General question - commute distance

[karlt]

When someone says they have "a 10 mile commute", do they generally mean 10 miles each way or 10 miles there and back?

I always wonder.

[foxyrider]

I would be thinking each way.

I've had 15 mile commutes in the past, 30 round trip. It's pretty hardcore once you get to ten - 15 through traffic etc was a good hour, more on the almost all uphill return and horrible in winter. Same distance through the lanes to a different location was quicker and more enjoyable but doing it over icy roads was no fun!

I'd consider a reasonable bike commute to be no more than 7 miles and to take @ 30 minutes.

[eileithyia]

Probably one way, if asked I usually said xx miles or xx round trip.......

[thirdcrank]

In the far off days when I cycled to work - retired 1997 - I don't think I'd have referred to commuting, but if I'd been referring to the distance, I'm pretty sure I'd have given the one way distance.

[PH]

One way, I understand that's the definition of commute - from one thing to another.
I've always assumed that's what was being referred to unless used in a context that made it clear otherwise.

[Redvee]

I do 10 miles each way, 20 per day and work colleagues when asking say that's far, looked at on a daily basis it isn't but over a week does add up and along with a fairly busy 37.5 hours working week can soon tire me out and a day off not riding the bike is nice but a friend can't understand that sometimes on my days off why I don't want to ride my bike, yet other days off I will.

[[XAP]Bob]

14 each way, so each journey is 14 miles...

The weekly distance adds up pretty fast...

[Roadster]

One way, I understand that's the definition of commute - from one thing to another.
I've always assumed that's what was being referred to unless used in a context that made it clear otherwise.

My understanding of commute is not simply travelling from one place to another - I call that a journey.
Surely commuting means more than making one single journey from A to B: at the very least, it means going to one's regular place of work or study or whatever and then returning home again later. By implication, this is done not just on one occasion but repeatedly on a daily basis.

[PH]

One way, I understand that's the definition of commute - from one thing to another.
I've always assumed that's what was being referred to unless used in a context that made it clear otherwise.

My understanding of commute is not simply travelling from one place to another - I call that a journey.
Surely commuting means more than making one single journey from A to B: at the very least, it means going to one's regular place of work or study or whatever and then returning home again later. By implication, this is done not just on one occasion but repeatedly on a daily basis.

Well the word commute exists in other contexts than the journey to work, the meaning of each is from one thing to another (and not back again )

[Roadster]

Yes, a death sentence can be commuted to... a life of commuting! Or are they the same thing?
But that is in its active sense where a subject acts upon an object. Commuters in this context act upon themselves, and surely you're not suggesting that they don't return home from work after they've got there...

[thirdcrank]

I don't think there's much to be gained by researching the word "commute" which means "to change," with the implication of a reduction or discount: I don't think changing a life sentence to the death penalty would be regarded as commuting it. AFAIK, in the context of travel, commuting began as the American expression for buying a season ticket (I'm pretty sure I picked that up listening to Letter from America. ) ie getting a lower rate/ discount by paying up front. It's simply been adopted as the word for daily travel to and from work. I think that the Reggie Perrins of this world who take a daily train ride up to town would measure it by the time spent on the train, rather than the length of permanent way involved.

If the distance somebody is riding is crucial, probably best to get clarification of their use of the term.

(Roadster beat me to it.)

[Vorpal]

My '10 mile commute' is 10 miles from home to work or vice versa. There are shorter versions of this journey, but they involve steeper hills that actually take me longer. I sometimes go home that way. So my total daily mileage is usually between 17 and 20 miles.

[iandriver]

Mine is 15 each way. But it is an easy, pancake flat 15 Miles with some of the best cycle paths in the county next to the Cambridge Guided Busway, so it's not as epic as it sounds. A very hilly 5 miles would be more work.

[brooksby]

Mine is about 6.5 miles one way with hills, and then about 9.5 back (but no hills).

I'd say " a ten mile commute" meant ten miles each way, but I suppose you could define it as a "twenty miles per day commute"...?

[jollytiddlywink]

If someone asks me how long my commute is, I might answer either in time or in distance. In either case, I will be referring to the trip from my house to my job, or the trip from my job to my house, but not the round-trip.

I usually then cheerfully tell whoever is asking that it is quick and easy to get around by bike. I live in Birmingham, where motorized rush-hour traffic is notoriously slow (managing an average speed of only 8mph!) so I do my best to evangelize for active travel.