How far do you commute?

[Matt]

23 miles two or three times a week with very little other driving. 99.9% of that is on a twisty and very hilly B-road with a tiny bit of town driving so I can't complain about averaging  1.7 MPG less than the Swifts quoted 51.4 combined MPG (that's 49.7 MPG over the last 5,100 miles).

[Bren]

I have a 42 mile round trip from Warrington to Salford.

 

Awful is an understatement, heavy traffic on M60 /62 makes things a 'mare.

 

If there is a bump, well, it could be anybody's guess when I get in. The A580 / A 57 fill up very quickly.

 

When the chicken lorry crashed at Eccles it took me three hours to get from Burtonwood to Birchwood.

 

After doing it for five years it is starting to get on my tits now.

[AldridgePrior]

I`m a 12 mile round trip commute. Don`t really care about mpg. I`ve always loved V8s.

[RichL]

6 mile round trip. I cycle in the summer on dry days, I think my total annual mileage is about 3000 at the moment. Probably a good thing as my 2010 Focus 1.8 is averaging about 26mpg... Take note: Ford Duratec MI4 engines like to drink.

 

I do most of my driving for work in company cars/vans and in my folks' Fusion 1.4. That thing manages 50mpg on run if you go steady.

 

In my last job I ended up doing about 70 miles a day for a few weeks in winter 2007, that's why I left.

[scruff]

About 18/20 miles a day round trip a day. This across the city so can take me up to an hour and half to get into work.

 

The furthest I've ever travelled on a daily commute was around 80 miles to and from work per day.

 

Aye I did 80 mile round trips for about three years till I finally had enough. The trick was to regularly change route and vehicle!! Nice in the summer in the Landy with the roof off

[Stanky]

I do about 130 miles a day, 5 days a week. Luckily for me I give someone a lift, for which he pays me £10 daily. My Almera also gives 40-45 mpg (1.4 pez).

 

I use Fuelly to track mileage, over the last 12 months I've done 27k miles and as my signature attests, averaged 44.7mpg. if you're a real fuel nerd you can see that it costs me £3300 a year in pez to get to and from work.

 

I also have something of a wheeze going on, as in lieu of a payrise I was given a fuel card, for which I pay a flat rate of BIK tax at about £105 a month. The 'value' of the fuel card in pez is about £450 a month, and I make more in liftshare money than I'm taxed.

 

My preferred route is up the A32, then over on the A31. The A32 is a great driving road, it really makes the drive a pleasure - The Nissan is perfectly suited to it, I can hoon it out of the various 30 and 40 sections and have great fun without ever really cracking 60mph, though as its windy and undulating it feels much faster. 

 

On the way home I usually go down the M3 which is dull as fuck and about eleventy billion times more dangerous than the A32 due to the total mongs who seem to drive it daily. Only last thursday a mid 2000s clio lurched from the outside lane, right across lane 2, just missed my rear bumper in lane 1, then nearly drove off the side of the hard shoulder - all at ~70mph in fading light at 5pm. The driver then recovered control and followed me for many miles until I turned off. God knows what prompted that, but how they didn't kill themselves, other road users or me is incredible.

 

The Nissan is a bit noisy, but isn't actually too bad a place to be for 3 hours a day. The engine is very tolerant of the miles I'm putting on it (45k in the last 2 years) and I think its probably how these things ought to be driven - start it up, drive for ages then turn it off. Hence the superb fuel economy - which is only 3mpg shy of the 'official' extra-urban economy figure, and its racked up 130k miles in 18 years since the car was new and the figures recorded.

[spike60]

7 to 9 miles each way depending which way I go, 5 days a week, total annual mileage about 10k split between 2 or 3 cars. I have 1 plodder and the other a toy, currently a Polo Tdi and a Z3 2.8 which both do their jobs well. I cycle in the summer, getting less as I get older and lazier though. I don't envy those with motorway runs, my first 3 miles are down the deserted seafront to see the gulls emptying the bins!

[Grundig]

2.5 miles each way - usually on a pushbike (I'm a fair weather cyclist though)

[Micrashed]

Worst ever daily commute was Preston to Wythenshawe and back every day. Took about 40 minutes (except after nights which took longer). Did that for 4 years in a 1.1 fiesta.

