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COMMUTING – WHY DO WE DO IT?

COMMUTING – TIME FOR A CHANGE?

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:

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 time is not entirely lost time as it helps them to prepare for the day
in the morning and to unwind in the evening.
One of the critical issues for transport planners is whether commuters would
want to move closer to work if congestion got worse, or whether they are
insensitive to changes in commuting times. The research suggests that most
people live where they do because they have deep roots in the area or because
they made a positive choice to live there, rather than choosing a location on
the basis of their commute. On average, surveys suggest that car commuters would be willing to travel for about 15-20 minutes more than they do at present with a commute of over 50
minutes being acceptable. If car-commuting time doubled, 46% would leave more
time with 23% using other routes. Just 7% say they would use public transport.
So what are the main reasons for driving to work? According to the RAC survey :
55% quicker than other options
36% need to use car at work
28% public transport is inconvenient
26% more comfortable than other options
23% enjoy driving
21% convenient/cheap parking at work
Parking is an important factor in commuting. Some local authorities are looking at introducing workplace-parking levies. These moves would not be popular with motorists. If a £5 charge was levied to park at work, the RAC discovered that the effect would be considerable:
53% of people would park on road
13% of people would change job
10% of people would use alternative transport
6% of people would pay to park elsewhere
4% of people would share driving
2% of people would pay the charge
The strength of the car dependence is clear. If people could not use their own car to commute, the majority (58%) would get a lift and 8% would even change jobs.
What it all boils down to is that we’re a nation of car commuters. We have the longest commute in Europe and even if our commuting time doubled, most of us would just
shrug and leave more time for the journey. Drivers would rather sit in their
cars twice as long rather than change jobs, move house or change their work
base. However, many commuters would revolt over the prospect of having to pay
workplace-parking levies.
People are wedded to the car for practical reasons. Public transport performs an excellent function for high volume radial journeys into cities. In London and the southeast, the rail network and the underground fulfil that role. Elsewhere commuting into cities is by car with the bus a poor runner up. Outside of London, rail only plays a small part in commuting.
So what would make a difference? Can the UK’s determibed car commuter ever be weaned off the road? Well, choose from the following suggestions. Doubtless you’ll have a few of your own too…..
§ Work place travel plans
§ Individualised travel plans
§ Teleworking/video conferencing
§ Business parks linked to public transport
§ Better road access to business parks
§ Car sharing incentives and high occupancy vehicle (hov) lanes
§ Park and ride
§ Better cycle/motorcycle facilities at work
§ Improved capacity on rail commuter routes.