Long commutes in the North West up by a fifth, finds TUC

Lynn Collins, Regional Secretary of the North West Trade Union Congress

The number of employees in the North West with daily commutes of two hours or more has shot up by a fifth (19.6%) over the past five years, according to new analysis published by the TUC to mark Work Wise UK’s Commute Smart Week.

The analysis shows that in 2015, 286,575 workers in the North West had daily commutes of two hours or longer – an increase of 47,016 since 2010.

Across the UK, one in seven UK employees (14%) travelled two hours or more each day to and from work, compared to one in nine in 2010 (11%).

UK workers spent 10 hours extra, on average, commuting in 2015 than they did in 2010.

This is the equivalent of an extra 2.7 minutes per day.

Women have experienced the biggest rise in long commuting:

Men still account for the majority (61%) of those who make work journeys of two hours or more. However, women (+35%) have experienced a sharper rise in long commuting since 2010 than men (+29%).

The TUC says the growth in long commutes in sectors like education (+46%) and health and social care (+26%), where high numbers of women work, may explain this rise.
Health and social workers (376,000), public administration and defence workers (320,000) and retail and wholesale workers (315,000) are the biggest groups commuting for two hours or more.

Mining and quarrying workers (28.9%) are most likely to commute for two hours or more, followed by information and communication workers (25.5%) and finance and insurance staff (24.3%).

Motorcyclists have seen their work commutes increase the most, workers travelling to work by motorcycle (+3 minutes) have seen their daily commute increase the most, followed by taxi-users (+2.8 minutes), cyclists (+2.6 minutes) motorists (+2.2 minutes) and rail commuters (+1 minute).

By contrast, commute times for those using buses (-1 minute) and the London underground (-5 minutes) have fallen.

The TUC believes the increase in travelling times may be explained by:

• stagnant wages combined with soaring rents and high house prices leaving many workers unable to move to areas closer to their jobs;
• the lack of investment in roads and railways increasing journey times. The UK is bottom of an OECD league table on transport infrastructure spending

TUC Regional Secretary for North West Lynn Collins said: “None of us like spending ages getting to and from work. Long commutes eat into our family time and can be bad for our working lives too.

“Employers cannot turn a blind eye to this problem. More home and flexible-working would allow people to cut their commutes and save money.

“If we are to reduce the pain of traffic jams and train delays, ministers need to invest more in public transport and our roads. Next week’s Autumn Statement is the perfect opportunity to do this.”

Work Wise UK Chief Executive Phil Flaxton said: “Long commutes have become a part of the UK’s working culture. The excessive time spent commuting is one of the main factors contributing to work-life balance problems.

“Not only is the amount of time commuting an issue, the nine to five culture with its peak travel times generates congestion on railways, underground and road networks and as a consequence, increases stress for commuters.

“Clearly the government, public transport providers and employers must do more in order to address the major negative impact on the UK’s economy and lost productivity.”