On commuting

I was reading Buzz Andersen’s story on why he left Apple (via Les) and found a story in the New Yorker talking about commuting. Here’s a key quote…

“I was shocked to find how robust a predictor of social isolation commuting is,” Robert Putnam, a Harvard political scientist, told me. (Putnam wrote the best-seller “Bowling Alone,” about the disintegration of American civic life.) “There’s a simple rule of thumb: Every ten minutes of commuting results in ten per cent fewer social connections. Commuting is connected to social isolation, which causes unhappiness.”

If given a number of choices for transport, I will happily choose Bus/Train over Car. Driving easily costs me 3-4x more than a monthly pass — especially as gas prices continue to rise. And I don’t have anyone to speak to, except the steering wheel. But if I had the luxury of a short walk to the office? I guess I can only dream about that.