Brits spend 8,084 hours on the commute

Working 9 – 5, what a way to make a living…unless you’re clocking up unpaid hours on the commute each day, that is.

The eight hour work day is a myth, with British workers spending thousands of hours each year simply getting to and from their place of work.

Polling the UK, Car Parts 4 Less found out how much of the nation’s time and money is spent commuting, and which mode of transport is the biggest culprit for lengthy journeys.

Half of UK workers (51%) spend an hour or more each day travelling to and from work, with one in ten (10%) paying £90-100 a month for the liberty of doing so. It’s not just the commute itself eating up time either; over a third (38%) spend an additional 15 minutes sat in traffic, delays or waiting for public transport, with a further one in five (21%) waiting 30 – 45 minutes every day.

It’s those taking the underground who fare the worst, with 35% of those who get the tube spending at least 75 minutes on-board each day, and only five per cent having a commute of less than 45 minutes a day. That doesn’t even take into consideration the time spent waiting on the platform; a quarter (26%) spend an additional 45 – 60 minutes each day doing so.

Surprisingly, trains are the lesser of two evils when it comes to transport on tracks. While the overall mean time for commuting by underground is 82 minutes, the same journey for those travelling by train is a whole 7 minutes faster at just 75 minutes. Waiting times for trains are a little less too; the average time spent waiting is 33 minutes for those on train, and 44 minutes for those who get the underground.

Taking the bus is an even quicker commute; one in three (34%) who use the bus spend 45 – 60 minutes on their daily commute; and with half (48%) paying £20 or less a month for this form of travel, it’s not surprising that the majority (40%) believe they pay an acceptable amount for their commute.

Those who get to work by car have the shortest commute time; a fifth (21%) spend less than 15 minutes a day in their vehicle, and a further 21% spend less than half an hour on the road. Only one in four (25%) spend an hour or more for both journeys combined.

Londoners also spend most of their day commuting (70 minutes) with those living in Leeds spending 62 minutes and Manchester just 54 minutes. It’s perhaps not surprising then that Londoner’s average satisfaction score is less than any other city at just 7.6.

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