Jan 19, 2024
You’ll soon see the benefits when you view your commute to work as a buffer between your work and personal life. Taking this time out of your day to focus on yourself will improve your health, add routine to your day, and give you more time to invest in your interests.
But some forms of transport are better suited to a healthy daily commute than others.
In this article, you’ll learn how to make the most of commuting to work.
💡 Companies that use Bolt Business can pay for employee travel in the Bolt app. Find out how to get management approval for Bolt Business.
The average commute time to work in Europe is around 23 minutes (one way) and 46 minutes in total.
Across Europe, workers in Cyprus spend the least amount of time commuting. Meanwhile, the longest commutes are in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and the UK.
Here’s a list of the average commute time to work across European countries:
The average length of the daily commute is very similar in Africa, too:
Commuting time can significantly impact your daily routine, so always consider this when you apply for a new job or move home.
💡 Bolt Business is available in all of the countries listed above. If you want to reduce the time you spend commuting, and invest more time in yourself, download the Bolt app and create a Work Profile.
Unless you walk, commuting to work will hit your daily finances on varying levels.
Depending on your mode of transport, you may have to pay for:
Most of the above relate to driving. And if you drive to work, you’ll also need to factor in maintenance costs, repairs, and depreciation — although a car allowance may help to cover these costs.
Many people see the cost of commuting to work as a necessary financial burden. In the UK, the average worker spends £3,454 on their commute yearly (€4,013). And in South Africa, the cheapest form of transport for the commute is by train (€28). The most expensive commute method is driving a car (€28-€106) — roughly €1,272 over a year.
Rather than accepting these expenses, it’s worth looking into how you can reduce your outgoings.
Here are some possible solutions:
By commuting to work with a Bolt Work Profile, you can track how much you spend on your daily commute. Having visibility of your outgoings makes it easier to see how you can save money.
When you view your daily commute as an opportunity, the benefits it can bring to your professional and personal life increase.
Only some people get the chance to separate themselves from the distractions of work and home life. But commuting to work is an opportunity to invest some time in yourself. But when you look at your commute from a new perspective, you might start looking forward to your commute.
A daily routine allows you to develop healthy habits, increase productivity, and plan your day more wisely.
Making more time for yourself and adding routine to your day feed into a healthy lifestyle. Rather than thinking of your daily commute as lost time, you can:
Commuting time is sometimes called a ‘liminal space’ where you’re not at work or home.
Having this time before and after work, free from commitments, gives you time to prepare for the working day or decompress on your way home.
Whether you and your colleagues walk, get a work taxi, or ride the same train together, there are considerable benefits to commuting with others.
Getting to know the people you work with outside of your workplace brings you closer on a personal level. And this can lead to new ideas and chances to collaborate at work.
As you’ve seen, you can turn your commute to work into an opportunity to make time for yourself. And this is great for your mental health.
Turning your commute into a buffer between work and personal life gives you more time to decompress. And using the time to read a book, listen to a podcast, or get active, will increase your sense of fulfilment.
Many of the downsides to commuting to work are associated with driving. As you’ll now see.
Commuting to work, as opposed to working from home, means getting out of bed earlier — especially if you have a longer commute. Or if you want to beat the traffic.
When you drive to work, you must pay for fuel, insurance, and parking. Then, in the long term, you’ll have to deal with maintenance, repairs, and depreciation.
Walking or riding your own bike saves you from these expenses.
The daily commute may be a drain on not only your financial expenses but also your time.
And sitting in traffic is often listed as one of the worst parts of commuting.
In one sense, it’s only a problem if you drive. After all, you’re sitting in a car, unable to go anywhere. But all these vehicles — often only carrying a single occupant — delay commuters travelling by bus.
While walking and cycling may take longer than driving (in some cases), your commuting time remains consistent — after all, your journey time doesn’t depend on the level of traffic.
You have a long commute if your daily commute goes over an hour. And that means you’ll potentially experience some different pros and cons.
