Are Long Commutes Short on Benefits? Commute Duration and Various Manifestations of Well-Being

Commuting comes with costs, in terms of money (fuel, vehicle maintenance, and depreciation), the opportunity cost of time that might be put to better uses, and emotional burdens such as stress or boredom during or even after the commute. Yet Americans take on considerably longer commutes than would be necessary if minimizing commute time were the sole criterion in location decisions. This suggests that longer commutes must have some benefits, or else that people are irrational when making location decisions. This research seeks evidence for possible compensation for commuting. It finds two sources. First, longer commutes are associated with higher wages. Second, longer commutes are associated with higher rates of homeownership, suggesting longer-duration commuting helps to facilitate a better housing situation, possibly in part because it permits suburban living. However, there is no evidence that a longer commute is associated with higher wages for the commuter’s spouse, as might be expected if one partner takes on a longer commute to improve the other’s job prospects. Longer commute trips are not associated with poorer mood during the trip, but also are not associated with more emotionally fulfilling work. Finally, commute duration is not associated with life satisfaction, perhaps because the rewards and costs of a long commute roughly balance each other out, because the burdens of the commute are not enough to meaningfully impact as broad a construct as life satisfaction, or because people have largely sorted into locations which suit their preferences.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADD20 Standing Committee on Social and Economic Factors of Transportation.
• Authors:
  • Morris, Eric A
  • Zhou, Ying
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
• Date: 2018

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Commuting; Psychological aspects; Travel time; Trip length; Work trips
• Uncontrolled Terms: Well being
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01657929
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 18-00082
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 25 2018 9:34AM