How long does it take? Really.

Have you ever noticed how people "adjust" how long it takes them to travel?  When you ask people about their commutes, they will either undershoot to rationalize their particular choice or overshoot to make a horror story.

To whit:  my wife recently changed her workplace to Silver Spring 3 days/week.  We live in Arlington a 17-minute walk from East Falls Church metro.  She drives to work, primarily because the walk-metro-shuttle-to-her-work trip would take almost an hour and a half each way.  I encourage her to Metro, but she's justifiably resistant.

Recently our neighbor was over for tea and inquired about her new work.  My wife said, ". . and it only takes 25-35 minutes to get there."  After choking briefly on my tea, I challenged her on this.
Tuesday mornings at 7:30 my daughter has her piano lesson, and my wife has left it to me to get her there (without a car, because she has it).
"Why is it then that you have to leave by 7:15 on Tuesdays to get to work by 8:00?  You could drop [daughter] off at 7:25 and still make it to work in 25-35 minutes, right?"  I asked.
Suddenly her story changed to 40-45 minutes. . .just to be safe.

Not to pick on my wife, but I hear this all the time.  My experience is that drivers time themselves from the clock in their car, so they only count the time from when they pull away until they park.  People who ride the bus or bike or metrorail count from when they leave home until they either enter their workplace or get to their desks.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this.  Just an observation.
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Steve Offutt, 55 minute bike commuter (okay ... sometimes an hour) and Arlington resident

Comments

[Aylene]

I think this is a fascinating phenomenom that I have noticed out here in Denver, and in fact, it is a huge barrier to convincing people to get out of their cars. When they are automatically shaving 10-15 minutes off their drive alone trip, it's hard to compete when a transit trip suddenly takes 30 minutes longer (when it really only takes 15 minutes longer).

[vintage_3sp]

Lemme know how that couch sleeps, Steve! Very interesting topic...

[Commuter182]

"My experience is that drivers time themselves from the clock in their car, so they only count the time from when they pull away until they park. People who ride the bus or bike or metrorail count from when they leave home until they either enter their workplace or get to their desks."

Yes, sort of...
Drivers often forget to factor in the time walking from the parking space to their office, but for most places, that's often relatively short, both in terms of distance and time. Usually shorter than the distance from the bus stop or rail station to the office.

But people can make similar mistakes with public transportation as well. I may use the final arrival time at the last Metrorail or bus stop from the WMATA Trip Planner as when I get there, and not remember to factor in enough time for the walk from the stop to the actual destination, especially if it's some place I don't frequently go to.
Or I may forget to add extra time for what a missed bus transfer may add or for the delays caused by (the now usual) weekend Metrorail track work.

BTW, would bike commuters forget to factor in the time they shower /sponge bath (for those who do) after pulling into the office as part of their commute time?