I, European, have temporarily moved further away from work and I’m close to a train station… I’d like to take the train, but it turns a 50 minute motorbike ride to a 1h40 train+bus one. I wouldn’t be driving but that’s almost 2 hours more of commute per day…
It depends on how comfortable the transit is. If you can use the time in transit to do organizational stuff or relax, it might still be worth the additional time investment in comparison to a nerve-wracking experience on the average road.
It’s time away from home though, the place most people best relax after work. Commuting on public transit can be pleasant at times but it’s still two hours less time for other stuff
I’d much rather spend 30 minutes on public transport than in a car. This is a real tradeoff many places I’ve lived in Europe, particularly when considering you need to find parking for the car.
I’ve had commutes in the US where it was either 30 minutes by car or 90 minutes by public transport. At that point it’s not really a choice, you’re going to go by car.
I live about an hour south of Stockholm. A lot of companies I’d commute to would be in Stockholm. Thus, the times I’ve gone to my office in Stockholm, my commute looks something like this
20 minute walk to station
5-15 minute wait for train
50-60 minute train ride
5 minute walk from commuter train to tubes
~0-5 minute wait for tube
10 minute walk to office
That’s usually between 1:30 to 1:50 commute, one way. All in all, 3-3½ hours of commute round-trip. It’s stressful, with a lot of moving parts. I’m glad I can work from home for now, because my commute is however long it takes me to drag myself into clothes and get in my chair.
It’s a lot more environmentally friendly, and most importantly to me, something I can handle without breaking down mentally. I’m ostensibly a functioning member of society because of the ability to work from home, and I’ll fight for the ability to continue to do so.
Which is why all commuting should be paid. I’m not travelling to work just for funsies, it’s purely for the sake of work, and so it should be compensated.
Plenty of jobs can also be done remotely, and not offering that as an option to workers should be penalised, particularly if a commuter has to take transit to get there. In a day and age where we should be minimising our emissions, forcing people to commute just isn’t right.
The issue here is that paying for commute incentivized longer commutes. I’d rather prioritize chaper living conditions in the area where workers are needed.
It’s not like the company doesn’t have a say in this. They hire people closer to them, or offer WFH where a commute isn’t part of it. My company does pay for my commute. I’m WFH, but when I have to travel for work, it goes on the company credit card.
Yes, there will be cases where a commute is absolutely necessary, but you can always evaluate these things on a case by case basis.
Plus it’s ultimately time that the worker is giving up. I’ll take my current no commute over commute with reimbursement any day.
I agree, but there are countries (like Austria where i live) which incentivizes long commutes by financial benefits - its called “Pendlerpauschale”, meaning a general payment for people having to drive a longer commute.
In my opinion, the only thing they are paying for is a more dispersed suburbian area and a big load of CO2 emissions, while sealing a shitton of earth in the suburbs.
To be fair, company housing can be beneficial to both sides IF IT IS PLANNED AND EXECUTED AS SUCH.
in reality, companies use such arrangements to abuse their workers even more.
I’d advocate for anyone pushing for controlled company housing, when they don’t get away with cutting corners everywhere and if our society ever realizes that this arrangement might be beneficial for both sides if stringently regulated.
I live in Vienna, with a very strong public housing sector, where i actually live after my divorce, being a pensioner. There is no way in hell i would be able to pay for the current rates on the open market - they are about 200-300% higher than the rent i pay for my sub-40m² apartment, approaching 800-1000€/40m², where i pay 380€. Without government housing, people in my position have nowhere to go, which is why you have scores of unhoused people roaming most US towns.
I get compensation in taxes and as a paid sum by the company. It’s based on kilometers. The taxation thing is based on kilometers and the cheapest available option
I’ve a friend who works as a truck driver, and does get compensation for how long he has to drive to get to work. It’s also tax credits. As someone who doesn’t drive but instead would rely on public transport, I wouldn’t get compensated.
Honestly I think that’s pretty bunk, why does the public fund people having to commute by car? It’s something the company should pay the worker for because it’s technically work they’re doing for the sake of the company.
Here you gotta fill out specific criteria to be compensated (in taxes) for driving your own car. Otherwise you’ll be compensated based on the cheapest possible mode of transport (train and bus, almost always)
Making more living space available in the city where you don’t need a car would be more beneficial. it would prevent sealing land in the suburbs, prevent CO2 emissions for travel, and in general improve efficiency of public transport.
Unless you live in a densely populated area and the trains are packed to the max during commute hours … not too uncommon having to stand, unfortunately :(
Yeah, lucked out there unfortunately, even a car is the better option it seems.
For years I had the luxury of train + subway to work, it was bliss because the train was the long part of the commute and it was quite good, and the subway was crowded but fairly short and very frequent.
Long urban bus routes suck in general, especially if there are no dedicated bus lanes.
This doesn’t exclude the possibility of using the commute time for things that are good for you, which is very much more likely in public transport in comparison to driving yourself. I use every commute for playing on my steam deck, which keeps me calm even if the transport is fully stacked.
I, European, have temporarily moved further away from work and I’m close to a train station… I’d like to take the train, but it turns a 50 minute motorbike ride to a 1h40 train+bus one. I wouldn’t be driving but that’s almost 2 hours more of commute per day…
It depends on how comfortable the transit is. If you can use the time in transit to do organizational stuff or relax, it might still be worth the additional time investment in comparison to a nerve-wracking experience on the average road.
