[mercutio2]

You mention this in passing at the end, but I think it’s worth emphasizing: Reducing commute time driving yourself to work has been well studied to have a very large marginal improvement in happiness.

Reducing time commuting on a comfy megacorporation’s arms-length-contracted-carriage-provider bus has been studied much less, and it’s not nearly as clear it improves people’s happiness that much.

Also, taking your commute time to zero isn’t obviously an improvement in happiness; there’s a lot of psychological benefit to having a separate space for work and home life. It’s possible for some people to prepare a home office that successfully feels separate, but it’s not automatic.