Commuters travel further to work

British
staff spend more time travelling to work than anyone else in Europe, according
to the RAC.

The
average commute in the UK is 45 minutes to cover 8.5 miles – a distance which
has risen by 17 per cent in the past 10 years.

Seventy
per cent of commuters outside London use a car to get to work, prompting Edmund
King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, to label the UK as a nation of
people wedded to their cars.

"We
have the longest commute in Europe and even if our commuting time doubled, most
of us would just shrug and leave more time for the journey," he said.

"Drivers
would rather sit in their cars twice as long rather than change jobs, move
house or change their work base."

The
research conducted by the RAC Foundation found that the reasons workers are
living further away from work include:

–
Like the area  28 per cent

–
Never thought about it 27 per cent

–
Have always lived there 16 per cent

–
To be near friends and family 8 per cent

–
Good housing 7 per cent

–
Good schools 7 per cent

–
Like to separate work and home 7 per cent

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–
Easy journey 6 per cent

By Michael Millar