Commuting

Commuting to work by private or public transportation is one of the daily realities of modern life. In previous times people generally worked in their homes or walked a relatively short distance to their place of employment. But with the advent of the train and tram, bus and automobile, along with the spread of suburbia, getting to and from work has become a more complex and time-consuming business.

A generation ago people were congratulating themselves that working hours were fewer, little realizing that in most cases these were taken up by extra time commuting. Now that working hours are expanding again, and freeways are becoming more clogged, there is a danger that commuting hours will also rise. This is especially the case for those who are unemployed and can find work only a long distance from home.

Commuting Times and Patterns

By far the greatest proportion of people commute to work by car. This varies from city to city and depends on climatic conditions, quality of public transportation and provision of cycleways. In most places, 90 percent or more of commuters travel by automobile, and somewhere between 5 percent and 15 percent travel by public transportation, mostly train or bus. Although improvements in public transportation, along with diversification of it and additions to it, in recent years have reclaimed some people from their cars, it is still used by only a small proportion of the commuting population. This is significant enough to ease some congestion on the roads, but not enough to make a wholesale difference in the quality of road or rail commutes.

On the whole, commuting time by car has remained surprisingly stable over the last couple of decades. At present the average length of car trips in the larger cities in North America is roughly equivalent. Older, denser metropolises in the East and Midwest lose what they gain by being more compact through the greater length of time it takes to traverse them. In newer, more sprawling metropolises in the South and West, traffic flows a little faster and so makes up for the longer distances between job and suburb. The majority of car trips, almost 40 percent, take about twenty to thirty minutes, 20 percent around ten to fifteen minutes less, 20 percent around ten to fifteen minutes more, and fewer than 10 percent up to an hour in length. A small but growing proportion of people—whether going by car, bus, train or ferry—travel two hours or more a day to work. There are also those who commute by plane.

Most people who commute by car travel alone. In North America car-pooling is usually defined as two or more passengers, in other countries three or more. Though the ratio of car-poolers to lone travelers varies from city to city, on average it is around one in seven but can vary from half to double that number. Those who travel by van or bus, less so by tram or train, often socialize with fellow commuters, especially in the western states. Such people build a modest level of community through regularly traveling at the same time with each other day after day. This is especially the case where longer distances are involved.

The amount of stress and frustration caused by some forms of commuting, especially traveling by car, is a matter of widespread complaint. Here and there some interesting responses to these expressions of dissatisfaction are beginning to emerge. For example, driving schools are beginning to include in their lessons to new drivers sessions on stress management as well as on how to deal with rudeness. Also, family members and neighbors intentionally or instinctively help those who are drivers among them to debrief at the end of the day, that is, to report on the dangers they have encountered, obstacles they have overcome and fatigue they are experiencing.

The amount of time people spend commuting, the fact that they mostly do it alone and, as roads get busier and trains become fewer, the tiring or frustrating nature of commuting generally raise many questions. These are worth asking in an effort to become more aware of what is at stake and what are the options with respect to commuting: When there is a choice, is it more important to live closer to work, schools and shops in less advantageous surroundings so that families and friends can have more time together, or is quality of location and residence more important? Are there additional ways in which commuting can become a more sociable, community-building activity or even a more reflective, educational one? Is it possible to handle commuting better so that it is less energy-taxing and anxiety-producing and so would give people more chance at the end of the day to socialize or engage in other worthwhile activities?

These are not the only questions. We could ask how we can improve people’s capacity to drive safely and courteously on the roads so as to reduce traffic accidents. Or we might consider the impact of commuting long distances on those who find it difficult to find or keep work. Since our adoption of the automobile has led to the deterioration of public transportation, we might consider our responsibility to older, younger, poorer or disabled people who most rely on public transportation to get around. But it is the first, basic, set of questions that will be addressed here.

Commuting Practices and Possibilities

In recent ethical thought much has been made about the importance of developing a range of character-based practices that are genuinely virtuous. Insofar as people seek to acquire good driving habits, they are developing a standard way of operating that will serve them well on the road. But what other practices might be relevant in driving to and from work, ones more related to personal well-being, community building, educational or spiritual development? And what practices might be helpful for those who do not commute by car? Are there specific practices related to being a passenger rather than a driver?

