--- description: At least now you know title: Study: Commuting Makes You Unhappy, Anxious and Miserable image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Your Life is Terrible Because You Are a Commuter  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 13, 2014 1:10 AM CUT  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 13, 2014 1:10 AM CUT Heaven help you if you [ride the bus](http://ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/wellbeing/measuring-national-well-being/commuting-and-personal-well-being--2014/art-commuting-and-personal-well-being.html#tab-8--Interpreting-the-results "undefined") for more than half an hour to work because that, according to a new study out Wednesday, is the worst possible commute you can have. The study, released Wednesday by the United Kingdom’s Office of National Statistics, finds that “commuters have lower life satisfaction, a lower sense that their daily activities are worthwhile, lower levels of happiness and higher anxiety on average than non-commuters.” If you don’t ride the bus for more than 30 minutes, don’t be too quick to leap for joy—any commute more than 15 minutes long tends to lower life satisfaction. And if you’re a health nut don’t be too quick to celebrate you 45-minute, sweat-soaked trail ride into work every day. Though active commuters are in better health, in terms of mental well-being, the results still hold true even for people riding a bike or walking to work if those commutes last longer than 15 minutes. Then again, the study only included UK residents. Maybe British buses are just that awful. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7468/your-life-is-terrible-because-you-are-a-commuter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7468/your-life-is-terrible-because-you-are-a-commuter/"},"headline":"Your Life is Terrible Because You Are a Commuter","datePublished":"2014-02-13T01:10:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:24:44.351Z","description":"At least now you know","url":"https://time.com/7468/your-life-is-terrible-because-you-are-a-commuter/","keywords":["Mental Health","Anxiety","U.K.","Happiness","study","commuting","Wellness"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7468/your-life-is-terrible-because-you-are-a-commuter/","name":"Your Life is Terrible Because You Are a Commuter"}}]}] ```