Welsh workers’ long road to work

Oct 29 2007 by Robin Turner, Western Mail

WALES is quickly becoming a nation of commuters, according to research released today.

A report produced by the TUC claims the number of people in Wales travelling more than an hour to work has risen by more in the last 10 years than in any other part of the UK.

In Wales the rise over the past decade has been 43% – the biggest increase in Britain. For the UK the number has risen by an average 22% since 1996.

The TUC research shows that in 1996 in Wales, 100,000 people were taking more than an hour to get to work.

But by 2006 the figure had risen to 168,000.

The figures for Wales show that in 1996, 10.7% of workers had to commute for an hour or more each way. It is now 15.3%.

Around 25m Britons commute to work every day, most using a car (71%), some going by bus (8%), some walking (11%), some cycling (3%), some going by rail (6%) and a few by motorbike (1%).

More than 1.3m people travel for longer than an hour to get to work in London and half a million in the North West, while 145,000 people in Scotland are setting off for work earlier and getting home later than they did 10 years ago.

The TUC study coincides today with a call by the Work Wise campaign group for firms to allow more flexible and home working to reduce the stress of the daily journey for the UK’s 25m commuters.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said, “We work some of the longest hours in Europe, and on top of this have to endure the second-longest daily commute in Europe – on average 54 minutes per day.

“This adds up to a very stressful working week for millions of workers across the UK, and employers could ease this strain for their workers by introducing flexible working.

“Workers who enjoy the benefits of flexible working and can travel to and from work outside of peak rush hour times are likely to feel less hassled and anxious about work – something which can only be good news for their employers.

“I hope all employers who receive flexibility requests consider them seriously and do all they can to make flexible working a reality.”

Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise, added, “As is seen every summer with schools closing and annual holidays, even a small fall in the number of people travelling alleviates road congestion and public transport overcrowding. Wider adoption of smarter commuting will allow the levels of travel in the summer to happen all year round.”

“If everyone travelled one day per week outside peak hours, commuters during peak hours would drop by 20%, or if everyone worked just one day every other week from home, overall commuting would drop by 10%. We have all seen what the impact could be on the roads and public transport.”

The Energy Saving Trust calculated that if all commuters left the car at home one day a week this would save enough miles in a year to drive to the moon and back 35,000 times. This is the equivalent emissions reduction of taking 1.7m cars off the road and would reduce the UK’s total CO2 emissions by almost 1%.