Perhaps the first desirable practice with respect to commuting is that time spent traveling to and from work be decreased as much as is realistically possible. All forms of commuting, but particularly those undertaken by car, add to our already congested, polluted and often accident-ridden transportation situation. If the time people spent commuting could be decreased, morning rush hours of between five miles per hour (in London) and fifteen miles per hour (in many American cities) would be greatly aided. Pollution—in Los Angeles every car puts approximately its own weight into the air as pollutant each year—would lessen. The awful physical, psychological and economic toll of road injuries and deaths would be significantly diminished.

But how do people go about decreasing the amount of time it takes to travel to and from work? Fortunately there is a growing tendency for people to seek work closer to home, but perhaps they should also consider moving home closer to work. It is ironic that many people move to outer suburbs because of less cost and greater safety and then put themselves on the roads at even more expense, especially if they then need a second car, and at greater risk, due to the extra driving.

When decreasing the distance between work and home is not possible, and even when it is, more commitment to car-pooling would make some real contributions. It would help develop community on the commute and so nurture an increasingly scarce yet absolutely basic resource in modern society. Many people can testify to both the short-term and long-term benefits of this. While it challenges our fetish about individual convenience and freedom of choice and requires some accommodation to others’ schedules and rhythms, we could do much more in this direction than we attempt at present.

The same case can be made for making the move from commuting by car to traveling by public transportation. People complain that commuting by public transportation usually takes longer. Since someone else is doing the driving, however, the commuter has more time for profitable and sometimes enjoyable personal activities, such as reading, reflecting, meditating, praying, keeping a journal and planning. Sometimes there can be other benefits, such as socializing with a more ethnically diverse, older and poorer range of people. (This, by the way, could help overcome some of the stereotyping and suspicion that so often go on between different racial or class groups who rarely meet.) Another benefit is increased educational possibilities. (One group of daily commuters between two large cities were instrumental in getting a continuing-education organization to conduct daily classes on the train and eventually to add a whole car especially for that purpose.) People are often surprised to find out that a move to commuting by public transportation also generally results in considerable financial savings.

Those who must commute a relatively lengthy period of time can take steps to minimize the degree of effort and anxiety involved in arduous daily travel: for example, making use of flextime arrangements so that travel to and from work can take place at other than rush hours or working a ten-hour day so that an extra day a week can be used for leisure or being at home. When a car audio system is available, and so long as it is not just a tranquilizing substitute for a more radical change in commuting patterns, playing relaxing music can also be helpful, as an increasing number of people are finding. In places where a good and pleasant bicycle-path network is provided, people can bike to work. For a small percentage of people—almost 5 percent of the population—there is also the option of walking. Another possibility, and not only for the 5 percent of people already telecommuting, is searching for ways of doing some work each week from home.

For the remainder, it is helpful to begin looking at the complexities, surprises, frustrations and delays of traveling by private or public transportation as opportunities in the Spirit to grow in patience and self-control, as well as in the creative use of time.

Conclusion

As well as individual changes, there are changes that political and urban authorities can implement to improve the commuting experience. In various cities a number of these are already in operation. They include placing a tax on businesses if a certain percentage of their employees do not car-pool or travel by public transportation, providing more bus and car-pool lanes on freeways, introducing “smart” technology to improve travel conditions and reduce commuting time, and, where they have some likelihood of being effective, proposing new public-transportation initiatives.

Employers and supervisors can also help. As is already happening in some firms and agencies, they can pay employees extra to car-pool or travel by public transportation, since this costs less than providing parking spaces at work. Even churches can make a contribution to commuting by encouraging their members to car-pool as much as possible to meetings, providing vans or buses for those who cannot or can little afford to use public transportation, siting themselves near well-served public-transportation routes, and decentralizing many of their activities to local centers or homes so that people have less distance to travel.

» See also: Automobile

» See also: City

» See also: Mobility

» See also: Neighborhood

» See also: Public Transportation

» See also: Time

» See also: Traveling

» See also: Workplace

References and Resources

D. Engwicht, Reclaiming Our Cities and Towns (Philadelphia: New Society, 1993); J. McInnes, The New Pilgrims: Living as Christians in a Technological Society (Sydney: Albatross, 1980).

—Robert Banks