Long commutes prevail

Long-distance commuting is still the norm in spite of progress in flexible working practices with 20% of commuters travelling over 90 minutes every day, finds global workplace solutions provider, Regus. Although the average commute length is 25 minutes, a disheartening one in ten commuters travels more than an hour to their place of work.

Cars are by far the most popular form of commuter transport (64%) while the second most popular mode of transport is the metro at 8%. Overland trains and walking are equally popular at 7%. Only 2% of workers choose to cycle or carpool, while 4% opt for public buses.

“As traffic congestion in cities, particularly in developing nations, increases, it is disappointing to see that too many workers are still jamming the roads in the rush hour when they could be spending their time more enjoyably or more productively elsewhere,” William Willems, Vice-President of ANZ and SEA, Regus Plc, said.

“To tackle the damaging effects of commuting on staff health and morale, savvy businesses are introducing more flexibility in their working practices and are seeking workplace solutions that allow their staff to work closer to home,” he added.

In the US, car use is much more wide-spread (85%) shortly followed by South Africa (83%) High density and excellent transport infrastructure make Japan the country least reliant on driving to get to work (23%). Cycling in to work was as unpopular as car pooling (2%) on a global level with only the Netherlands significantly bucking this trend (8%).

Government figures indicate that public and private transport users in Singapore are split 50-50. The average journey time for commuters taking private transport was 29 minutes, versus 42 minutes for those taking public transport.

While Singaporeans may complain about too much time spent on the road, Chinese Academy of Sciences found that on average, Beijing topped 50 major cities in commuting times – 52 minutes each way.