 

Presently doing about 5 miles each way and really should either get a scooterped or a push bike. But cant be arsed and like listening to the Today prog too much in the morning.

[barefoot]

I work from home, but the fair lady barefoot does a round trip of 54, normally easy, motorway miles in the 944.

She's been doing it a long time and it works out at around 9,500 commuting miles a year at 28 ish to the gallon.

[skattrd]

I don't really commute, but usually average around 50k business miles a year.

 

When I worked for IHG I commuted to Burton which was around 160 miles a day, 58mpg in the boring, 45mpg in S80, 30mpg in Saab Turbo.

When I was at Aviva that was 200 miles round trip each day to Norwich and back down the A17/47, I did that in a mk2 Scirocco averaging 40mpg.

 

2hrs each way is about the limit for me to commute, and even then it makes it a long day.

[vulgalour]

I used to commute to Alfreton from Bolsover in the Princess, which was always horrible on the way in because of the lorries, lost that job when my knee exploded.  Last time I commuted anywhere was Bolsover to Sheffield via Chesterfield in the old Ledbury, about 30 miles a day.  Had to pack that in because my wage was so shit that even with an average 36mpg or so I couldn't cover the expense of it and everything else.

 

Now I commute from the top of the stairs to the bottom, or occasionally a mile to the garage and back, depending on where I'm needed.  It's much, much better because I don't worry about lorries and motorbikes and salesmen driving into me any more.

[Asimo]

30 to 45 miles a day, depending on the route I take. The shortest dumps me in the worst traffic, ok in the morning when all the busy junctions are left turns but horrible going home. About half the journey time on any of the routes is single track lanes with passing here and there by negotiation. The Insight seems to give 65ish mpg commuting but it is no fun in bumpy lanes or crawling through the suburbs. So most days I take the 34 mpg 1.8 Zetec Transit Connect which is brilliant in town and in the lanes. The traffic opens up in front of the van, closes up in front of the Insight.

 

It's a shit job, barely worth walking round the corner to, that is the worst part of the journey.

[catsinthewelder]

I've got a fairly freelance job with the van hire and spend the rest of the time as a handyman so the Cherry does 5-10 miles a day around town.  I really should cycle to the van hire but I'm not always certain if I'll be there till 5  and I can't carry my tools on the bike.

 

The other issue is filling the street with vehicles when I cycle in then borrow a van cos I CBA to cycle home in the rain.

[twosmoke300]

My workshop is 7 miles from home but my wife's work is just round the corner so we share the car/van/ motorbike .

I used to do a 22 miles each way which was on the a30 . A bloody nightmare in tourist season . Most of the 7 years of that was in an r reg vectra DTI estate. 45 ish mpg but shared a lift with 3 or 4 people inc the missis who worked about 5 miles further on . She would collect a colleague near my work and car share from there too. Pretty efficient really.

[cort16]

I've been driving 55 miles a day for the last 10 years and it didn't really bother me . it wae on a roads and always took 45 minutes unless some had flipped their Bedford rascal and closed the road.

We've just moved office so I now need to go up the m77 . It's about 5 miles extra but takes anything from 40 minutes to 140 minutes and it's driving me mental.

I get 53 mpg from my Nissan j*ke. With all that plus driving to visit family I've done 20k a year for the last 6 years.

[AndyW201]

15 miles each way for me, mostly A66 cruising, so not too bad. The Merc returns about 29 to the gallon, not too bad for an old 2.6 6-pot. All of my 190s have been practically depreciation free, so don't get hung up on mpg that much really.

 

And its fun giving the VAGTDi brigade a run for their money with a 20 year old barge every morning...

[richardmorris]

8.5miles each way, which is 32 minutes on my bicycle or 15-20minutes in the car . Unless there's a big blockage on the A30 or M3 in which case it's still 32minutes on the bike or an hour in the car.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I couldn't hack more than 50 miles each way, it seems to be a value beyond which life becomes unbearable

[twosmoke300]

Totally agree .Life is too precious to spend hours a day commuting.

[cort16]

It takes me 25 minutes to do the first 25 miles then 35+ to do the remaining 5. It's not good for your mental well being.

[hennabm]

If I spend time in my local office it is exactly half a mile each way. I walk to work when I do go there.

 

Problem is I don't spend much time there and HQ is 186 miles each way. Thankfully I have a company car for this.

