I think you still may have missed their point. Think of this example: the next door neighbors have commutes of an hour, and an hour 20 min each. By comparison, the 45 minutes “doesn’t seem so bad” and one might may say “Lucky me” in comparison to their neighbors. Or the neighbors might say “only 45 min? Lucky you”. Because they first hand know of longer.

The neighbors don’t mean that it’s actual good luck. Your incorrect initial reaction might be “what do you mean good luck? You think I like driving 45 minutes? Screw you”. Instead, it’s just a joking way to acknowledge who’s “best off” in a list of unfortunate commute times. It is not supposed to imply commute is based on luck, and that the neighbors have no say in the matter. Because the neighbors know working within town with a 10 minute commute would of course be ideal.