COMMUTING WHY DO WE DO IT?
Britain Is A Nation Of Car Commuters. Will We Ever Change? A Recent RAC Survey Suggests Not.
It's about time the Government took a fresh look at commuting from the perspective of the commuter. After all, consider the facts according to a recent RAC survey:
• 11% of commuters outside London commute by public transport of whom most (68%) take the bus
• 22% of car driver trips are made for the purpose of commuting
• Only 5% of commuting is by national rail but these journeys account for 46% of rail with more than half of these journeys made in London and the southeast
• Almost 50% of rail travel is by those in the top 20% of household incomes
• Only 3% of commuters cycle to work but 28% cycle to work in Cambridge
• 10% of commuters walk to work but in Norwich 24% use their legs
• UK has the longest commuting time in Europe at an average of 45 minutes per day
• The average UK commute is almost twice as long as the Italians
• In the last decade commuting passenger miles have increased 6%
• The average distance travelled by the average commuter has gone up 17% to 8.5 miles
The survey found that most people lived in the same house for at least ten years and therefore often had to commute further as their jobs changed. People these days are, it seems, unwilling to move just because the location of their job changes. Certainly, there has been a sharp reduction in the proportion of households that move home because of job relocation: between 1984 and 1994, it halved and there have been further falls since. This reflects choices related to second earners' employment, children's education and improvements in transport facilitating longer journeys.
According to the survey, reasons for not living closer to work included:
• Like the area 28%
• Easy journey 6%
• Good housing 7%
• Good schools 7%
• Never thought about it 27%
• Have always lived there 16%
• To be near friends and family 8%
• Like to separate work and home 7%
One respondent chose the area they lived “because it looked nice on a Calendar”. A small minority (7%) say they like to keep home and work separate. Nearly three in ten had never thought about it. Drivers also commented that commuting ...
