r/simpleliving • u/spankyourkopita • 2d ago
Is there a way to avoid rush hour traffic? Seeking Advice
When I was a student I could've cared less about rush hour traffic and I don't even think I knew what it was. Now that I'm working full-time I feel there's no escape and it's what you have to do. There's no worse feeling than working all day, realizing you're gonna be stuck in traffic, cook, find some small window to unwind, and fall asleep. Maybe I'm making too big of a deal about rush hour but something just isn't right with that picture.
What happened to the days where I just got off school and walked home? I know I'm not in school anymore but coming home from a long days work shouldn't be so hectic. The answer should be to find a shorter commute but it seems harder than not . Then the excuse is well you gotta do what you gotta do to pay the bills and survive, we all wish we had an easy commute, get with the program like everyone else. I just have a big problem with that. It's not the way to live.
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u/IHaarlem 2d ago
When it was possible I was part of the early morning crew. Get in 2 hours early, leave 2 hours early.
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u/ShakerOvalBox 2d ago
Consider taking public transit. You get to relax and read while someone else fights the traffic.
I have also made both career and housing decisions on avoiding a miserable commute.
Good luck!
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u/LetterToAThief 2d ago
Public transit is so lacking in many large cities that this isn’t feasible and results in an extensive travel time for even simple trips, unfortunately
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u/Mazilulu 2d ago
I agree with this. I used to work near downtown and took the bus (no parking at work and employee paid for bus passes). In nice days I’d walk the 4.5 miles home.
Over the past decade, I’ve been self employed. I set my own hours and just start later in the day. I get off later but I’m not Aggro from sitting in traffic for a triple length commute.
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u/friendlypuffin 2d ago
This doesn't work in Eastern Europe. Public transport is barely working, you have to fight for a chance to get into the buses, you are so compacted that you can't even pull out your phone, and people will sometimes accidentally injure you by pushing in too strongly. We also don't have bicycle lanes so you have to either endure or get into a car.
If the public transport in your country works, you can definitely make a nice ritual out of it, read, knit, I wish for it so much!
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u/TechnicFlow 2d ago
Drive to work - 10 minutes
Drive home in rush hour traffic - 30 minutes
Taking bus - to or from work 2 hours 45 minutes.
Some cities (Vegas in this case) essentially have nonfunctional transit unfortunately. My destination is so close but I have to take 3 transfers and go half way across the city in the wrong direction because Vegas refuses to put enough East to West routes on the Northern or Southern parts of the city.
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u/Rosaluxlux 1d ago
Minneapolis has a hub and spoke bus system so for years I could take any job that was directly north or south of me but none that were east or west.
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u/ReefaManiack42o 1d ago
For about a year I was fortunate enough to take the commuter rail to work. It was amazing. Compared the bus it was rarely crowded and I basically got my commute time back. I crushed so many books that year.
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u/tacomaloki 2d ago
I avoid my commute by going in later and leaving earlier. I have that luxury though.
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u/jv1100 1d ago
Going in earlier and leaving later works too.
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u/BeKind72 1d ago
We do three 12 hour shifts per week if we're full time. So driving in at 6.30 and driving home at 7.30, either am or pm. Really never any traffic then.
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u/annoyed_aardvark4312 2d ago
My employer pays for my transit pass. I am also really lucky to live in an area where it is really really convenient to take the bus. The only difference about taking the bus in the afternoon is I get home 30 minutes later than driving because I have a 15 minute walk home. I don’t mind the walk. I have my earbuds in listening to Spotify and it’s a pleasant walk.
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u/seedsandpeels 2d ago
I used to walk down the street from my work to the Cafe, finish up any side projects or relax, and then head home after rush hour.
Not every day, but when I needed a break.
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u/HealMySoulPlz 2d ago
Live closer to work, bike/transit, flex work hours out of rush hour traffic if possible. There's no real options other than 'drive less'.
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u/Moderatelysure 2d ago
My husband lined up a reverse commute and rode his bike the 15 miles to work four days a week. So on car days it didn’t suck and on bike days it was wonderful.
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u/3rdthrow 2d ago
If your job’s parking lot is a safe place considering reading and meditating in your car until after rush hour is over.
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u/ItchyEvil 2d ago
I have a reverse commute job. It's really nice. I live in the city and drive out of the city for work. It's a really pleasant drive because it moves the whole time. I'm also in a city notorious for having terrible traffic, and I'm very traffic sensitive, and it's a complete non-issue this way.
