Londoners Have UK's Longest Commute

Rachel Holdsworth
By Rachel Holdsworth Last edited 136 months ago
Londoners Have UK's Longest Commute

Yeah, OK, so that's probably not earth shatteringly unexpected news. But we were always of the opinion that getting anywhere in London takes "about an hour" (try it now; ask your workmates how long it takes them to get to work. We will bet you a pint on the next pub crawl that most of them say it's "about an hour"). But according to the TUC, whose research this is, the average London commute is 75 minutes – which is pushing our definition of an hour.

You might expect a gender split (men travel for longer) but what's interesting is that over the last six years, the commute time for men and women is starting to match up: 79 minutes for men in 2006, 77.2 in 2012 and 69.8 minutes for women in 2006, 72.8 in 2012. The TUC thinks the increase in part-time work – particularly among men – could account for this trend. At least the women are getting more value for their increasing fares, although this quote from Brendan Barber made us wonder if that's really enough comfort:

The average commuter spends the equivalent of more than five weeks a year just to get to work and back.

This summer saw a change in the way many of us commute, which in theory could affect the amount of time spent on transport. How many people have stuck to their Games-time travel patterns? Was it easier? Or is it now just too cold and dark to bother getting up early?

Photo by cubicspace from the Londonist Flickr pool

Last Updated 13 November 2012