We hate commuting. Recent survey by Princeton scientists reports that we rank commuting as our least favorite activity – disliked even more than house chores. However, we frequently forget and underestimate how much commuting affects our well-being.
Robert H. Frank, economics professor at Cornell University writes: “If we use an increase in our incomes…simply to buy bigger houses and more expensive cars, then we do not tend to end up being any happier than before. But if we use an increase in our incomes to buy more of certain inconspicuous goods – such as freedom from a long commute or a stressful job – then the evidence paints a very different picture.”
Another recent scientific study from Europe reports: “We found that people with longer commuting time report systematically lower subjective well-being. If your trip is an hour each way, you’d have to make forty per cent more in salary to be as ’satisfied’ with life as a noncommuter is…”
Daniel Gilbert, author of “Stumbling on Happiness” and a psychology professor at Harvard University reminds us: “You can’t adapt to commuting, because it’s entirely unpredictable. Driving in traffic is a different kind of hell every day.”
Still, most of us spend more than an hour a day in traffic. We drive to work, we drive to daycare, schools, after school activities, gyms, supermarkets and libraries. For most of the families with kids, the daily commute pattern is a complex web of who-when-where. Optimal Home Location tool can help by suggesting how to minimize commute of each family. It takes into account a specific commute pattern, and returns geographical area that would minimize the combined family commute. Reducing one’s commute by just 10 miles per day may mean 100 more enjoyable hours with your family, $500 savings per year and a little step toward greener planet.
