Thursday, May 24, 2007

Commuters travel twice around world

The average commuter will travel two and a half times around the globe over the course of their working careers according to new figures released today by the RAC Foundation on Work Wise Transport Day.

Twenty-five million people in the UK commute to and from a fixed place of work and 72% travel by car, which leaves 18 million people fighting with daily frustration of congestion on the road network.

Over the past ten years there has been a trend for fewer, but longer commuting journeys, suggesting that people are adjusting their living arrangements to deal with the frustrations of the commute.

Four million people now work from home or act as 'mobile workers' and as congestion increases and reliability on the road network becomes less certain this trend is likely to continue.

The RAC Foundations fact file on commuting finds that;

* 19% of all distance traveled is for commuting purposes

* The average daily commute is 8.7 miles a 6% increase since 1995/97

* The average commuter makes 161 commuting trips and travels 1391 miles over a year

* 16% of all trips in the UK are made for commuting reasons

* When business travel is taken into account workers travel an additional one and a half times around the globe

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