Time Spent Commuting To Work-Is It Worth It?

Written by Paige Goldsmith, EBR 

Many people in the workforce are required to travel long amounts of time to work and back home. It is a common aspect of a job for many people. One of the employees we interviewed expressed her personal experiences with regards to travel & expense necessities and this is what we found:

"In the morning it takes me 90 minutes to get to work which involves 30minutes  on the bus and 60 minutes by the train. At night it takes me 1 hour and 15 minutes which involves only one train. I usually get picked up from the station at night but if I can't I than need to wait 15 minutes for a bus and it takes 20 minutes to get home."

"All together I am travelling 2 hours and 45 minutes, that is a total of around about 13 hours a week."

"I, personally, think it is worth it because in my current job I'm learning so much. I am more organised and achieving great things. The time I spend travelling to and from work seems like a small price to pay. I understand why some people would say it wasn't worth the time. Especially if you don't like your job."

In summary, the advantages & disadvantages of long travelling time for work are: 

Advantages:

• Becoming more organised and responsible
• Catching up time on the train/bus, which can be spent sleeping or reading
• Having greater career opportunities
• Learning a wide range of skills that will be beneficial in the long run

Disadvantages:

• Time taken to travel
• Costs associated with travel, particularly for a junior person with a low salary.
• Dealing with Transport congestion