If you’re happy travelling a long distance to work, then you can experience more benefits than if you were to travel a shorter distance:
Over a year, your commuting time will add up, and this can lead to some downsides:
Finding the best way to commute to work depends on your goals. If you’re looking for a new way to commute, you most likely want to achieve one of the following:
When you’re planning how to travel to work, here’s some inspiration. 👇
Walking ticks all three of the boxes above. If you can walk to work, then it’s the best way to travel. If walking to work from home isn’t possible, try adding walking as part of your commute — like walking to the train station.
If you currently drive or take public transport, cycling to work will save you money — whether you invest in your own bike or use Bolt scooters or e-bikes.
Cycling also turns your commute into a chance to exercise — great for your physical and mental health. People who commute by bike have fewer sick days.
If you live too far from your workplace to walk or cycle, ride-hailing services like Bolt are a reliable, sustainable, and cost-effective alternative to driving your car.
Using the Work Profile in the Bolt app gives you a clear view of how much you spend on your daily commute.
The benefit ride-hailing has over public transport is that you can set your schedule. You can book a ride when you need one or schedule a ride for a specific time up to 72 hours in advance.
If you live within a city, you should have various public transport options like buses, metros, or a tram network. When you commute into a city from the suburbs, the train is an option if you live near a station.
Driving is at the bottom of the list. But for some people, it’s the only option because of how far they live from their workplace.
A cost-saving alternative to driving your own vehicle is Bolt Drive. You only pay for the rental time and distance travelled, which covers fuel, insurance, and parking. Turning to Bolt Drive can cut your commuting costs while giving you all the benefits of driving.
If driving is your only option, find colleagues who live along your route and start a carpool. This initiative will save you money, cut emissions, and allow you to chat with colleagues.
When you work from home, there’s no clear end to the working day — and you’re still in your working environment. This can make it harder to switch off after a day of work.
This may be surprising to some, but commuting to work offers plenty of benefits:
But there are some potential downsides to commuting:
If your job allows you to work from home, there are plenty of positives:
But while working from home suits some people, many are soon to experience the downsides:
How you commute to work determines what you can do during that time (you can’t read a book while you drive, for example). But here’s some inspiration for your next commute. 👇
Finding time for exercise can be challenging. But your daily commute could give you the time you’ve been looking for.
Walking and cycling to work offer great health benefits:
And if you work at a desk, getting active during your commute helps maintain good posture and keep blood circulating around your body.
If you drive to an office job where you sit at a desk for 8 hours, you should aim to find time to get active every day.
Many people see their commute as a chance to catch up on some emails, make some work calls, or finish some small tasks. But you’ll benefit more by using this time to switch off from work.
Try to keep work separate from your daily commute and consider this time a transition between your personal and work life.
Few forms of commute allow you to read a book. But if you travel by public transport or get a work ride with Bolt, you’ll work through your reading list much sooner.
Get some book recommendations from the Bolt team.
Turning on a podcast or audiobook during your commute gives you time to catch up with current events, learn something new, or disconnect from work altogether.
These are some of our favourites:
A reasonable commute comes down to your personal preference, where you live, and your mode of transport. If you spend less than an hour commuting daily, you’re within the average commute time. Ultimately, you have a reasonable commute to work if it doesn’t interfere with your quality of life.
Commuting adds a sense of structure to your day, clearly defining your working period. The time you spend on your daily commute also allows you to exercise, listen to music, or read a book.
Commuting to work gives you time when you’re free from work or personal commitments. You can use this time to read a book, listen to music, exercise, or do nothing.
Your commute is a regular journey you make between your home and workplace. You can use any means of travel to make the trip, including walking, driving, cycling, ride-hailing, or public transport.
Most people spend up to one hour commuting daily, which includes the journey on either side of the working day.
A generally accepted time for commuting is between 30 minutes and 1 hour. If you’re driving, you can do around 40 miles in this period — depending on traffic. A train could cover between 45 and 100 kilometres in this time, depending on the route and number of stops — giving you room to live further away from your office.
The commute to work has a bad reputation. But as you’ve seen in this article, when you reframe your perspective, that time before and after work becomes valuable. It can eventually even become the highlight of your day.
With the Bolt app, you can travel for work in 45+ countries and 500 cities. And wherever you are, you can use the Bolt Work Profile to:
Download the Bolt app and create your Work Profile!
