Britain's average daily commute is ONE HOUR AND 38 MINUTES

[Altfish]

There is a lot to be said for not working in London.
I work in Manchester, most in our office of 30 people travel less that 30-minutes, 3 people walk to work. The longest travel is from near Liverpool, about an hour in rush hour.

 

[al78]

For me, about 50 minutes to get to work, about 35-40 minutes to get back home, each way by bicycle. There is a lot to be said for choosing a home as close as possible to both the workplace and the facilities of a town.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Credit to you sir I would imagine that many of your colleagues could do similar but instead have angst about winning a space in the underground car park or arrive very early to secure parking in nearby streets.

Yes, they definitely could, but they prefer to drive and moan about the parking and the traffic etc..

When you say "Why don't you travel by public transport as there's a bus route or a station at the end of your road?" many of them look at you as if you've suggested they fly to the moon! I know that many people have to drive because of other family commitments, but a lot don't but still prefer to - which doesn't make sense to me.

Fair play. However you could save nearly 20% of your travelling time by leaving home 9 minutes later...

I don't understand what you mean - do you know my travel times?
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Not that surprising, have your working day start at say 10:30 so you can use off-peak tickets [i.e. arrival into London after 10am], stay longer and travel back when the trains are a bit less busy, and could escape with paying off-peak day returns rather than anytime day returns.

Oh, yes, it made perfect sense when they explained what they did, and I don't think that they were an exception.

The downside is that they didn't really have much of a social life back home as they got back to (say) Brighton quite late, but I think that they made up for that in London!

 

[dcsprior]

I don't understand what you mean - do you know my travel times?

I'm guessing it's because your description of your commute began with a 15 minute walk followed by a 10 minute wait. By leaving home later, most of the 10 minute wait could be avoided

 

[Tetchytyke]

There is a lot to be said for not working in London.

Definitely, although don't assume everything is always rosy elsewhere.

My bus in a morning takes roughly 45 minutes (it's timetabled 35 and can take anywhere between 40 and 60...) to go ten miles, which isn't that much better than the bus from Muswell Hill to Islington used to achieve. But then the traffic congestion in this city is a joke.

That said, it used to take me 1h10 from Hemel Hempstead to Islington on a good day, more on a bad day (of which there were many due to London Midland's stratospheric incompetence).

 

[GodAtum]

Definitely, although don't assume everything is always rosy elsewhere.

My bus in a morning takes roughly 45 minutes (it's timetabled 35 and can take anywhere between 40 and 60...) to go ten miles, which isn't that much better than the bus from Muswell Hill to Islington used to achieve. But then the traffic congestion in this city is a joke.

That said, it used to take me 1h10 from Hemel Hempstead to Islington on a good day, more on a bad day (of which there were many due to London Midland's stratospheric incompetence).

In Guildford it could take up to 1 hour to go 2 miles if there is very heavy traffic.

 

[DarloRich]

best not say that my commute is around 15 minutes. ooh sorry i just did

My commute is more than an hour when working in London

 

[cb a1]

Why on earth was that poll commissioned? The DfT publish these figures every year based on sampling 18,000 people rather than the mere 600 used in this survey.

The results are considerably different too (and frankly far more believable).

See NTS Table 9913.

Considering the average time spent commuting PER YEAR is 71 hours, then if the average daily commute is one hour 38 minutes, I guess that means that on average people only commute to work for about 45 days a year???

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I'm guessing it's because your description of your commute began with a 15 minute walk followed by a 10 minute wait. By leaving home later, most of the 10 minute wait could be avoided

Ah .... point taken!

 

[WestCoast]

Definitely, although don't assume everything is always rosy elsewhere..

I find commuting on the Birmingham Cross City Line is not a joyous activity, especially in leaf fall season where the timetable and stopping patters go a bit wonky. It's all over in about 15-20 minutes usually though It's allegedly one of the busiest national rail lines for commuting outside London.

I used to walk to work in 10 minutes, nothing beats it but sadly it's not realistic for most.

 

[misterredmist]

There is a lot to be said for not working in London.

Quite - If I did a similar job in London, same hours , I'd earn ca. 30% more.
However, I'd have to be out of the house before 6.15 am to get the relevant train from Hitchin and would no doubt not return home until after 7.30pm....

as it is I have an 18 mile, fairly stress free, drive through the countryside that takes me 35 mins each way - I can have breakfast and evening meal with all the family at reasonable hours......

so for me , it suits to work outside of London, but then, I have a choice and I appreciate not all do....

 

[al78]

In Guildford it could take up to 1 hour to go 2 miles if there is very heavy traffic.

In such conditions you could get to your destination in half the time by walking.

 

[tsr]

My commute must be a little unusual in that it can take anything from 40 to 70 minutes or so during the day, but the public transport options are more direct in the middle of the night, so if I do choose to use that option, it will usually take around 35-40 minutes! These being door-to-door timings. I'd say the 70 minute option (which is usually the one involving the most walking) is probably the maximum time I'd want if switching modes. I think I'd find a long-distance journey on, say, one train for a couple of hours could possibly be more bearable once a routine was found.

I once did a commute involving a short walk, Thameslink and Tramlink which was remarkably reliable - in fact, at one point I spent a good couple of months only allowing a few minutes' arrival time leeway, which was so consistently sufficient that my employer didn't mind on the few occasions it didn't work. It must be my favourite of all my commutes - 1 hour door-to-door for about £25 a week, IIRC. I don't mind busy services so much if it's reliable and cheap, as there's always a tradeoff, often with popularity.

 

[Kite159]

In such conditions you could get to your destination in half the time by walking.

You expect the good people of Surrey to walk?

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My daily commute is around 15 minutes by car, if I went for public transport it would be around 90 minutes involving a large detour and a couple buses (and a walk at the end of it as the bus doesn't come onto camp)

 

[HarleyDavidson]

In such conditions you could get to your destination in half the time by walking.

I can do Portsmouth quicker by road than by train or into Guildford in the peak times. It shows you how bad the traffic in Guildford can be. Mind you SWT's so called "Fast Portsmouth" service is an absolute joke anyway.

If I drive into Guildford station and try and get out in the evening rush hour, thanks to GBC who closed a perfectly usable subway & replaced it with a set of traffic lights, it can take me an hour to go from the station to the gyratory system, that's a distance of 250-300m. :roll:

 

[D1009]

I'm guessing it's because your description of your commute began with a 15 minute walk followed by a 10 minute wait. By leaving home later, most of the 10 minute wait could be avoided

He probably meant the train was usually 10 mins late, but a lot of rail staff on here reckon that you should be at the station at least 5 minutes before your train leaves anyway to allow for all the eventualities that can occur at a ticket barrier.

 

[muddythefish]

There is a lot to be said for not working in London.
I work in Manchester, most in our office of 30 people travel less that 30-minutes, 3 people walk to work. The longest travel is from near Liverpool, about an hour in rush hour.

Manchester's a great place to work - within 1 hr you can be in the Derbyshire hills, on the Lancashire coast or in the Yorkshire dales. It will be even better when rail services enter the 21st century.

 

[Barnabus]

Problem is, you may end up moving closer to work to shorten your commute, but the the ****ers change your workplace!!