A recent survey carried out by Monster (February 2007) indicated that 41 per cent of workers spend 40 to 60 minutes or more making their way to work each day.

National Commute Smart Week from Sunday October 28 to Saturday November 3 is aimed at encouraging smarter working practices. The week follows on from the success of Commute Smart Day last year (November 1) which was viewed as a huge success by all those involved, warranting an extension of the initiative this year to a week so that the full benefits of smart commuting can be experienced.

The average UK worker now spends 360 hours or 45 working days per year travelling to work . This works out as about 2906 miles per annum per worker resulting in the staggering figure of approx 78.5 billion miles travelled by the UK workforce each year.

The knock-on effects of an often stressful and lengthy commute to work, are felt not just in terms of poorer work/life balance for the worker, but also by the UK economy as a whole.

The Department for Transport's National Travel Survey (2007) stated that 60 per cent of all business and commuting trips are made by car

Whilst some of the cost in terms of productivity and lost revenue  is the burden of the employer, it is estimated that the commuting cost to the employee is approx £13.5 billion each year (Telecommuting 2000). 

As the clocks moving back has signalled the arrival of winter and shorter daylight hours, workers will have to contend with the growing despondency of spending more time in the dark, however this commuter gloom can be reduced by adopting smarter working practices, such as flexible working times, staggered journeys and part home working.

Source: Workwise UK: http://www.workwiseuk.org/commute_smart/index.html