Extreme Commuters Drive Hours to Work

LOS ANGELES, July 8, 2006 — -- Tim Pfister starts his day at 6:30 a.m., driving from home in Bucks County, Pa., across the Delaware River to the train in New Jersey. From there, he rides 75 miles to Manhattan, where he finishes his two-hour commute walking to his law office.

At the end of the day, he does it all in reverse, arriving home about 9 p.m., after his family has eaten dinner.

"I live in Bucks County because that's where I live," Pfister said. "That's where I live. That's where my family is. That's where my kids grow up. They're very comfortable. They're very happy."

On the other side of the country, Patricia Granados, her mother and younger sister leave home in Lancaster, Calif., at 4:30 a.m. for their two-hour drive to work and school in Los Angeles -- 170 miles a day, $500 a month for gas.

"A lot of people have told me that I'm brave for doing what I do," Granados said, "and I would say, 'Yeah.' "

The phenomenon of traveling further to work than some people do to take a vacation has come to be called "extreme commuting." It used to be that the maximum commute most Americans would tolerate was 45 minutes each way. Now, one in six commuters is traveling for longer than that, and sometimes much longer.

The reason is that more Americans are willing to sacrifice their time to have that big, affordable home where schools are good, and kids can have their own room and play outside.

"To see that they're swimming and running and playing with their bicycles," Granados said, "for me that's like, I don't need anything else."

But the price is more than just the cost of commuting. There is also the higher stress, and less connection to community and family. Tim Pfister barely sees his during the week.

"Usually I see him long enough to say goodbye and see you later," said his son, Rob Pfister.

"It's just something-- You just-- That's just the way it is," said his wife, Cecily Pfister.

Some social scientists say the travel and social isolation takes a toll on extreme commuters.

"My prediction is that these people lead much less healthy and shorter lives," said Thomas Sander, executive director of the Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement in America, at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

The commuters aren't thinking about that.

"It's not something I sit down and think about," Pfister said. "I would probably be horrified at the result."

Sometimes just arriving home is what gives them the strength to keep doing it.

"When I'm turning on the street," Granados said. "I'm like, 'Yes, we're here.' "

They're often in time for dinner, but not much else. The alarm goes off 3:15 the next morning.