I beg to differ. In the long run your pay is driven by performance. Working 55 hours and commuting 5 hours a week is going to yield significantly better performance than working 40 hours and commuting 20 hours each week.

Or, it could free up 15 hours a week to do consulting.

The reality is this person makes a lot more than $30 an hour or they wouldn’t be commuting to San Francisco, $30 an hour jobs are available far closer. So if you are making well over $100,000, what is the point of giving up most of your free time to commuting? If you aren’t, what’s the point of commuting 4 hours a day when you can make nearly as much nearby?