Is 50 miles a long commute?

[LilacBearberry]

It's for university. If you're driving it - thanks :)

No. I commute about 80. But it depends on the transport links. You say driving-is the road direct? Is it national speed limit? What is the traffic like? Is it easy/cheap to find parking?

I used to commute 50 miles each way for work 5 days a week. It was fast roads so busy, but relatively quick. An hour each way.

It was tiring, and once a week I'd drive another 30 miles passed home to go to university evening classes that was exhausting (but pre kids so no other responsibilities).

Fuel and wear and tear on the car were issues, but if it saves university accommodation costs it could be well worth it.

It's time, not mileage really.

It depends a bit on your circumstances. As a mature student in the arts, where contact time is lower, it's fine. As an 18 year old in the sciences, where you're in labs a lot, I think it might be quite onerous and might also really limit your ability to engage with all the activities and social events that students ought to enjoy.

My DH commutes 50 miles each way every day. It takes him about an hour but he misses rush hour both ways. It’s motorway and dual carriageway but would be hell during peak time. It could easily take twice that so I guess it depends on what time of day.

I do 45 miles a day and find it tiring. I split it between the train which is £17 a day or driving which is about £10 on fuel then a bit of wear and tear I guess. It’s swings and roundabouts which is better. Driving is a bit quicker and cheaper but I find it more stressful. Train is slightly longer but I can sit and mumsnet but it costs more as well. I think mixing it up is good. Driving every day would be hard.

Along the motorway - doable
Along A-roads - it's a struggle

I did 40 minute commute in my 20s in my car for two years. It was totally manageable. That was five days a week, 9am start 530 finish. Often uni has more flexible hours.

Uni is time limited 3-4 years. Work more like 7-10 years.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable.

It would be too long for me. That said, people do it.
University is more likely to mean you aren't necessarily in every day, and you aren't always travelling in the rush hour. OTOH, that's a LOT of petrol to be paying out for each journey.
As everyone else has said - it depends on the route though. In theory, it could be possible to do a 50 mile trip in an hour. If I have to go to my office in rush hour though, it is 13 miles and that takes an hour and a quarter - I wouldn't want to multiply that by 4!

I did it fr work for eight months and it nearly killed me. No way would I do it again by road. If I could do it by train it would be another matter.

For me a 50 mile commute north would take less than an hour.

A 50 mile commute south would be just over an hour allowing for rush hour traffic.

I'd do it if I had to, but would rather not.

how long is it though?
my old house, job 15 miles away. 20/25 min journey
new house, 15 miles is 40 mins.

I should probably add that as a forty-something with two kids it would be much harder.

Distance is one factor
check the journey out on google maps for the times you will travel?
check the local paper to see how often the roads snarl up

but it does not sound like a sensible use of potential learning time - train or bus would be better

How long will it take if peak time traffic? It would take me three hours to travel 50 miles in one direction and an hour and a half in the other.

I imagine there are areas where it would take an hour.

So - where is it to and from OP?

for my masters I did a 2 hour commute daily ( walk, bus, train, lift for the last hour - then back again) and it was hard but doable - wouldn't want to do it for 3+ years though

If you mean commuting from your family home to uni, then, if it is cheaper commuting than living in student accommodation closer to uni, then might be worth doing. However, you may miss out on some of the aspects of student life such as the social side if you need to commute

It's impossible to answer as it's so subjective.

We're about to move and my 'commute' will go from 2 miles to 9 miles away...it feels like a massive drive to me and I'm going to have to make sure I'm really organised to not be late as traffic is now more unpredictable.

50 miles twice a day would probably finish me off, I wouldn't even consider it tbh.

I drive 50 miles each way (mainly motorway) approx 4 days a week, sometimes drive further and sometimes work more locally.

I find it absolutely fine - my hours are flexible so I like to get in early and leave early to skip the traffic.

I also go to the gym on the way home most days (not a stealth boast!). I don't find that I am tired afterwards maybe because I have been doing it for nearly 4 years now.

Also I don't have children yet...if/when I do, i fully expect to feel knackered and struggle (and have to go to the gym less!)

I do a 68 mile commute on the glorious M6 everyday for my sins! No traffic, 1 hour & 10, if there's traffic I can add anything upto 3 hours! Joyful

Depends on the route/traffic/times. I did 100m round trip Monday to Friday for a year. But it was literally 1 straight and empty motorway. I now do 24m a day on busy little country roads and it often takes longer.

It will also depend a lot on either end of your journey: I live 2 mins drive from the big a road. My friends who live 1.5 miles further across town from it have an extra 15-20 mins added on their journey each way, if they’re doing a rush hour commute.

I think I’d miss being able to do things in the evenings, like going out for drinks. Parking near lots of unis can be expensive if they’re in the centre of town. It would also definitely depend on the contact hours I had and the days over which they were spread: you’d be looking at £250 ish for petrol alone, plus similar for wear and tear, plus depreciation costs if you were going 5 days a week.