Does Driving to Work Make You Crazier Than Taking the Bus? A Clinical Trial

[marmar]

from the Infrastructurist:




Does Driving to Work Make You Crazier Than Taking the Bus? A Clinical Trial


Americans — and commuters in general — are experiencing ever-greater hurdles during their trips to and from work. Human beings spend an unholy number of collective hours sitting in cars and other vehicles, and pay for it in the form of an even unholier amount of emissions, work hours wasted, and money spent on gas, parking, tolls, and car maintenance. Not to mention overall well-being: According to a Gallup-Healthways poll of over 170,000 employed adults in the U.S., the longer it takes you to get to work, the greater your worry, neck and back pain and cholesterol. Plus there’s the fact that longer commutes also translate to decreased life enjoyment and less sleep.

But is there quantifiable evidence that driving is actually worse for your mental health than taking public transit? A reporter for the BBC decided to get clinical in order to produce some. Specifically, he had heart and sweat monitors strapped to his body to perform a stress test during two alternative trips to work: A bus ride and a car journey. Before revealing the results, our commuter breaks the stresses of each ride down into the following:

BUS STRESSES
1. Having to walk or otherwise get yourself to the bus or mass transit stop.
2. Not knowing when the bus will arrive
3. Not being assured a seat.
4. Having to do work during the commute (though couldn’t that arguably be a benefit? Plus wouldn’t you be equally stressed by thinking about your unfinished work in the car, b)

CAR STRESSES
1. Traffic
2. Having to be alert at all times
3. Finding parking

As for the results of the stress test, they were as follows: While the initial stress of getting to the bus was, no surprise, higher than that of beginning the car trip, the reporter became more stressed as the car journey went on, and less stressed as the bus journey went on. The doctor in the clip notes that stress levels as high as those experienced during the car trip are linked to a rise in depression and other “stress related problems” like hypertension, high blood pressure, and more.

We know that the future of modern society is coming down to clearer and clearer definitions of where we live versus where we work. But just how long are we going to hold on to this car-obsession before we realize it’s lowering our quality of life?


http://www.infrastructurist.com/2010/09/20/does-driving-to-work-make-you-crazier-than-taking-the-bus-a-clinical-trial/

[DebJ]

1. How long? Until there is a RELIABLE system of mass transit.

[whistler162]

2. Well that was something to keep some people doing something!

not much but something!

[subterranean]

3. For me, taking the train is less stressful than commuting by car

in stop-and-go traffic. I didn't need a clinical trial to tell me this. When you're driving in traffic, you have to concentrate on the cars ahead of you at all times. On the train, you can read a book, listen to your iPod, text your friends, work, study or sometimes even sleep.

[realisticphish]

4. It's not an option for me

the ONLY bus I could take to get to my workplace would be about a 2 hour drive, since there are stops every 200 yards or so (at least it seems that way). In my car, it takes me 10 minutes to get across town during rush hour. Apparently, I was blessed by some sort of travel god, but I've never gotten stuck in traffic.

That said, I know that a lot of people DO. And I would be willing to take longer to get to work if it wasn't MUCH longer, and was as much cheaper than a car as a train would be.

[gratuitous]

5. So why do we pour all this money into an car-centric system?

There are a lot of hidden costs to automobile transport, and the full costs certainly not covered by user fees (such as licensing, gas taxes, etc.). Yet all levels of government, on both sides of the aisle, seem obsessed with doing everything possible for automobile use. When you hear people complain about transportation costs, it will almost invariably be about setting aside bike lanes, or dedicating more parking spaces to registered car pools, or expanding the mass transit systems.

Anyone who proposes something different is derided with a sneer, and even trying to recognize the problem invites a host of people against any ideas because their situation is totally unique and outside the system, and it wouldn't work perfectly for them, so just leave things as they are, except for the personal road they want for themselves from home to the office to the store. And the air gets a little thicker, and the water gets a little browner.

[county worker]

6. This assumes we all live identical lives.

I commute 50 miles and could take the bus. I tried the bus for a period of time and found that driving is better for me personally.

I have more time to exercise and stay in shape because the bus takes about two hours more for me to commute. I leave at 7 and get to work at 8. I leave at 5 and get home at 6. The bus requires me to leave at 5:30 and I get home at 5:45. I use the extra time to exercise and meditate.

I do not like being in crowds and 55 people all with the own personal agendas on the bus is stressful to me. It costs me about $100 per month to drive but I think the mental wellbeing I have is worth it.

[Roon]

7. When I did take the bus to work..

the only thing I didn't like was getting less sleep. I did like not having to drive, park, pay, etc. a car.