Seattle Metro Area: How Long is your Commute? (Bellevue, Renton: university, live)

[leastprime]

If one assumes time of first transit boarding.
Son: 15-20 minutes: From 23rd & Yesler/Jackson to 4th & Pike. Using #27 or #14.
Wife: 50-70 minutes: 166th & Redmond Way (redmond) to Son's Place: #245 -> #48. About 40 minutes to Pike Place; ~50 minutes to KingStreet Station
Me: 6.5+ hrs. From Salem Oregon to Redmond. Using Amtrak 5.5 hr -> #545 or #14/27/48/545, ~60 min if I watch the bus arrival.

[Blondebaerde]

Somewhat to the point, my commute past year is 30 feet, to my home office. But with frequent travel, though not "all the time," 40-60% by actual count. I usually go on Sundays and given remoteness of Seattle, flights to Midwest take awhile often with two hops. East Coast, longer, but direct if to Newark, JFK, etc. How I maximize efficiency flying is/was an art form and series of tweaks to routine, but that is posted to Travel C-D.

I like working from home, it's another thread in W&E C-D if that is more or less frequent anymore for, say, senior and exec level in IT. These days, the teams I work with are scattered to the four corners of the earth, my boss in San Diego, I hardly know a soul in our Seattle office though I may remedy that just for grins. I usually don't have time, the days are really full here from the house.

Were I commuting downtown, as has happened in the not too distant pass, would be: drive to bus from Kirkland (six blocks, parking nearby at zero cost) to downtown, though I hear they'll be dropping us at University soon to keep buses out of that tunnel. Eh, that's a transfer to Link Light Rail then, not a big deal but probably a few more minutes. About 45 min/55 min at current, each way. Company supplies free ORCA passes. Driving downtown to Pioneer Square is a total non-starter, nor is riding (no rational policy in-evidence for motorcycle parking downtown, so I'm little better off).

I've been out of my car for commuting several years, which is a dream come true. Seriously, wish that had been more-possible twenty years ago, but was not. I'd love to never commute again in my X-runner, which btw is not a bad commute vehicle due to tolerable mileage (17mph in mixed traffic), medium size so park-able, and it's a Toyota so mega miles makes little difference: pretty sure I'm at 114K these days.

[rjshae]

10 minutes. I rent a place near work, figuring it saves me one "work day" per week of extra driving. Time-wise that's equivalent to 20% of my salary, so it more than pays for itself.

[Returning2USA]

Originally Posted by rjshae

10 minutes. I rent a place near work, figuring it saves me one "work day" per week of extra driving. Time-wise that's equivalent to 20% of my salary, so it more than pays for itself.

That's a logical and realistic way to look at it.

It's disheartening to see how much time we waste of our lives when commutes get longer than a certain point.

It really is a waste.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by Returning2USA

That's a logical and realistic way to look at it.

It's disheartening to see how much time we waste of our lives when commutes get longer than a certain point.

It really is a waste.

Completely agree. Having traveled around the world, I frequently preach "You don't need as much square footage as you have been socialized in the USA to believe you do". Get rid of unneeded crap, be creative with space, live closer to your work. Life is better that way.

[mayfair]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

Completely agree. Having traveled around the world, I frequently preach "You don't need as much square footage as you have been socialized in the USA to believe you do". Get rid of unneeded crap, be creative with space, live closer to your work. Life is better that way.

That implies there's just one person in the family working. If two family members work in different parts of the metro area- either one will have a long commute and one an easy commute, or both will have a moderate but not easy commute.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by mayfair

That implies there's just one person in the family working. If two family members work in different parts of the metro area- either one will have a long commute and one an easy commute, or both will have a moderate but not easy commute.

Nope, I didn't mean that at all. With two workplaces, the same principles apply though.

[jakebarnes]

Capitol Hill to downtown - 20 minutes walk, 15 minutes bus/rail. I work early and the roads are fairly clear then (6am).

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by Unicorn hunter

You could easily cross over to the Metro tunnel, catch pretty much any bus or light rail to Westlake Station, and from there either walk to Seattle Center, or catch the 3, 4, 13 and I forget which other buses go by there, but there are several. Not really all that difficult.

The D-Line, 1, 2, and 13 go along the west side and the 3 and 4 go along the east side of the Seattle Center.

He could walk north from King Street Station three blocks to Prefontaine Pl S & Yesler Way and catch the D-Line (running every 7-10 minutes) directly to the Seattle Center.

https://kingcounty.gov/depts/transpo...aspx#weekday-b

[dtuba]

Originally Posted by mayfair

That implies there's just one person in the family working. If two family members work in different parts of the metro area- either one will have a long commute and one an easy commute, or both will have a moderate but not easy commute.

This is my situation. The spouse works in Oly and I in Seattle. So we chose (more or less) halfway between the two, which is Tacoma. Actually halfway would be somewhere around Milton or Federal Way, but I wanted to live in a city setting, so I chose the slightly longer commute for myself.