I'm 20-25 minutes door to door (12 minutes on express train) now, but I had a 90 minute commute (driving) before. Up to about an hour, I vastly prefer public transit, but longer than that, and I start to wonder if driving wouldn't be better. Spending upwards of an hour each way on crowded public transit isn't terribly appetizing to me.

20 minutes, tops, on a 2 train ride, I had a couple of 1hr + rides.

2 trains, one a couple of stops, the other 2 stops.

A 40-minute commute really isn't that bad. There are many people around the country who commute much longer via car because they don't have access to, or just dislike using, public transportation.

The longest commute.

Eh. It sucks, but a few years ago, I managed to read 40 books in one year on the subway alone.

Makes me feel shitty knowing my commute is 60 minutes on a good day, 80 on a bad day. Oh wait! But I'll have a nice new Aquarium in 2015! Sweet!

Amazing how many commenters here don't know what "average" means.

Amazing how many commentators assume the "average" is statistically significant enough to act on alone.

Millions of people with 45+ minute commutes arn't even noticed.

Oh I know what average means. I also see the number of people on my bus every day..meaning that the averages they have for Staten Island are out of whack. Espically if the people on the side of the island I live on decide to go the cheaper route of using the train to the ferry to the subway. I did that for a while...my commute was roughly 2 hours each way.

The thing is, and I often make this mistake as well, not everyone commutes to Manhattan. People like me wonder how people can live way far out in Brooklyn/Queens/SI, etc...but the reality is that not everyone that lives out there commutes to Manhattan. Many commute to Downtown Brooklyn, or own their own businesses in closer proximity to their home. So someone who lives in Bay Ridge and owns a store in Dyker Heights might have a 10 minute commute.

Oh no I know that...but again, with the traffic in Staten Island, depending where you live your spending at least an hour on the xway. For an 8 am class at CSI, I used to have to leave at 6:45 to get through the traffic/find parking. And at a normal hour, the drive was 10 minutes. Thats why Im saying the Staten Island numbers dont make sense..because wherever you work you always get stuck in dumb traffic.

Sigh..I cant wait to move.

Sounds about right for my commute.

I think this study is bogus.

NJ, Conneticut, LI...these commuters often have far longer commutes. 45 minutes for the train alone - not counting the time it takes to get to the train parking lot & office after the train.

SD to LA on the 5 used to take my coworkers 2+ hours, in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week. Sending out the deliveries during morning rush hour was a punishment we joked about, not a viable option.

Hey Albany-FUCK YOU!

Where the hell in Staten Island are they getting those numbers at? My "average commute" one way is an hour and twenty mins- and I work in midtown. Ive been on the bus as long as 3 hours before. I would LOVE a 40 something min commute...

I was thinking the same thing, EVERYONE i know commuting from SI has at least an hour & 15m commute

Yeah but the figure probably averages in Staten Islanders who actually work on SI and have 10 min commutes.

Ditto. The M60 from LGA to UWS used to take 45 minutes - now it's pushing 75...

I've been working in the same neighborhood for 10 years now. My commute used to take 30 minutes train station to train station from queens to 34th street. The last 4 years it has taken anywhere from 45-50 minutes. Yo MTA what gives?

the worst part? fucking LA is better than us. there is motherfucking gridlock and everything is ten miles away from each other and you have to find parking, go to gas stations, and you have to get into your car, start the engine and put on your seatbelt and LA still beats us. fuck!!!!!!