  As a vital aspect of individual's quality of life, mental health has been
included as an important component of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.
This study focuses on a specific aspect of mental health: depression, and
examines its relationship with commute patterns. Using survey data from 1,528
residents in Beijing, China, we find that every 10 additional minutes of
commute time is associated with 1.1% higher likelihood of depression. We test
for the mechanisms of the commute-depression link and find that commute is
associated with depression as a direct stressor rather than triggering higher
work stress. When decomposing commute time into mode-specific time, we found
that time on mopeds/motorcycles has the strongest association with depression.
Moreover, the commute-depression associations are stronger for older workers
and blue-collar workers. Hence, policies that could reduce commute time,
encourage work from home, improve job-housing balance or increase
motorcyclists' safety would help promote mental health.
