What are the negative effects of commuting?

Research has linked long commutes to a host of negative health impacts, from increased stress and poorer cardiovascular health to greater pollution exposure. Here, learn how your commute can negatively impact your health, and the simple measures you can take to offset the detrimental effects.



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Commuting also has significant psychological and social costs. It can be a major cause of stress, due to its unpredictability and a sense of loss of control. Commuters can experience boredom, social isolation, anger, and frustration from problems like traffic or delays.

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When you're travelling, you're just sitting in one constant position for a long time. Throw in traffic chaos and the vehicle jerking at every stop and you'll feel irritated as well. Just sum up the psychological and the physiological stress your body goes through and what you end up with is tiredness.

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Transportation issues include lack of vehicle access, inadequate infrastructure, long distances and lengthy times to reach needed services, transportation costs and adverse policies that affect travel.

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Your Risk of Depression and Anxiety Escalate The study also showed that those with a long commute were 33 percent more likely to deal with depression. All that stress also contributed to the physical health issues. While dealing with the anxiety and depression, commuters also struggled with obesity and less sleep.

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Find an alternative to driving to work You could drive, take public transportation, hail a cab, ride a bike, or walk. Of all of those methods, driving is the most stressful. You'll suffer fewer of the negative consequences of a long commute if you choose a method of transportation that doesn't require you to drive.

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Commuting from home to work should be less than 50 miles and within 30 minutes, and the surrounding area of your workplace should be within 50 miles of your home. It is ideal for commuters to take at least 5 minutes to commute to work, and the one-way commute should take more than 16 minutes.

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A reasonable commute is considered to be less than 50 miles from your employer. Of course, as discussed previously, the time it takes to travel 50 miles can vary greatly depending on your location.

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People who commute 90 minutes or more are more likely to have back and neck pain, and long commute times also up your blood pressure and anxiety levels. Then there's also the time suck of it all.

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The average American commutes 41 miles a day to and from work. 76.4% of U.S. workers drive alone to work.

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