The average British commuter will spend over £48,000 across their working lifetime – just to get to work
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...And over a 47-year working life, Brits will spend over a year of their lives commuting to and from work, with 68 per cent driving, 11 per cent taking the train, and eight percent making their journeys on two wheels.
The study of 2,000 commuters in the UK also found that out of the lifetime cost of commuting, over a third is on snacks and takeaway coffees in the morning.
Andy Goodson, the Sales and Marketing Director for motorcycle insurance specialists Lexham Insurance, who commissioned the research, said: “While many commuters think their journeys to and from work are barely worth considering, the amount of time we spend on them shows we should give them a bit more thought.
“With an average commute time of almost an hour a day, for many Brits this is wasted time as they’re stuck behind the wheel in traffic. Some of the happiest respondents in our survey were ones who were able to walk to work – giving themselves the shortest commute possible.”
Brits commute on average of seven miles to work and back each day, which tallies up to an incredible 171, 080 miles over their working life – enough to circle the globe more than six times each.
Taking a car to work was voted as the most stressful way to get to work, followed by the bus, the train and Metro or Underground systems.
And taking a motorbike was one of the lowest scoring in terms of stress, alongside walking and riding a bicycle.
Nearly half of respondents admitted to being late at least once a week, arriving an average of 10 minutes behind schedule each time.
The most common cause was bad traffic, followed by a lack of sleep leading to too many taps of the snooze button.
Sixty two per cent of commuters said that if their trip to work is particularly stressful or annoying, it makes the rest of their day worse.
And an unlucky 30 per cent of train travellers have had their face stuck up next to someone’s stinky armpit more than once.
Over the course of their working life, the average commuter will read 67 books, 2248 newspapers and listen to 3617 albums.
They’ll also send 1710 work emails, munch down 977 bananas and play 2077 games on their phones.
Andy Goodson said: “One of the best ways to make your commute happier is to cut down how long it is. Motorbikes and scooters are a convenient way to bring down your commuting time, as they can beat traffic so easily. Nobody wants to have their day made any more stressful than it needs to be – and sitting in traffic, other commuters’ personal hygiene and constantly late trains definitely don’t help.”
A LIFETIME OF COMMUTING IN NUMBERS
Distance travelled: 171,080 miles
Amount spent: £48,708.92
Time spent: 10,998 hours
Days late to work: 1906
Newspapers read: 2248
Coffees bought: 1759
Games played on phone: 2077
Social events planned: 1710
Albums listened to: 3617
Bananas eaten: 977
The study was commisioned by Lexham Insurance.