It’s time away from home though, the place most people best relax after work. Commuting on public transit can be pleasant at times but it’s still two hours less time for other stuff
Not just that but I also have shit to do
That too, I’m on the same boat
I’d much rather spend 30 minutes on public transport than in a car. This is a real tradeoff many places I’ve lived in Europe, particularly when considering you need to find parking for the car.
I’ve had commutes in the US where it was either 30 minutes by car or 90 minutes by public transport. At that point it’s not really a choice, you’re going to go by car.
This can easily be the case in Europe as well.
I live about an hour south of Stockholm. A lot of companies I’d commute to would be in Stockholm. Thus, the times I’ve gone to my office in Stockholm, my commute looks something like this
That’s usually between 1:30 to 1:50 commute, one way. All in all, 3-3½ hours of commute round-trip. It’s stressful, with a lot of moving parts. I’m glad I can work from home for now, because my commute is however long it takes me to drag myself into clothes and get in my chair.
It’s a lot more environmentally friendly, and most importantly to me, something I can handle without breaking down mentally. I’m ostensibly a functioning member of society because of the ability to work from home, and I’ll fight for the ability to continue to do so.
If I had the same time and worked a different job, it would be a no brainer
Which is why all commuting should be paid. I’m not travelling to work just for funsies, it’s purely for the sake of work, and so it should be compensated.
Plenty of jobs can also be done remotely, and not offering that as an option to workers should be penalised, particularly if a commuter has to take transit to get there. In a day and age where we should be minimising our emissions, forcing people to commute just isn’t right.
The issue here is that paying for commute incentivized longer commutes. I’d rather prioritize chaper living conditions in the area where workers are needed.
It’s not like the company doesn’t have a say in this. They hire people closer to them, or offer WFH where a commute isn’t part of it. My company does pay for my commute. I’m WFH, but when I have to travel for work, it goes on the company credit card.
Yes, there will be cases where a commute is absolutely necessary, but you can always evaluate these things on a case by case basis.
Plus it’s ultimately time that the worker is giving up. I’ll take my current no commute over commute with reimbursement any day.
I agree, but there are countries (like Austria where i live) which incentivizes long commutes by financial benefits - its called “Pendlerpauschale”, meaning a general payment for people having to drive a longer commute.
In my opinion, the only thing they are paying for is a more dispersed suburbian area and a big load of CO2 emissions, while sealing a shitton of earth in the suburbs.
Company housing it is!
To be fair, company housing can be beneficial to both sides IF IT IS PLANNED AND EXECUTED AS SUCH.
in reality, companies use such arrangements to abuse their workers even more.
I’d advocate for anyone pushing for controlled company housing, when they don’t get away with cutting corners everywhere and if our society ever realizes that this arrangement might be beneficial for both sides if stringently regulated.
Then you don’t want company housing. You want government housing. Which can have its own issues.
I live in Vienna, with a very strong public housing sector, where i actually live after my divorce, being a pensioner. There is no way in hell i would be able to pay for the current rates on the open market - they are about 200-300% higher than the rent i pay for my sub-40m² apartment, approaching 800-1000€/40m², where i pay 380€. Without government housing, people in my position have nowhere to go, which is why you have scores of unhoused people roaming most US towns.
I get compensation in taxes and as a paid sum by the company. It’s based on kilometers. The taxation thing is based on kilometers and the cheapest available option
I’ve a friend who works as a truck driver, and does get compensation for how long he has to drive to get to work. It’s also tax credits. As someone who doesn’t drive but instead would rely on public transport, I wouldn’t get compensated.
Honestly I think that’s pretty bunk, why does the public fund people having to commute by car? It’s something the company should pay the worker for because it’s technically work they’re doing for the sake of the company.
I fully agree, it’s one of the small pieces where profits get privatized but costs get socialized.
Here you gotta fill out specific criteria to be compensated (in taxes) for driving your own car. Otherwise you’ll be compensated based on the cheapest possible mode of transport (train and bus, almost always)
Making more living space available in the city where you don’t need a car would be more beneficial. it would prevent sealing land in the suburbs, prevent CO2 emissions for travel, and in general improve efficiency of public transport.
Another point is that they mentioned motorbike.
Presumably, if done by car the trip would take much longer due to traffic, and be a lot more expensive because of gas+tolls.
Also, come winter, a nearly 2h drive in piss poor weather is a miserable experience.
On a train, you can sleep all that time!
Unless you live in a densely populated area and the trains are packed to the max during commute hours … not too uncommon having to stand, unfortunately :(
even when standing, my noise cancelling headphones and my steam deck are helping me to blend out the insanity of society lol
The same route by car takes between 10 and 30 minutes longer, depending on traffic, it’s a road where overtakes can be difficult in a car.
The train trip can be fairly comfortable, the bus part is… Bad.
Yeah, lucked out there unfortunately, even a car is the better option it seems.
For years I had the luxury of train + subway to work, it was bliss because the train was the long part of the commute and it was quite good, and the subway was crowded but fairly short and very frequent.
Long urban bus routes suck in general, especially if there are no dedicated bus lanes.
Science says that time is the deciding factor of what you find an acceptable commute, and not the level of comfort: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchetti’s_constant
This doesn’t exclude the possibility of using the commute time for things that are good for you, which is very much more likely in public transport in comparison to driving yourself. I use every commute for playing on my steam deck, which keeps me calm even if the transport is fully stacked.