Do taxi queues and long commutes affect our mental health?
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Every day, people in Addis Ababa face taxis and buses that are late, packed, or slow to arrive. This means longer waits, longer rides, and more time spent moving between home and work. The question is simple: Do these taxi queues and long commutes affect our mental health?
To answer this, we look at real research done around the world and at what we know about traffic in Addis Ababa.
In Addis Ababa, many commuters spend a lot of time on the road. Data suggests average wait times of around 11–30 minutes, with total travel times often close to 1 hour or more for many people who use buses and taxis. Waiting for a taxi and then travelling in city traffic adds up quickly.
Granted, there is no research done specifically on taxi queues in Addis Ababa that directly measures depression rates for commuters. That means we cannot say with certainty that taxi queues in the city by themselves cause depression. But many studies from other cities show a clear link between long commute times and signs of poor mental health. Here is what research has found:
Multiple large studies show that longer commuting time is linked to a higher chance of having depressive symptoms. For example:
In a study of 11 large Latin American cities, every 10 extra minutes spent commuting was linked to a small increase in the probability of depressive symptoms. A detailed Korean working conditions survey found that longer commute times were significantly associated with depression, anxiety, and fatigue. Another study found that commuting more than 6 hours per week (which is not unusual in big cities) was associated with lower mental health scores over time.
In many studies, traffic delays and waiting in congestion are more strongly linked to depressive symptoms than the simple distance travelled.
Research also shows that longer trips to and from work can take away time that people otherwise might spend on sleep, exercise, family, or hobbies. This reduction in “free time” is linked with higher stress, lower life satisfaction, and worse mental well‑being.
As mentioned earlier, no similar study has been conducted in Addis Ababa. But based on the evidence we have seen so far, it won’t be a stretch to guess that commuting in Addis takes a toll on mental health. Of course, this is just a conjecture, and further studies are needed to substantiate it. But the studies seen so far suggest a strong correlation.
Living in a busy city has many challenges. For many people, the daily task of finding a taxi or waiting in traffic is more than an inconvenience. It can reduce time with family, cut into rest, and raise daily stress. The existing evidence suggests that these factors can add up to affect mental well‑being. If you feel more tired, unhappy, or worn down after a long commute, you are not alone. Research from other contexts shows that commuting stress can matter.
