If we're talking about transportation, well then. The efficient transfer to Mercury is via Venus transfer, so it is farther by such reckoning. In terms of delta-v budget, Venus is actually closer than Mars, unless you wanted to, say, visit the surface.
So to stretch the analogy to its limits, what if you have someone who lives directly across the freeway from you, and a neighbor whose house is next to the overpass that lets you cross the freeway.
See https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Solar_sy..., essential information to plan your next interplanetary holiday