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Stinky The Clown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 02:49 PM
Original message
How long is your daily commute?
My wife and I are indeed fortunate. We both work from home, in completely separate undertakings, and have for more years than either of us wish to count. She has one day a week for part of the year when she has to drive into DC - about 70 miles round trip. Other than that, our cars gets used for errands, for me to get to occasional business meetings, and for her to get to rehersals if she happens to be performing. We average about 30,000 miles a year, total, on all our vehicles

In short, we're less impacted by gas prices than most people.

It occured to me that its a safe bet that a lot of (former?) blivet supporters live in the far-out 'burbs in their chase after the American dream. Not that Dems don't, too, but I'd guess more Dems are urban or close-in-suburban than Repubs.

From that, I could postulate that high gas prices are more a drag, relatively speaking, on bushies than on lefties.

Is my logic flawed?

How long is your commute?
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DODI Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 02:52 PM
Response to Original message
1. I have a 20 mile commute -- I live in a city and work in 'burb.
I am going to start telecommuting two days a week and go in for the other three.
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CottonBear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 02:52 PM
Response to Original message
2. 15 minutes to go about 8 miles.
I live in a blue city in an urban setting and I drive to work located the suburbs of a red county.

I couldn't afford to live ner my work even if I wanted too. I wouldn't want to live where I work but I do love my job.

Gas prices have affected me because I drive further out to the country to care for my horse after work and then drive about 25 minutes home. Mr. CB and I may switch vehicle because his gets better mileage and he has a shorter commute.

I drive against traffic along a scenic rural route in both the AM and PM and that makes my life very pleasant.
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Viva_La_Revolution Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 02:53 PM
Response to Original message
3. My commute is 0
Laid off because business was bad. :(

It's the rural people that this is hitting hardest.
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Sammy Pepys Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 02:55 PM
Response to Original message
4. Well, I don't drive to work anymore....
...but it had been five miles one way for the last two years.

But in the past ten years I've rarely had a commute that wasn't less than 15 miles one way. At one point I had an 80 mile roundtrip commute six days a week.
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BOSSHOG Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 02:55 PM
Response to Original message
5. What's a commute?
I'm retired and about 100% of my driving is recreational. I fill up my little pickemuptruck about once a month.
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GOPNotForMe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 02:55 PM
Response to Original message
6. 10-minute drive to and from work.
I'm lucky to live in a medium-sized town wherein one could get from one side to the other in 20 minutes. I don't think I could do the suburban-commute-to-a-city thing that so many others do.
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TheLeftyMom Donating Member (178 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 02:59 PM
Response to Reply #6
9. Me too.
And we're in an older area of town that is close to the downtown area, so my commute is short because of that as well.
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Blue_In_AK Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 02:56 PM
Response to Original message
7. I work at home, too
and my husband is retired.
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jpak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 02:58 PM
Response to Original message
8. 20 minute walk - 8 minute bike ride
n/t
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AtomicKitten Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 02:59 PM
Response to Original message
10. zip, nada, goose-egg
I work at home - often in my jammies - and drink way too much coffee, and frequently distracted by accidentally clicking on DU.
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Rude Horner Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:03 PM
Response to Original message
11. 90 miles round trip every day
But at least it's all highway miles. Get out on the highway, set the cruise control, and 35+ minutes later, I'm at work.
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tandot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:04 PM
Response to Original message
12. until today it was a little under an hour with lots of stop-and-go
Edited on Fri Apr-28-06 03:05 PM by tandot
for 35 miles one-way. From Monday on it will be 1 hour in a train, no stop-and-go, for $124 a month. Actually the University I am working for will subsidize $15.

Because of the train schedule, I will be gone longer and my poor doggy has to keep it in for about 12 hours. But my boss offered me to work 4 days a week if I use the 2 hours on the train to work.

I am looking forward to a stress-free ride and a smaller carbon footprint.

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Stinky The Clown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:07 PM
Response to Reply #12
13. I **love** train travel .....
.... too bad junior and his ilk wanna kill it.

You'll get lotsa work done on a train .... unless that wonderful 'clickety-clack' and gentle rocking don't send you back for a visit with the sandman! :)
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tandot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 04:35 PM
Response to Reply #13
27. I did a test-run yesterday and already loved it
No more stop-and-go stress, near-miss accidents, and road-rage. And NO MORE driving behind the ignorant and morally corrupt with Bush-Cheney stickers on the back of huge pick-ups or SUVs.