They recently swopped my old 08 1.9TDI Octavia for a new Focus 1.6d. :? Still not sure on the deal.

[drum]

300 yards - each way.

 

I go through a bit of shoe leather mind.

[RobT]

6 miles each way on a crummy commuter train. I used to cycle but too many near misses puts me off doing it nowadays. I sometimes drive for a bit of variety (and also to get some use out of my shite) but this being London means it takes longer, and the only free parking is a 20 minute walk from the office. I don't work in Central London thank god, that would drive me insane.

 

I used to do a 50 mile round commute from Banbury to Oxford everyday, and enjoyed that as it was down some fast A-roads with nice scenery. I did that in a 1.1 Mk2 Fiesta for two years, never let me down once although the clutch was a bastard when crawling through traffic.

[gary_davidson]

About 25 miles round trip that's mainly on the m6

[dollywobbler]

I probably only miss commuting because for so many years, it was sheer pleasure. Once I stopped living and working in Birmingham that is (living one side, working the other side). First I was commuting from leafy Northants to the edge of Coventry, then to Stratford-upon-Avon. 25 miles that I often covered in 45 minutes. In the 2CV. That job paid so well that at one point, I was commuting in a Rover P6B. I then sold this and replaced it with an Isuzu Trooper Mk1 diesel, because I was clearly young and very, very stupid.

 

Then we moved to Cambridgeshire, and I was commuting on Fenland roads for about 20 miles each away - perfect for a 2CV. Or a BX. Less so for a miniMetro or Bond Equipe. I did use the H van for the commute a few times, and the Austin Westminster. Writers don't get paid much though, so that was not a common occurrence. 

[HH-R]

I had two glorious years of being able to walk to work, under ten minutes away. My cat used to follow me to the works car park then go back home, I used to try and sneak out of the house without him noticing though because I spent the rest of the day worrying that he had been run over or something. Sometimes I thought I had sneaked away but would turn around to see a big tabby speed walking to catch me up! The car wasn't a worry as it didn't matter if it was broken, it could stay broken for weeks if need be. Brakes would often end up binding on through not being used and the oil filler would look a bit mayonnaise-y from short runs. Keeping the car in a working state for work is more stressful than actually doing the driving. It's given me loads of sleepless nights.

[plasticvandan]

Last year I was doing 36 miles a day,5 days a week on a 26 yr old Honda C90 cub...for a year! 162mpg,dual tracks and ice were sometimes terrifying though.due to distance and white wages I couldn't afford to run anything else.now doing 20 a day in my olop. Previous job was 60 miles a day,5 days a WK in a Rialto for 4 months

[Richard]

This is the furthest I've ever commuted in a day.

 

 

That involved leaving home at about 2am and getting home after 11pm. I was surprised how busy the A90 was, busier than it is through the day, 2am starts must be a reality for a lot of people.

 

My work is about 10 miles away but I often go straight from home to the job, which tends to be 80-100 miles away if it's not local.

[mat_the_cat]

I used to commute a 50 mile round trip every day, on which I only had to give way 3 times and in winter often didn't see another car. (Especially when the weather was like this!)

 

 

I could do it in half an hour normally or 20 minutes at a real push, and the road was great for driving:

 

 

But earlier this year work moved to 60 miles away, and to start with I was going in every day although technically I was supposed to be working from home most of the time. The road is always busy, and full of dawdlers which I find a little frustrating. I didn't want to hammer the BX into the ground with 600 miles a week, so bought the Kangoo to use instead. But after a while I ended up only going in once or twice a week, and since I handed in my notice a month ago, I've only been in once!

 

The new job is 40 miles away, but as a bonus is literally across the road from where Lana works, so we can share* the driving and get another couple of hours together we otherwise wouldn't have had. (Whether this is a good or bad thing remains to be seen!) I'll probably be driving most f the time, but that suits me as I enjoy it but she doesn't. And as she earns more than me has agreed to pay the running costs etc, ad I will continue to do the maintenance on her Bini which will likely be the vehicle we'll use.

 

In an ideal world we'd live closer, but where we live is more affordable than closer to the coast, and realistically out of reach for a similar property. Being able to do things on the way back from work that many people would only get to do on their holidays so overall the quality of life is worth it.