Most British people are willing to commute up to an hour to work, but just under a quarter of the country, and especially Londoners, are willing to travel for longer than this, a survey commissioned by Blythe Weigh Communications has found. The survey questioned British adults who were not students or retired and found that 33% would travel up to an hour each way to work, with 23% in addition who were willing to spend more time than this.
The survey also found that Londoners are far more willing to commute longer hours, as 41% of Londoners say they are willing to commute for up to an hour, and 37% say they would travel for over an hour if necessary (of these, a hardy six percent would be prepared to travel up to two hours, and one percent for over two hours). These numbers are much higher than in the rest of the country – only 20% of those in the North would be willing to commute for over an hour and only 15% of those in the Midlands agree the same.
Interestingly, those living in Wales are least likely to while away the time travelling to their place of work, with only 14% saying they would be willing to commute for over an hour. 33% say an hour would be their maximum, closely followed by 32% who say they would be prepared to travel for up to 30 minutes.
And it seems that one hour is generally the main cut-off point for commuters. One in three claimed that an hour would be the maximum time they would spend getting to work. This commute time was the most common maximum in all regions bar one, the Midlands. In this region, the highest percentage for any single option (28%) stated that they would only be willing to from 15 to 30 minutes commuting each way. Another 21% said they could stretch to 45 minutes.
Incidentally, the older you are, the less likely it seems you are willing to travel – 27% of over 55s would commute up to one hour, compared to 32% who would prefer not to go beyond 30 minutes. In contrast, 36% of 18-34 year-olds would be willing to travel up to one hour – and only 19% felt 30 minutes would be more appropriate.
Men are also slightly more likely than women to be willing to travel further, with 36% of men and 30% of women saying an hour was their commuting limit.
With additional reporting by Hannah Thompson
For survey details and full results, please click here