I'll miss listening to Stephanie Miller, though :cry:

I just have to figure out how to connect ot the Internet. I read that Amtrak has WiFi, but I couldn't find out how to sign up or connect to it.
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khair75092 Donating Member (23 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:08 PM
Response to Original message
14. I travel 57 miles
One way.

Guess I'm in the minority
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thereismore Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:10 PM
Response to Original message
15. 60 miles round trip - but I vanpool. nt
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Arger68 Donating Member (562 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:13 PM
Response to Original message
16. Around 2 miles. I can walk or bike when nice out
(but as a fat lazy American I usually don't).
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nickinSTL Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:14 PM
Response to Original message
17. about a 15-mile commute...
takes about 20-25 minutes most days.
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sinkingfeeling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:17 PM
Response to Original message
18. I'm about 2.5 miles from work..takes 5 minutes each way. I put
less than 3000 miles on my old station wagon a year and my 7 yr. old Saturn just turned up 57,000.
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Extend a Hand Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:18 PM
Response to Original message
19. I work at home
my husband has about a 5 mile commute each way.

But our son's school is 15 miles from home...next year it will be 20 miles when he starts high school. I carpool now and reduce the number of back and forth trips by 40%.

I sure do hope I can find someone to carpool with next year. There is an express bus into the city that he could take but there have been so many newspaper articles about gang activity and violence at the on stop he would have to go thru...I'm afraid to let him ride the bus.
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AbbyR Donating Member (734 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:26 PM
Response to Original message
20. 50 miles each way
I would love to find another job, but I don't think it's happening.
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RaleighNCDUer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:27 PM
Response to Original message
21. I bike to my daily job, and three days a week I drive 12 miles
Edited on Fri Apr-28-06 03:30 PM by NCevilDUer
round trip to my P/T job (I would bike that, too, but it is EXTREMELY hazardous getting off work at 11PM and riding on NC roads).

I generally put less than 400 miles a month on my car, including trips to a neighboring town for my writers' group every two weeks.
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rock Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:29 PM
Response to Original message
22. 20 minutes, mostly interstate
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leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:38 PM
Response to Original message
23. well, I've never had any complaints . . .
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jeffgad Donating Member (90 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:43 PM
Response to Original message
24. No Commute. I work through the ether. And it has occurred to me
that the real breakthrough in our gas-guzzling, global warming society could happen very quickly, and quite cheaply, by simply changing our corporate culture a bit. Is it necessary for companies to have all their employees in the office? Can't many work at home? With web cams, cheap broadband and networking, can't corporations schedule say, 2 "live" work days per week and 3 "virtual?" Maybe the way out of this mess isn't just a man-on-the-moon type commitment to replacing our oil dependence, but also to look at the solutions right at hand.

-Gad
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Ilsa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 03:46 PM
Response to Original message
25. y husband's trip to the office is no more than 5 miles round trip.
It might be closer to 4 miles. He'd ride a bike if there weren't so many other cars on the road coming from further distances.
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ThomCat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 04:03 PM
Response to Original message
26. 2 hours, each way.
But it's all public transportation. It's also only 8-9 miles door to door. It just happens to be 8-9 miles through NYC.
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KayLaw Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 04:53 PM
Response to Original message
28. I don't work.
I really only use my car to pick up my son from school and to shop but my husband has to drive about ten miles to work, and then drives around a lot as part of his job. Luckily, he gets a mileage allowance from work and drives a Toyota Carolla.
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spooky3 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-28-06 05:07 PM
Response to Original message
29. An inverted U, I'm afraid
I agree with you up to the exurbs in the DC area and maybe elsewhere. But there are a lot of blue folks who cannot afford the city, the inner suburbs OR the outer suburbs, and commute from rural locations such as West Virginia. For example, this week's (or last weekend's?) Washington Post described a group of men who rode in a van 3 hours each day or more because there were no jobs in their small community but George Mason U in Fairfax scooped them up at about $35000 a year (IIRC) and helped them vanpool. A lot of people who do home repairs or cleaning in this area make those long commutes daily or crowd into more nearby homes but still pay through the nose to drive to work. I know some of them are fundy-type * supporters but I think a lot are blue-collar Democrats or at least do not have the Repub. demographics.
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