Commuters spend over a year of their lives travelling to work

Over a lifetime, commuters will spend on average 10,634 hours travelling to and from work, according to research from investment manager, Nutmeg – adding up to 443 days, or over a year. Those travelling to or in London for work will spend a huge 13,097 hours on the move, compared to 7,532 hours for those travelling for work in Liverpool.

The research, which also investigated commuter bugbears, revealed that London travellers spend on average an hour and 14 minutes on the move each day, with those commuting in Leeds and Liverpool experiencing the shortest commute at just 42 minutes.

Without taking into consideration inflation on train tickets and petrol, over a working lifetime commuters travelling to a major city for work will spend, on average, £50,000, with London workers expected to spend the most at almost £66,407. Those travelling in Glasgow City for work experienced the cheapest commute at £35,500. On average, London workers spend £118 a month travelling to work each month. Those who travel to work in Glasgow City pay the least at £63 to a month.

A fifth who commute do so because it’s too expensive to buy or rent closer to their workplace. And just over one in five (21%) believe they have a better standard of living away from work. For 12%, better schools and larger properties for the family was the main reason for not living closer to work.

This translates to attitudes towards the cost of travel, with over half (51%) of Londoners stating that the cost of travel is expensive. Those based in Birmingham were happiest with the cost of their journey to work, with only 25% stating that it was expensive.

Unsurprisingly, top of commuter bugbears are costs involved in travelling to work – a third (32%) said that this was their biggest annoyance. Costs proved to be too much for almost one in 10 (8%) who changed jobs or plan to following an increase in the cost of travel. One in seven (14%) have or plan to cut back on the amount put into savings and investments and just under one in 10 (9%) have changed or plan to change their route to and from work.

Nick Hungerford, chief executive at Nutmeg commented: “Travelling to work is one of the biggest costs of modern living, both in terms of actual expenditure and the time we spend journeying between the home and the office. It’s a significant factor in the lifestyle we choose. While we may get more property for our money – and more fresh air – by living outside the city we work in, the travel costs can quickly mount up and the daily commute can be soul-sapping. More than a fifth of people we surveyed admitted they wasted the time they spent travelling to and from work and, with the total lifetime commute in London exceeding £65,000 and 10,000 hours, that’s a substantial part of your life – and your life savings – that you’ll want to make the most of.”