Public Servant Lifestyle

Research suggest that commuting can add nearly five weeks to your working life each year!

Research suggests that, on average, commuters add nearly five weeks to their working lives, each year, just travelling to their jobs. We could also be spending £3,500 of our salary just getting to our jobs!

And for those employees who travel to work each day by car, and buy a vehicle principally for commuting which they pay to park, that may also mean about £3,500 of their salary going to finance travelling costs.

Some workers in the south-east of England, however, are adding as much as an extra third to their working lives, by a lengthy commute, and could also be spending up to a third of their incomes funding it.

Homeworking?

According to the RAC Foundation, and the Telework Association, many employees and their bosses should consider the alternatives to a long and costly daily journey - like working from home for all, or part, of the week or switching to local employment. This could also significantly impact on traffic congestion*.

Additional research, contained in an RAC Foundation report, Motoring Towards 2050 – An Independent Inquiry also suggests that nearly 50% of drivers are sympathetic to the idea of working from home, and think that more than half of the working population will do so by 2050.

Research from the Telework Association suggests that other benefits to employers can include savings on office space, and greater flexibility from home-based staff.

But workers and their bosses are not the only ones to benefit from teleworking. An RAC Foundation study last year showed that teleworking could significantly impact on congestion – potentially cutting the worst commuter traffic by up to ten per cent within five years.

Motoring Towards 2050 – An Independent Inquiry, which will look at the future of motoring, re-enforces these findings - suggesting that as well as reducing traffic congestion, and improving the efficiency and quality of life for workers, teleworking can also increase workforce catchment areas, improve rural employment, and promote all inclusive working.

Traffic Jams

"Many ordinary people spend large chunks of their working week stuck in traffic jams, on crowded trains and buses while commuting to their employment," says Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation. "If we can follow the example of other countries who have utilised technology to much greater effect than the UK, we can reduce car dependency, significantly impact on traffic congestion and improve lives.

"If each employee could work from home just one day per week, we would see a 20% cut in traffic, equivalent to removing the school run. Today's technology is better and cheaper, so more employees have the chance to work some of the time from home.

"While we appreciate that essential workers like nurses, teachers and police officers will probably never have the choice of working from home, at least by removing some of the congestion it may might make their journey a bit easier.The e-highway has a vital role to play in curbing congestion chaos on the real highway."

More information available in Home Working, Commuting