The True Cost of Commuting

THE TRUE COSTS OF COMMUTING MCR IDN ls. ...TO YOUR WALLET BY CAR According to the latest census data, the average UK commute is 15km. In terms of sales, the UK's most popular sedan of 2015 will be the basis of our calculations. The most popular sedan of 2015 Unleaded Diesel 60 70 99g/km CO2 94g/km CO2 IL EcoBoost engine MPG" 1.5L engine MPG Running costs UK prices for Monday 15th February 2016 MAX 119.9p MAX 119.9p AVG 101.95p AVG 101.02p MIN 97.9p MIN 96.7p 253 work days in a year multiplied by cost per litre: £182.63 £154.50 Then there's parking costs, which naturally vary from city to city. Based on quotes from parking chain QPark, and using proximity to the city centre as a rule of thumb, here's what you might spend on parking: London (Leicester Square) £3,815 0000000000 Belfast (Victoria Square) £1,427.50 Birmingham (Brindleyplace) £1,343 Cardiff (Westgate Street) £1,199.25 Glasgow (St. Enochs) £1,366 Manchester (Deansgate) £923 (From 22/2/2016 to 20/2/2017. Price excludes VAT) Then there's insurance, which varies widely depending on your personal circumstances: Since our example of the Fiesta Zetec is in Band A. there's no road tax to pay. £672 £54.85 Q4 2015 maximum cost for an MOT average price BY TRAIN you're commuting by rail on one of the country's most popular routes, then you'll just have to negotiate the difference between monthly and annual tickets. Monthly ticket cost Annual ticket cost £146 €1,520 CRYSTAL PALACE OXFORD CIRCUS LONDON £93 £892 BELFAST CENTRAL CARRICKFERGUS BELFAST £140 £1,464 BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET RUGBY BIRMINGHAM £67 £700 BARRY ISLAND CARDIFF QUEEN STREET CARDIFF £153 €1,600 GREENOCK WEST GLASGOW CENTRAL GLASGOW £96 £1,008 HAZEL MANCHESTER PICCADILLY GROVE MANCHESTER (2016 prices) BY METRO/SUBWAY For a fair comparison, we've compiled annual season ticket prices on metro services around the country – however, it's worth noting that the pay-as-you-go Oyster card is more economical for London commuters. £2,208 ZONE 1 ZONE 5 LONDON £732 WOLVERHAMPTON BIRMINGHAM BIRMINGHAM £450 ENTIRE GLASGOW ENTIRE NETWORK NETWORK £1,000 ROCHDALE TOWN CENTRE PICCADILLY MANCHESTER (2016 prices) nationalrail.co.uk BIKE Under the CycletoWork scheme, commuters can hire a bike for an agreed length of time and then buy it for a fraction of the original value. The maximum allowance is £1,000 – which could be for a £750 hybrid bike and £250 for accessories. Total cost of bike £1,000 and accessories Income tax over hire period Gross salary sacrifice, based on 12 month hire period £200 £83 Employee NI saving £120 Net salary sacrifice, based on 12 month hire period £56 over hire period Total saving £320 Percentage saving over RRP 32% If you're earning the UK's median salary of £27,531, you could save £320. However, bikes depreciate in value quickly – a bike worth £500 will be worth £100 one year later, and four years later it will be worth just 3% of the original value. ...TO THE ENVIRONMENT Looking beyond the financial costs, commuting to work contributes enormously to your carbon footprint. For a 15km commute, a single traveller would generate: A sedan (unleaded) Bike Train/subway 146.5kg C02 Okg C02 3.9kg C02 Of course, public transport commuters have no control over emissions, and their impact is mitigated by the number of other commuters on the train. Over the course of a year, the environmental cost of commuting by car grows astronomically in comparison to public transport (bikes, unsurprisingly, have zero impact). 37357.5kg C02 Okg C02 994.5kg C02 To put that in perspective, 37.4 tons of CO2 would require 8.5 acres of pine or fir forest for sequestration. ..TO YOUR WELLBEING A 2014 study by the Office of National Statistics2 sought to measure the costs of commuting on personal wellbeing. The ONS found a correlation between longer commuting times and feeling anxious and dissatisfied, as well as overall life satisfaction (although this pattern oddly stops at three hour commutes). How journey times affects happiness This compares to a reference group of those who take 1 to 15 minutes to travel to work. LESS SATISFIED MORE SATISFIED 3% 1.4% 31-45 Mins 7.1% 45-60 Mins 16.6% 61-90 Mins 15.9% 91-179 Mins +180 Mins 6% Non-commuter 11% Given that the average commuting time in the UK is 55 minutes (2015), their results suggest that most people feel their commute has a negative impact upon their wellbeing. Holding all else equal, commuters have lower life satisfaction, a lower sense that their daily activities are worthwhile, lower levels of happiness and higher anxiety on average than non-commuters. - ONS However, in comparing the interaction between travel times and commuting methods, the ONS found that cycling for more than 30 minutes saw wellbeing increase - an extra bonus given that it's the cheapest means of transport for commuters. While commuting is a burden for the individual, other members of their household may benefit from it, for example through the additional income, improved housing and neighbourhood or a better choice of schools. - ONS So although commuting may cost us, it's important to remind ourselves that our efforts are not in vain when they enable our loved ones to have a better quality of life. NOTES *1 Based on quotes provided by Evans Halshaw Ltd. *2 ONS survey data available at http://bit.ly/1SEECXU SOURCES Confused.com. (2016). Car insurance price index. confused.com Midland Metro. (2016). Metro card prices. nxbus.co.uk National Rail Enquiries (2016). Train ticket prices. nationalrail.co.uk MoneySavingExpert. (2016). Cheap council MOTS. moneysavingexpert.com Office for National Statistics. (2014). 2011 census analysis, distance travelled to work. ons.gov.uk Ruddick, G. (2015). UK's record car sales driven by rising consumer confidence. theguardian.com Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. (2016). Subway ticket prices. spt.co.uk Trade Union Congress. (2015). Number of commuters spending more than two hours travelling to and from work up by 72% in last decade, says TUC. tuc.org.uk Transport for Greater Manchester. (2016). Metrolink prices. metrolink.co.uk Transport for London. (2016). Adult ticket prices. ffl.gov.uk Gornitzki, J. (2013). 'Cycling everyday has saved me a lot of money": This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License - www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 Quid Corner BY SA Your Financiall Resource Centre