this post was submitted on 03 Jun 2026
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This map shows the average commuting time from home to work in Europe.

(Author: Maps.interlude, Link to image information and dfferent resolutions )

It might be surprising that, in spite of wildly different traffic systems and large differences in the use share of cars, these times are so similar.

An explanation is given in the wikipedia article on Marchetti's Constant. Basically, the time spent commuting is mostly an anthropological constant, and is largely independent of means of transport and culture.

In other words, if we use faster means of transport, we almost automatically commute larger distances - regardless whether this improves our quality of life or not.

This relationship should probably be central in modern traffic planning, but it is often not considered. (There is an interesting article in German by the traffic scientist Rudolf Pfleiderer, titled "Das PhΓ€nomen Verkehr", which describes in more detail the relationships between traffic, speed, and distance - perhaps somebody knows a good English article?)

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[–] WeavingSpider@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

spots Latvian flag oh, my country!

Yeah, the numbers sound about right, though I do travel with two public transports to get to and from work, so the walk and wait does add about 10 min on average.

[–] mech@feddit.org 38 points 3 days ago (3 children)

I have a commute of 1 hour, and I love it.
It's a bicycle route on agricultural roads through fields and meadows, along a river.
And it keeps me fit even though I'm too lazy to exercise regularly.
But yeah, commuting by car is a no-go for me.
That's always been the number one priority when looking for jobs and apartments.

[–] klangcola@reddthat.com 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That sounds wonderful. And awful. Weather pending

Weather is overrated. One just becomes used to it. In the Netherlands, civilization does not breaks down when it rains.

[–] truthfultemporarily@feddit.org 32 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Clearly you're not lazy because you are exercising regularly by using the bike.

[–] mech@feddit.org 25 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I deliberately put myself into a situation where I'm forced to.
I don't own a car, and with public transport I'd have to leave 10 minutes earlier.
So with my morning routine planned to the minute to maximize snoozing time, I only have the choice between taking the bicycle and being late for work.

[–] nailingjello@piefed.zip 5 points 2 days ago

Sounds like you're efficient, not lazy.

[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

I do similar - 14 kilometers by bike, a good part along a motorway, a park, and a river. What motivates me is that I count it as daily excercise which I just need to stay healthy. And if the weather is shit, crusty ice or thunderstorms predicted, I happen to use the commuter train (which is a tad slower).

But my "ideal" commute time is around half an hour.

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Yeah, 80km a week here isn't too bad and only takes me 20-25 mins each way. The last 200m is shared with cars though which sucks as they take up all the space and slow everything down. Sometimes wonder if it would be faster to get off and walk for that last bit.

[–] mech@feddit.org 28 points 3 days ago (2 children)

With 200 million workers in the EU, that's 200 million hours of unpaid, wasted time each work day.
Imagine how much shareholder value could be generated if we turned that into unpaid work time!

-Friedrich Merz

[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I think 50% of commute time should be time paid by companies. This would not only save fossil energy and worker's time for their family, but also foster work from home, reduce suburban sprawl and improve probably a lot of other undesirable trends.

[–] plyth@feddit.org 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

It's one of Meta's main resources. Remove the commute time and engagement will drop.

[–] artyom@piefed.social 14 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Median would be much more interesting

The distribution generally looks like this - skewed left.

So, the median is smaller than the mean, many people commute below the average time, and very few much more.

The general discussion about traffic policies tends to focus on the minority of people which commute much more than the average.

[–] Melchior@feddit.org 14 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)
[–] yakko@feddit.uk 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They've really got me pegged here in the UK, my commute is a two way fifteen minute walk to get to my desk at home.

[–] gwl@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 3 days ago (3 children)

How big is your house that it takes 7.5 mins to get to the desk?

[–] mech@feddit.org 10 points 3 days ago (2 children)

For me, it's a distance of 10m but my cats make sure it takes fifteen minutes.

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[–] yakko@feddit.uk 2 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Walking my kid to school lmao

[–] gwl@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 days ago

Ah makes sense haha

[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Wow, you nailed it! I'm happy that your kid gets extra dad or mom time!

[–] yakko@feddit.uk 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I could have probably gotten a bigger place if I was willing to get a car, but we have enough space and all of us can walk to work or the train pretty easily. Keeps us from getting too fat.

[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Keeps us from getting too fat.

Great insight. Few people are probably aware of that, but cars actually make ill. Most illnesses in our modern world are circulatory diseases and overweight caused by lack of any mild exercise, and cars cause to no small part that lack of exercise, because their comfort of avoiding any modest physical effort is kinda addictive. Not using a car is, after not smoking, one of the best things that you can do to keep you healthy and allow your loved ones to enjoy your presence more time to be around.

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[–] laranis@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago

Those must be metric minutes.

[–] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 days ago

Ha, losers. My commute is more than double that of Latvia!

[–] plyth@feddit.org 9 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Does it affect Windows boot time for homeoffice?

[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Well, Windows 11 boot times certainly didn't get any shorter, and my work laptop's fan is making so much noise that i am thinking in sharing my asthma meds with the poor thing. Glad that my home Debian boots in five seconds or so! :-)

[–] remon@ani.social 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You're turning your computer off?

[–] bob_lemon@feddit.org 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Why would you ever keep the work PC on? Not only for it consume power, but turning it in the morning is a very easy 10 minutes of paid work time each morning.

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[–] Skua@kbin.earth 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Anyone got any insight on what the hell Latvia is doing? Not only are they doing the worst, their two genrally-comparable neighbours are actually doing better than most

[–] jaxxed@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Crap road planning and deterioratng public transit and bridges - also increased car ownership makng commutes worse.

[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 3 points 3 days ago (7 children)

The question is: From the majority of people with short commutes, who needs really a car for such low distances?

[–] morgunkorn@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

well some people will be driving for 25 minutes, that's already quite the distance. and public transport isn't an option for everyone living in rural areas

[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

well some people will be driving for 25 minutes, that’s already quite the distance.

Depends on the environment. In cities, the typical average speed of cars is around 35 km/h. So, you can travel a distance of about 15 kilometers in that time, which won't be much more than in a fast commuter train, or a subway. (In fact, I go about 14 kilometers by bike, and it's usually faster door-to-door than the commuter train).

i bike 20km every single day, i know it's doable :)

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[–] plyth@feddit.org 4 points 3 days ago

What happened to Latvia?

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 2 points 3 days ago

Interestingly if you compare this to US states the variance is much higher.

[–] jenesaisquoi@feddit.org -1 points 2 days ago

If Turkey is a European country, then France is an island in the pacific ocean.

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