Edinburgh workers face longest commute in Scotland
The average Scot spends 418 days of their life travelling to and from work.
Last updated 6th Sep 2019
Workers traveling to and from Edinburgh face Scotland's longest commute, clocking in at an average of 66 minutes.
Research by Bank of Scotland also suggests Scots are spending an average of nearly nine days a year travelling to and from work, at an annual cost of £689.
The average time across the country is 12 minutes less than in the capital at 54 minutes each day.
Over the course of a lifetime it adds all adds up to Scottish commuters spending around 60 weeks’ travelling to and from their job.
Despite the time and expense, over half of workers say they like their commute and one in 12 go as far as to say they love their journey into work.
But it clearly divides opinion, with one in five workers disliking their commute, one in six saying it has become less reliable over the past five years, and a quarter claiming it is more crowded than half a decade ago.
Driving is the most popular way to travel, followed by walking with bus, train and cycling the next most used methods.
Ricky Diggins, Director at Bank of Scotland, said: “Commuters in Scotland are spending almost £700 a year on their journey to and from work - the equivalent of a city break to sunny Europe.
"While many may dream of rolling out of bed and straight into the office, the daily commute is the perfect opportunity to invest in yourself, whether that’s keeping up with the latest news, unwinding to a podcast or relaxing to some music."
On the same week that the Scottish Government announced a £500 million investment in bus infrastructure across Scotland, Lothian Buses Commercial Director Nigel Serafini said he thinks that can be used to help reduce travel time. He said:
"If it's spent on the right measures and in the right areas then it can only improve, certainly bus journey times which is what it's aimed at improving."
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