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u/Cattpacker 1d ago
Isn't it so oddly satisfying passing all the stopped traffic going the opposite way. Life's little pleasures 🫣🤣
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u/fishfishbirdbirdcat 2d ago
I asked to work 6am - 2:30pm which meant no rush hour. Had to leave my house at 5:15am but it was worth it. (prepped everything the night before and woke up at 4:45). I proved to my boss this was a great idea by always having everything she needed done by the time she got in at 8am which was easy because I had 2 full hours to work uninterrupted.
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u/rplej 2d ago
I have a 90 min commute (1hr 20m if a perfect run). I take a shortened lunch break so I can leave before rush hour.
My husband had it set up so we lived within walking distance of his work for 20 years. Now he is WFH.
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u/Nvrmnde 2d ago
Maybe you could relocate now near to your job, since your location is no longer dictated by his employment.
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u/rplej 2d ago
I'm sure it will happen at some point.
At the moment we are staying put as we have two boys on the cusp of leaving home. Our needs will change in the next few years and I don't want to move twice to fit our changing needs.
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u/Rosaluxlux 1d ago
Last year when my kid graduated high school we relocated to be on the bus line to a new job I'd just taken. I waited for years for the opportunity because we didn't want to move while he was in k-12.
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u/mezasu123 2d ago
I avoid it by working non 9-5 hours. Not sure what you do but having weekdays off and asking to work outside of normal business hours might be an option.
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u/listenyall 2d ago
I was an early adopter of working from home. I think I've done it almost 15 years now?
Before that I took a commuter train to a subway, which was long but usually relaxing.
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u/Constant-Ebb-4898 2d ago
If you can’t avoid it, make it more pleasant. Listen to audiobooks, music or podcasts.
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u/JiveBunny 1d ago
You can't, but you can make it more enjoyable by treating your commute as space between work and home to relax, because all you need to do is sit down and nothing else. I like to read or do the crossword when I'm stuck on a bus, or have a think about something that interested me during the day.
The trick is to plan out a route that will mean no changes, so you don't have the extra hassle and stress of that during rush hour.
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u/WannabeTeaSommelier 1d ago
I used to work somewhere with a 90 minute commute up and then 90 minutes back. It’s a short 30 minutes without traffic, but I found a gym down the block from work and sure it’s an extra cost every month, but I went to group classes and worked out on my own. It’s an extra effort to pack workout clothes and comfy clothes to get home but the drive home was always less. I would have liked to have joined an adults sports league in the area of some sorts so I could have made friends, but I didn’t think of that until after I switched jobs. You can also join a book club, or if you’re religious there may be after work activities. A lot of the comments here are like “find new work” or “work remote” or “just bike” but sometimes that isn’t as easy as it seems. I favor the “wait out the commute” method. It’s just a matter of finding something in the area near your job: volunteering, making friends, working out, learning a new skill like a crafts class or quilting guild. It’s just a matter of finding something that lines up with your time and location. My last job also started a running league with my colleagues and I never made it but it did make everyone grow closer with eachother.
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u/Watarenuts 2d ago
I got shift work starting at either 7AM or 14PM or 20PM so I always avoid traffic.
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u/mummymunt 2d ago
I always caught the train to work. Reliable and fast, especially considering how far I lived away from work.
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u/utsuriga 1d ago
What happened to the days where I just got off school and walked home?
You grew up and now you have responsibilities you didn't have when you were in school. It's easy to take it easy when you don't have as much to do...
Anyway, options: home office, new job closer where you live, new home closer to your work...
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u/Rosaluxlux 1d ago
You can choose either your job or your home based on not having to drive - I'm 50 and I just got my first job that I plan on driving to most of the time. Previously I only applied to jobs I could bus or walk to, because I don't bike in winter, and often worked from home. Or you can try to change your hours to offset hours that aren't in rush hour. Or you can schedule something close to work that you do before/after to change when you're commuting. Employees are there because they make money for the boss - ask for what you want. And if you can't get it, look elsewhere.
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u/Cattpacker 1d ago
I bike on a bike path the whole way to work. 6km but hilly. On days when my legs are toast I take the bus and read a good book. I'm lucky I live outside the city centre and always get a seat at that time! I moved from a big city that does not give a shit about bike commuters ie they're ripping out all the bike lanes for more parking, to a smaller city that is so biker friendly! And I see seals and otters, deer and hummingbirds on my commute. Gotta love it.
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u/hannahhavenh 2d ago
I live in a smaller community with no traffic. Obviously jobs are more scarce here, but if you’re able to find a comparable job in a smaller town, it will make your entire life SO much simpler. No more traffic. No more fighting for parking spots. No more paid parking in general. Everything you need is 5-10 minutes away. Bonus points if the community is pretty / situated in nature. Instead of driving through busy city streets and congestion, my ‘commuting’ view is quiet roads, trees, and ocean. It’s very calming to the nervous system.
