Commute Creep

[SnackDog]

I have never lived more than about 15 minutes from work (and as close as five). Current commute is 20 minutes in the morning (no traffic but a zillion lights)  and 30 in the afternoon. However, my boss is a raving lunatic and my departure time is gradually slipping. I like to leave at 4:30 but over the last few months the meetings have slid to 5, 6, 7 pm. This makes the commute an hour or more due to downtown gridlock (and I mean gridlock - every intersection blocked by buses). 

Strangely, the commute duration doesn't bother me. I reflect on the day, chat on the phone (handsfree), listen to the radio, and keep an eye out for carjackers. I enjoy wrangling with pushy taxi drivers and honking at buses in the intersections. I thought a longer commute would kill me, but it is fine. What I hate is getting home so late I am too exhausted to go to the gym.

Have you experienced commute creep?

[2Birds1Stone]

No.

I view my commute as part of my workday, and when making employment/living decisions I factor it into my compensation/hours worked.

If my commute increased my total time away from home by 20%, I would require 20% more compensation.

[human]

When I first started working at mcd's I was a good 45 minute bus ride from work. Never owned a car until I was in my thirties. Not that owning a vehicle saved me any money I just didn't need one.

As my income started growing I always made sure I was a thirty minute walk from work. Not something I will ever compromise on, it also means I will probably alwasy live in an apartment or condo.

[MsPeacock]

It sounds like you have work hours creep more than commute creep.

My commute time can vary greatly depending on my departure time (both for morning and evening). I also try to leave by 4:30 and the difference is 15-30 minutes more commute time on average, plus whatever time for leaving late (so an hour or more later getting home).

I turned down two job offers because they would have significantly increased my commute time.  I very much mind time in my car. Time in my car = time not w/ my kids or doing things I like.

[Metric Mouse]

I would imagine commute creep is common as one's career advances. It's probably mostly part of lifestyle creep though - bigger house in the burbs, working more 'regular' hours so traffic is worse, etc.

If one enjoys their commute, it isn't so bad. If one has better things to do, then commute creep should be fought violently.

[Linea_Norway]

I think it is silly that an employer plans meetings at 6 or 7 pm. Doesn't that count as overtime, as it isn't normal working hours anymore?

Do the busses go faster?

Yes, I have experienced commute creep.
1: First it was the train company exchanging all wires and signal systems in the one train tunnel through Oslo, 2 summers in a row. For me as a train passenger, that doubled my commute time.
2: The train company decided to turn down my local train station at walking distance from my house, and made the train stop everywhere. I had to buy a second car and my commute increased with half an hour a day.
3: When I to start in my previous job, I went to work in a part of the city closer to my house. I asked specifically if I was to work mostly in that office. Turned out that I was full time sold as a consultant and always had to travel to the opposite site of the city, adding an extra 45 min to my commute. And I was supposed to do that in my spare time. Therefore I changed jobs again pretty soon after.

[lthenderson]

One of the great benefits of living in rural America is that there is no commute creep. I used to drive clear across town to work (during "rush hour") and the drive was five minutes, six if the stoplight at the only regulated intersection was red. I only found out about the heater and A/C in the car after I retired and could go on longer drives.

[GuitarStv]

Thanks to Toronto's inaction on public transit, even though I've been living in the same house and working in the same office for five years it's worse every year.  I can add a minute or two on the average car commute time each way after a year.  The 18 minute in the morning car commute to work is about 25 minutes most days now.  The 22 minute drive home is about 30 minutes most days now.

My bike commute time though, has steadily dropped over those five years, and now runs 40 - 45 minutes each way.  :P

[Slee_stack]

Mine has grown about 30% in 6 years.

RT used to be <70 min, now its 90 min.

I go biking or to the gym after work 2-3 nights a week to knock 10-15 min off my eve commute.

[NoStacheOhio]

I think it is silly that an employer plans meetings at 6 or 7 pm. Doesn't that count as overtime, as it isn't normal working hours anymore?

In America, we enjoy treating entry- and mid-level office drones the same as we do executives, which means they're exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act. A federal judge also just halted a new rule making it impossible for anyone under ~$48k to be classified as exempt. We're just that star-spangled awesome.

[mm1970]

Thanks to Toronto's inaction on public transit, even though I've been living in the same house and working in the same office for five years it's worse every year.  I can add a minute or two on the average car commute time each way after a year.  The 18 minute in the morning car commute to work is about 25 minutes most days now.  The 22 minute drive home is about 30 minutes most days now.

My bike commute time though, has steadily dropped over those five years, and now runs 40 - 45 minutes each way.  :P

jealous.  I recently started biking again, after a five year hiatus.  I can't seem to get under 52 minutes.  And on the way home, in the dark, it's 57.

