Longest commute you've ever heard of?

[bluejeans]

In Australia some people do 2 1/2-3 hours each way.  I'd be surprised if nobody in Japan did the same.

[Yavianice]

I had a 2.5 hour commute each way at my previous job. That exceeded the sky of time when there was railroad construction and bus replacement services (4-5 hours or more each way, depending on the severity). In those cases I would only go to work if absolutely necessary (meetings and such).

 

With my current job, I only commute in the weekends to my home, which is about 12-13 hours each way (by train) or 15 hours by bus, or 6 hours by plane.

 

All above times are door to door times, including layovers where applicable, and assuming no connections are missed or delayed (which happens every now and then).

Edited September 26, 2018 by Yavianice

[Khaul]

Many Japanese employers, for instance public and private universities, fully cover commuting costs. I know of people working at Waseda and living in places like Kobe or Sendai. The uni pays for the Shinkansen and maybe they don't even need to show up everyday, so they benefit from lower housing costs. 

 

By the way, there is much exaggeration about commuting times in Australia http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-09/commuting-times-travel-shorten/6592510

[Yavianice]

Ah yes, forgot to mention: My commutes are not refunded. At the previous job it was partially refunded as it is baked into the tax code.

[Beaver]

1 hour ago, Khaul said:

Many Japanese employers, for instance public and private universities, fully cover commuting costs. I know of people working at Waseda and living in places like Kobe or Sendai. The uni pays for the Shinkansen and maybe they don't even need to show up everyday, so they benefit from lower housing costs.

 

As far as I remember, giving people the ability to live far from Tokyo in a modest sized town and still commute to work in the metropolis, was one of the major justifications for building the Shinkansen in the first place. There were and still are concerns about living costs and conditions becoming untenable due to overcrowding of residential areas.

 

I know of businessmen who are based at both the Tokyo and Osaka offices of their company and, living in one of the two cities, get back home from the further office only an hour or so later than from the nearer office.

 

One reason for companies being willing to support long commutes and frequent business trips may be the apparent importance in Japanese culture of face to face interactions and being personally present for things. Video conferences, telecommuting etc seem to be much less acceptable solutions than in Western countries.

 

For example: in the UK many people are claiming there is no need to build high speed railways since people can 'just' conduct their business over the internet instead, while in Japan the internet appears to have done nothing to discourage the completion of the shinkansen network or even the maglev project.

[bluejeans]

2 hours ago, Khaul said:

Many Japanese employers, for instance public and private universities, fully cover commuting costs. I know of people working at Waseda and living in places like Kobe or Sendai. The uni pays for the Shinkansen and maybe they don't even need to show up everyday, so they benefit from lower housing costs. 

 

By the way, there is much exaggeration about commuting times in Australia http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-09/commuting-times-travel-shorten/6592510

 

Sendai sounds doable but Kobe is absolutely insane...

[chadbag]

I don't think it counts, but I knew an airline pilot who worked for Continental Micronesia, and lived in Oregon.  Once a month he would commute to work (Oregon <--> Guam) and once a month home again.

 

My neighbor was a pilot and worked out of Chicago (this is Utah where we live).  He would regularly commute to Chicago for a couple days of flights he had to cover and then home again.

 

[bill937ca]

"Tax incentives are one way that the government encourages ridership on public transit. All workers in Japan receive a tax-free commuting allowance as
high up to 100,000 yen ($1,000 USD or €750 Euro) per month from their employers (Yamaga, 2000). This contrasts with automobile commuters, who only
receive 15% of this amount based on distance travelled (Cervero, 1998)."

 

p. 45  summit.sfu.ca/system/files/iritems1/9470/etd4464_JCalimente.pdf

 

The full report is well worth reading.

Edited September 27, 2018 by bill937ca

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I wouldn't be surprised, given the property prices in Tokyo. Certainly 2 hour + commutes are common-place in the UK...my daily commute to London is 2 hours door-to-door, and my train is not empty when I board in the morning.

Edited September 27, 2018 by Claude_Dreyfus