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u/tavigsy 2d ago
Everything you said is truth. Which is why many employees including myself have welcomed the growing openess towards remote work over the past 10-15 years at more progressive employers. Of course it's not viable for every role, employee, or work situation, but clearly the trend makes sense given the ever-increasing prominence of knowledge work, performed using ever-advancing technological tools (which often make distance irrelevant).
Many of us were thrilled when the Covid pandemic temporarily made remote work the only viable option for keeping companies running, swelling our ranks like never before. It was essentially a massive and highly successful demonstration project for remote work. For a little while it looked like the trend really had strong momentum.
However post pandemic we've been seeing a lot of push-back, and regressive forces have recovered a lot of ground. In my opinion it's mostly driven by a minority of control-freak, out-of-touch corporate leaders, real estate investors pissed that the value of their commercial buildings has declined drastically, and mayors and economic development people trying to keep downtowns viable at the expense of departed office workers.
So what to do? My advice is to find work at a remote-friendly (and successful) employer. Prioritize professional development in skills and knowlege that makes you competitive for common remote roles, in information-intensive industries. Next best is living near public transit within striking distance of employers open to hybrid work.
And, keep this stuff in mind when voting. We need politicians who recognize the shifts underway and can bring creativity and flexibility in solving the problems they inevitably create. We need more public transit and we need it to be convenient & affordable. We need reasonable protections against actions such as arbitrary RTO edicts and forced layoffs on stragglers. In the past those have come from regulation, enforcement actions, Unions, and collective action. So maybe think about when deciding how to vote, which party to support, etc.
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u/Hour-Watercress-3865 1d ago
Unfortunately, not unless you have the option to use flex hours, work from home, or take public transit
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u/tellitlikeitisnot 1d ago
It’s hard to tell what your options are without more detail. Are your job hours flexible, do you workout and would you be able to workout nearby before going home, is it safe to bike or take public transit in your area, could you move closer, could you go to a library before going home, could you negotiate work from home, could you take classes nearby after work (and would you want to), etc.
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u/Perrytheplatypus03 1d ago
I have an electric bike. I HATE driving in rush hour. Despise it. Snow, rain, wind, sun. Bike and good clothes.
I live in a very good city for biking though. If you don't, remember a lot of reflexes, like a vest etc. When I lived with no bike lanes I felt scared about the cars until I got a lot of reflective gear.
Edit: and strong good lights on the bike. Also in daytime when it's cloudy.
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u/ce-harris 1d ago
Long ago, I worked on the naval base in Norfolk. 10% of the local population worked on that peninsula. Being a peninsula, there are few choices of routes. My commute was 25 miles. It took me 20 minutes to travel the first 20 miles and 40 minutes to travel the other 5 miles. Unless I was willing to go early. Then the commute was only 30 minutes but I arrived an hour early to work. I napped in my car in the parking lot.
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u/__squirrelly__ 1d ago
I remember reading a happiness study years ago that said the commute is one of the biggest indicators of happiness. A long commute twice a day can take a big chunk out of your mental health.
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u/MerchantOfUndeath 1d ago
Work remote if possible.
Live off-grid.
Go Amish.
Live and work in a town rather than a city.
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u/PersonalLeading4948 1d ago
By starting my workday a half hour early, I’m able to get done a half hour early & miss rush hour traffic. Do you have that flexibility?
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u/Nithoth 1d ago
Currently, I take the bus because it's actually the most convenient for me. I spend the time relaxing and watching movies on my Kindle. Back when I was still driving though, I avoided rush hour a couple of different ways.
In the morning I just left home 30 minutes early and avoided the whole mess. I usually sat in the office reading and drinking coffee on the company dime until it was time to go to work.
In the evenings I'd kill time at the library, grocery shopping, running errands, etc.. A couple of the jobs I've worked at over the years were close to rivers and lakes, so I would just go fishing after work. If I was driving at my current job I'd probably do a lot of fishing and there's a shooting range about 10 minutes drive the other way.
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u/No-Mixture4644 2d ago
I suggest using an electric scooter instead of a car. You dont need to give a flying damn about traffic since you can just drive the scooter on the walkway but keep in mind: it is a walkway, you are not supposed to be there so act accordingly.
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u/kodex1717 2d ago
I avoid rush hour traffic with an 8.5 mile bike ride. Best part of my day.