[Slinky]

I went from a 5 minute commute to about a 35 minute commute when my work moved locations. I hate it. An hour or more of my day, every day, gone just like that. 5 hours of free time per week are gone and I'm not making an extra penny more for it. That's some serious BS. And yeah, I usually work 10-6:30 so I'm already shifted out of heavy rush hour traffic. I leave an extra 15 minutes if I have to go in at 9am and try not to imagine what the 8am traffic is like.

[ptgearguy]

Im lucky to say that I have had the opposite of creep with my job. Overtime I have slowly moved closer to work and currently am about a 10 minute drive from my office. I am truly blessed and could not handle a long commute. I will not commute more than 30 mins for work.

[HenryDavid]

I find my commute time creeps up as the weather gets better and the days longer.
On good days I can turn a 15-minute return commute (minimum) into a 2-hour commute!
Glorious sunshine and blue skies . . . on the bike of course.
But as of now I'm back to about 1/2 hour each way, in the morning dark at -5 to -10 and home in the sunshine. Bracing.

Anyway, everybody "get a bike. You will not regret it. If you live" (Mark Twain I think.)(And bikes/roads/paths are better now.)

[Papa Mustache]

I think it is silly that an employer plans meetings at 6 or 7 pm. Doesn't that count as overtime, as it isn't normal working hours anymore?

In America, we enjoy treating entry- and mid-level office drones the same as we do executives, which means they're exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act. A federal judge also just halted a new rule making it impossible for anyone under ~$48k to be classified as exempt. We're just that star-spangled awesome.

Isn't the exemption one of the things that Trump says he is going to overturn immediately?

My commute has lengthened a little (~5 mins) as our town has become more crowded. However, my work day was slowly getting longer and longer b/c I let it. I'm back to leaving pretty much with that imaginary steam whistle blows in my head. I don't get paid or rewarded for staying late so why do it? 

[Lagom]

I find this overall concept to be rather interesting from a MMM perspective, which historically preaches moving closer to work. The problem is, even if you are mustachian from the beginning and plan, say, a 10 year career before FIRE, the fastest way to build the stache in many industries (especially in places like the SF Bay Area) is to job hop. Someone who changes employers every year or two is likely to make substantially more than someone who stays put. So how do we reconcile that with the cost (in time and money) of a longer commute? Is it better to let some opportunities pass to stay closer to work, or is there a level of relative salary increase beyond which it becomes worth it? Or should you stay a renter until FIRE (assuming you aspire to own) and just move every time you get a new job?

[NoStacheOhio]

I think it is silly that an employer plans meetings at 6 or 7 pm. Doesn't that count as overtime, as it isn't normal working hours anymore?

In America, we enjoy treating entry- and mid-level office drones the same as we do executives, which means they're exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act. A federal judge also just halted a new rule making it impossible for anyone under ~$48k to be classified as exempt. We're just that star-spangled awesome.

Isn't the exemption one of the things that Trump says he is going to overturn immediately?

I haven't seen that reported anywhere, but I would be in favor. Source?

[alex753]

If you are stuck with a long commute and like to learn I recommend listening to something your interested in like a "The Great Courses"  lecture.

I found my 45 to 75 minute commutes in CA were actually very enjoyable because I looked forward to listening, learning, and thinking.

[Slee_stack]

I find this overall concept to be rather interesting from a MMM perspective, which historically preaches moving closer to work. The problem is, even if you are mustachian from the beginning and plan, say, a 10 year career before FIRE, the fastest way to build the stache in many industries (especially in places like the SF Bay Area) is to job hop. Someone who changes employers every year or two is likely to make substantially more than someone who stays put. So how do we reconcile that with the cost (in time and money) of a longer commute? Is it better to let some opportunities pass to stay closer to work, or is there a level of relative salary increase beyond which it becomes worth it? Or should you stay a renter until FIRE (assuming you aspire to own) and just move every time you get a new job?

With two earners the complexity increases.  I could move close to work and reduce my commute.  DW's commute would increase linearly.  Zero net effect.

I could quit my job and confine my search radius to DW's area.  Opportunities for relative pay would shrink exponentially.  Shorter commute.  Likely big decrease in combined pay.

DW could find a job near me and we could move closer.  DW's opportunity and pay would shrink exponentially.  Shorter commute.  Likely big decrease in combined pay.

We both could pick up and move somewhere new and find jobs within a small radius of each other.  Improved, but still decreased opportunity for combined income to increase.  Shorter combined commute, likely small or worse decrease in pay.

[Jouer]

OP, if you are working late, can you go to the gym at lunchtime?