How Many Days Americans Waste Commuting In The Course Of A Lifetime, Mapped By City (digg.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Have you ever stopped to think that over the course of your lifetime, you will likely spend hundreds of days commuting back and forth from home and work? If not, we've got a great map that's sure to make you question what you're doing with your life. The good folks over at Educated Driver used Census Bureau data on average daily roundtrip commute times in hundreds of cities nationwide to calculate how much time Americans spend traveling to and from work over the course of their lives. (They assumed a 45-year career working 250 days a year.) The results, mapped by city, are pretty horrifying.

Comments

Method also matters.

[b0s0z0ku]

Method of travel also matters -- you can read a book on a train or bus. You can't in a (not self-driving) car stuck in traffic.

Re:Method also matters.

[hawguy]

Method of travel also matters -- you can read a book on a train or bus. You can't in a (not self-driving) car stuck in traffic.

I bike to work most days and don't consider any of that time "wasted" -- I spend less time in the gym and more time on my bike, and I look forward to the bike ride home, sitting in traffic in my car is no fun.

Re:Method also matters.

[edi_guy]

Ditto this. Started riding my bike to work many years ago, after frustration with public transit and cost of driving/parking. Bike commuting is fantastic, and the random times I am forced to take the bus/train or drive it's so depressing. My $600 bike from 2006-ish requires occasional maintenance I do myself, but works great. I'm in decent shape in large part due to biking, but it's . As you do it more, things you were concerned about go away. "What about the rain" it's totally fine to ride in the rain with the right gear. Too hot, too cold. Rarely an issue.

Keys to biking in my mind is

1.) it's not a race, there's no reason run red lights & stop signs, get sweaty, etc. going at a normal pace is perfectly quick
2.) don't ride like you are entitled. Whether legally you can or not, don't hog the lanes, give buses and cars the right of way, pedestrians obviously. Be chill.

Unfortunately a lot of my cycling cohorts on the road are indeed jerks. I keep promising to strap a GoPro on the handlebars to create a clip of bad bicyclists..but all in all I recommend giving it a try. First 2 weeks might be an adjustment, but I promise that week 3 things will click and you might never go back.

Re:Method also matters.

[hawguy]

I bike to work most days and don't consider any of that time "wasted" -- I spend less time in the gym and more time on my bike, and I look forward to the bike ride home, sitting in traffic in my car is no fun.

Then again if you bike to work, you are among the few who have very short commutes. I have a 40 minute commute, but it would be an 175 minute commute by bike.

In this country, a bike friendly commute doesn't usually happen by accident. My wife and I chose where to live based on our commutes -- we live a 10 minute walk from a train station for her, and a 10 mile ride to work for me. Hopefully to become a 5 mile ride early next year when my employer moves to a new office.

My bike commute is a consistent 45 minutes (mostly on little used neighborhood streets and dedicated trails), my car commute is 30 - 60 minutes.

Multiplaction makes numbers big.

[jellomizer]

I actually rather like my commute. I only have a few spots of traffic, but for the most part it is nice time for me to drive down with only myself and my thoughts.
Being scared that I may have wasted 2 years of my life driving to work, isn't that big of a deal. What is more scary is the 10 years of my life actually working.

No time off?

[Albanach]

They assumed a 45-year career working 250 days a year

So, 365 days in a year, less 104 weekend days leaves just 261 days.

We then have holidays - most folk get off (either on the day or in lieu) New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

That puts as to 255 days available to work. In other words, the analysis reckons the average person will take five workdays total for vacation and sick time in an entire year.

And they think it's the commute time to be concerned about!

Re:No time off?

[b0s0z0ku]

Yep, America sucks in this respect. Keep pointing it out -- US workers need it drummed into their heads that they're being exploited.

Shocking!

[sootman]

Digg still exists?

Re:Suckers

[hawguy]

Try setting up a basic sciences lab with multi-million dollar equipment in your home. Try doing other people's plumbing or electrical work from home.

Meth-heads seem to be able to set up home labs, why can't you?

My commute hours

[Jeremi]

My commute to my job is about 30 minutes each way, and I've been doing it 5 days a week, for almost 20 years now, so that's ~250 hours of commuting time a year, or ~5000 hours of commuting time total.

So that's ~208 24-hour days of my life wasted, right?

Well, the kicker (and I know this is going to sound obnoxious/pretentious, but it's true so I'll post it anyway) is that I've been commuting by bike, and enjoying all of that commuting time as exercise and a recreational activity. I wouldn't count it as wasted at all.

If your situation allows you to commute by bike, I highly recommend it -- it transforms a tedious daily chore into something you can look forward to both before and after work. It also cuts down on the time you need to spend at the gym, since part of your exercise quota you now get "for free" as part of your commute.