Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Thomas Bruzan on January 16, 2015 at 4:57am

Small wonder they're so ornery when I pedal past them.

Permalink Reply by David Altenburg on January 16, 2015 at 6:24am

Can you really call it lost time if you managed to catch up on your Facebook reading during it?

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on January 16, 2015 at 8:12am

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/January-2015/Why-Your-Co...

More info from this study.

Permalink Reply by Andrew Bedno on January 16, 2015 at 8:58am

forgive my schadenfreude

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on January 17, 2015 at 6:13am

I'll agree that the 71 hour stat seems low. I'm sure it's an averaged reading. Many people who commute by car say they know that it's a time wasting ordeal but is what they choose/have to do. Some days more time is wasted than others. Some people feel like the time wasted is equivalent to a two and a half week vacation.

Cameron 7.5 mi said:

That honestly seems low. Figuring a normal full time job (5 days/week, 50 weeks/year), that works out to 17 min per workday. I'd be curious to see how the study determined how much of a commute was wasted time, since must people have a much longer than 17 min roundtrip commute.

Permalink Reply by WalkThroughWater on January 17, 2015 at 6:39am

It is not time commuting. CMAP's Travel Model figures out the time it takes to get to a destination with and without congestion and saves the difference as "time wasted in traffic." It is similar to how Google Maps says that your car trip will take 1 hour but in current traffic it will take 1 hr 10 min, you wasted 10 minutes in traffic. Now average that traffic time over the whole metro area. 

Cameron 7.5 mi said:

That honestly seems low. Figuring a normal full time job (5 days/week, 50 weeks/year), that works out to 17 min per workday. I'd be curious to see how the study determined how much of a commute was wasted time, since must people have a much longer than 17 min roundtrip commute.

Permalink Reply by Irvin Steinert on January 17, 2015 at 8:11am

Facebook?!? Oh you were being facetious, I get it....

David Altenburg said:

Can you really call it lost time if you managed to catch up on your Facebook reading during it?

Permalink Reply by Irvin Steinert on January 17, 2015 at 8:13am

Actually you are not stuck in traffic, you are traffic!

Permalink Reply by Alisa Hauser on January 17, 2015 at 9:41am

last night my friend and i worked out at the Y. we left around the same time, maybe i got a bit of head start, and planned to meet up at a bar near my place to watch Bulls game. He drove and i biked. we got back to area at the same time. am new to biking and still amazed how much better it is than sitting in a car or on a bus. the only thing i miss about a car is the radio.

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on January 17, 2015 at 1:51pm

http://www.amazon.com/Ivation-Multi-Function-Bicycle-External-Contr...

Alisa, radio/sound system for a bicycle.



Alisa Hauser said:

am new to biking and still amazed how much better it is than sitting in a car or on a bus. the only thing i miss about a car is the radio.

Permalink Reply by Alisa Hauser on January 21, 2015 at 6:01am

Tom, looks really cool!  Been using a friend's spare bike for past few months.  If i am still biking a long time from now (and more confidant on road) will def be ready for a radio then.