How Far Do You Go?

[cabinetman]

How far do you travel to work? Do you have this guy beat? A California man entered a Midas Muffler contest for the most miles driven to work. According to The Seattle Times, a 46 yr old man from Mariposa leaves before sunrise to travels 372 miles one way to San Jose every day and gets home after dark. Midas Muffler awarded him $10,000 as part of the company's 50th anniversary celebration and longest commute contest.

I've never had to drive more than about 8 miles to any of my shops. And I'm curious about the type of trip you have, how long it takes, along with the distance. Is it mostly freeway, or bumper to bumper?

[Thom2]

I'd put money on Stick having anybody beat.

If memory serves me right, his commute is something like 450 miles (looked it up, I was WAY off with the 18 hours) each way. I don't think he does it every day tho'

Come to think of it, I haven't seen him around lately???

.... maybe he's at work

for me ... 5 miles (10 minutes) ...

[Knottscott]

Iv'e driven as far as 35-40 miles regularly to work, but now go less than 10.

[Greg in Maryland]

According to The Seattle Times, a 46 yr old man from Mariposa leaves before sunrise to travels 372 miles one way to San Jose every day and gets home after dark.

Based on a 5 day work week for 52 weeks:

If he averages 60 miles per hour, one 372 mile trip will take 6 hours. Over a year, he will spend 3,120 hours in a car (as a reference, a 365 day year is 8,760 hours).

If he averages 30 miles per gallon, he will use 25 gallons per day. Gas prices in Mariposa, CA are 2.889 (according to Google), so he spends $72 on gas per day, or $18,720 per year.

What a brutal, weary life if it is true.

Greg

Ps 15 minutes right now. That is far enough for me.

[BearPipes-1]

21 miles each way. Mostly counter-commute, but it still takes about 30 minutes to work and 40 home. Back after the dot com crash, I could drive to work in 20 minutes ... but now the roads are full again.

Mariposa is beautiful, and Bay Area home prices are definitely staggering - in my modest mid-century South Bay neighborhood, a current homebuyer gets about 1300 sqft for $750k. All the same, there aren't enough books on tape in the world to keep me happy on that guy's commute!

[schloff]

70 miles each way. Mostly 2 lane country road. Takes about 1 1/2 hours each way.

I'm dropping about $5k in diesel per year. Been diong it about a year and half so far.

If traffic is light, it's a wonderful drive. But if I get caught behind a string of cars, I'm screwed. I get to work pretty early (6am) to beat most of the other early birds. And I'm home around 4:30-5:00

[gettools]

15 minutes depending on traffic

[ironhat]

Five miles, one stop for a de-caff = 12 to 15 min depending on how long I stand and swap stories with the retired crowd in the corner. It's a nice, little, family run convenience store. Good folks.

[MilDoc]

Longest drive years ago: 9 miles one way

Now (and shortest): .6 miles one way

[Popeye]

Now, 2 1/2 miles. I change the oil in my truck by time instead of miles. The longest was maybe 21 miles years back. Pat

[stormdog74]

When I was young and hungry (and gas was a lot cheaper) and I had 5 jobs, about 100 miles each way (2 hours) for two days a week, 60 miles each way (an hour) two days a week, and 20 miles (half an hour) each way one day per week.

Now that I am older (and somewhat less hungry), about 7 miles and 15 minutes each way.

[cgallery]

1/3 mile. I walk. With my dog.

[Uncle Cracker]

From my bed to my office, about 30 feet.

[mschrank]

According to The Seattle Times, a 46 yr old man from Mariposa leaves before sunrise to travels 372 miles one way to San Jose every day and gets home after dark. Midas Muffler awarded him $10,000 as part of the company's 50th anniversary celebration and longest commute contest.

IMHO, that's not something to be awarded, unless the award is for stupidity. IMHO

For a few months after my wife took a new job in our current location, I was commuting about 70 mi. each way to my old job. At the time, I knew a position would be opening up here that I was likely to get. I did, and now commute about 10 mi each way (15 mins).

[LinuxRandal]

Is it mostly freeway, or bumper to bumper?

In cities, those two are not mutually exclusive! I drive freeways, and my hours are such that I normally miss the bumper to bumper crowd, but when rush hour hits, to the above statement, YES!

Around here you see a lot more people who get jobs driving a company, commercial vehicle, being forced out into the country (longer commutes, up's the companies gas costs, your fuel surcharges go up). This is even beginning to happen more with company logo'd card and pickups.

In some area's it's shooting themselves in the foot. 10 to 15 years ago, we had several neighbors who were blue collar with work vehicles. Now the vehicles are gone, and lower income people live in them, who can't hardly afford to maintain their homes.