Almost half of people to change commuting habits, finds UK survey

Liftshare, a UK lift sharing platform, surveyed 500 of its members and discovered that almost half (48 per cent) of them will be changing the way they travel to work after the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown lifts. 

Key findings from the survey include:

• Working from home (WFH) to increase by 552 per cent 
• Cycling to increase by 71 per cent
• Walking to increase by eight per cent  
• Lift sharing to fall by six per cent   
• Train travel to decrease by 36 per cent
• Bus travel to decrease by 30 per cent            
• Driving alone to decrease by 20 per cent.*

In order to better understand the results, Liftshare also asked people to give written feedback about their desired future commute. Examples include:

“I hope to cycle to a local office three miles away one day a week, work from home another day and if needed commute to the main office one day a week.”

“This lockdown has proved that we can work from home and I will only go to the office for certain meetings, where closer interaction is needed. On those occasions, I will drive my car.”

“I will commute by car, as the bus only runs once an hour where I live, also not keen to use public transport due to COVID-19.”

“Ideally, I would like to work from home but being realistic, I will not be able to do that full-time when lockdown is lifted. Therefore, I would like to lift share with others. It is interesting to see that pollution levels have dropped since the lockdown began due to less traffic on the roads. I would like to continue to do my bit for the environment as well as save myself and like-minded people money.”

“Lift share due to long commute – reduce costs, better for the environment and it makes the journey less boring”

“A bicycle ride along empty country roads because it is zero emissions and I can get fit and improve my mental health.”

“Walk, I hate the environmental impact of driving, particularly alone, but currently have no other option. Also find it very tiring.”

*Environmental impact: If travel were to change in the way that this survey suggests then the 20 per cent reduction in car alone commuters would save one million tonnes of CO2/year.