20mins ;/

  • Sydney
    30-35mins cycle (depending on traffic/pedestrians)
    Otherwise 45mins public transport (15/20/10 walk/train/walk)

  • +3

    Eastern suburbs Melbourne
    Walk to station: 8 mins (4 minute jog if late)
    Train: meant to take 41-43 mins but often 55ish
    Walk to work: 1 min

    If train was reliable i wouldn't mind but, there's commonly issues and delays or city loop issues. Take me back to the north east line

    Do want to move closer to city but wanting to be walking distance to a station so we can stay a one car house.

    • Really ? I found Belgrave/Lilydale the best after travelling on Glenny, Sandringham and Dandenong lines. Heard plenty of bad things abt west side lines.
      Now it takes me 45 mins door to door via tram and even though tram takes ages I'm not sure I could do the train again..

      • Seriously? I've come from the hurstbridge line which I found to never have delays or cancellations (had a school mate who worked at metro and he said it was most reliable) and Belgrave/lily every time it rains even just a little there's chaos lol
        Being one past ringwood doesn't help as it splits the frequency of service
        Do you ever struggle getting home on a tram though? Seem to always be packed

  • +12

    My commute to work is one of the best times of my day. Read a book, listen to music and drink a coffee. It is all relax time. I pity the people playing Candy Crush or staring at Facebook for 30+ minutes each way.

    • +9

      On my 1hr+ train commute I would do meditation sessions via free podcasts. Everyone at work doing shorter commutes in a crushed tram would think my long commute was crazy but I would arrive at work with my chakras aligned and/or my mind at peace LOL.

    • Best answer so far! :-)

    • +28

      My commute to work is the only time i can interact with different girls other than wife.

    • Agreed. I'm one of those peeps that will fall asleep at a moments notice and use the commute to get some shut eye and relax. Always get a seat in the mornings but evening can be 50-50. Old job i sometimes used the tram to finalise some work or attend conference calls. Glad I don't have to do that any more.

    • Mine's 2.5 hours each way. I catch up on sleep, read, watch TV, do craft, I'm thinking about taking up studying again. In Victoria Vline service though, metro peak times not so great, but I've watched TV on my laptop while stuck standing on a packed tram for over 1.5 hours when there were major train disruptions.

      • +1

        Wow. I feel for you. 5hrs a day! + the 8 at least that you're at work. You're spending a LOT of your life just chilling on pub trans. You basically have to go to bed as soon as you get home if you're going to get anywhere near 8hrs sleep. :(

        • I only need around 4-6 hours at night, plus get around 2 hours on the train, more if I'm tired. I was only a temp until recently, now that I'm permanent I'm thinking about moving, but not for at least a few months. I don't mind it yet, it's time I can't do anything anyway, so just relax and enjoy it. There are a few people who catch the same trains I do everyday.

    • People enjoy different things.

      My car was out of action recently and I took the train up the coast. I got sneezed on twice by 2 different people.

      For years I did about a 1.5 hr each way commute into the city and I still do it occasionally. Back then it wasn't quite as crowded so I'd take a laptop and use a flight sim (MS Flight Sim for full sized planes and Realflight for r/c planes). I use to play chess and got through a few computer games too. I read books. I listened to music. I watched movies. I do NOT miss it. I can do all of those things in the comfort of my own home.

  • +5

    45 mins by car. Melbourne.

    • -1

      Here here

    • +1

      1hr by car or 40 - 45min with city link. Only to find no parking at work

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