Long commutes often an ‘economic necessity’

Swiss researchers studying commuters in four European countries have found economic hardship or good transport systems explain why people are spending a lot of time travelling to work. Their findings are presented in a new book.  Do you spend more than two hours commuting for work every day, or more than 60 nights per year away from home? If so, you are what researchers would call a “highly mobile person”. Vincent Kaufmann and Gil Viry of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) examined the motivation behind long commutes, and the impact that being “highly mobile” has on workers’ lives. Their research on the subject spans ten years. The researchers studied about 7,000 working individuals between the ages of 25 and 54 in Switzerland, France, Germany and Spain by administering two surveys – one in 2007 and one in 2011. By questioning some subjects twice, the researchers were able to get a sense of their commuting habits in the context of their ...