Cost Of Traveling To Work

Two Thirds Of England And Wales Workforce Travel To Work By Car With Nearly 20% Using Public Transport And 11% Walking 

The cost of fuel to get to work impacts on two thirds of the workers in England and Wales who travel to work so it is no wonder that household budgets have taken a hammering GMB Congress told

67.6% of the workforce in England and Wales who travel to work do so by car as a driver or passenger, or by motor cycle or scooter. 17.3% travel by public transport, 3% cycle and 11.3% walk to work.

82.7% of those travelling to work in Northern Ireland do so by motor vehicle. This is the highest percentage for any region in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

After Northern Ireland comes Wales where 79.5% travel to work by motor vehicle. This is followed by East Midlands 76.7%, West Midlands 75.9%, South West 74.0%, North West 73.4%, North East 72.6%, Yorkshire and The Humber 72.4%, East of England 72.0% and South East 71.4%. Workers in London rely on public transport to get them to work with 52.6% going by tram, tube, train and bus. The figures for all 11 areas of England, Wales and Northern Ireland are set out in the table below.

The price of unleaded petrol and diesel has almost doubled since January 2003. In January 2003 a litre of unleaded petrol cost 76.1p and a litre of diesel cost 77p.By April 2013 a litre of unleaded petrol had raised by 136.9p an increase of 80%. By April 2013 a litre of diesel had raised to 141.8p an increase of 84%. See note 2 below for price of fuel since January 2003.

These figures for mode of traveling to work are in a new report that was published this morning at the GMB Congress in Plymouth which starts today. The figures are drawn from the 2011 Census of Population and are ranked by the percentage of workers travelling to work who go by motor vehicle. See note 1 below for source and definitions

GMB Congress comprises 500 lay GMB member delegates is meeting in Plymouth Pavilions from Sunday 2nd to Thursday 6th June.

Delegates attending GMB Congress are the members who have been elected to represent over 620,000 members from every part of the UK and Ireland and they are employed in every sector of the economy.

		Car (driver or passenger), motorcycle/scooter, taxi %	Public Transport (Tram/Train/Bus) %	Bicycle %	On Foot %
	England	67.0	17.9	3.1	11.3
	Northern Ireland	82.7	6.8	0.9	8.6
rank
1	Northern Ireland	82.7	6.8	0.9	8.6
2	Wales	79.5	7.1	1.5	11.2
3	East Midlands	76.7	8.2	2.9	11.6
4	West Midlands	75.9	11.0	2.1	10.4
5	South West	74.0	6.8	3.8	14.6
6	North West	73.4	12.2	2.3	11.4
7	North East	72.6	13.6	1.8	11.0
8	Yorkshire & The Humber	72.4	11.9	2.7	12.3
9	East of England	72.0	12.8	3.7	10.7
10	South East	71.4	13.0	3.2	11.6
11	London	33.1	52.6	4.3	9.3

Paul Kenny, GMB Secretary General, said “These figures demonstrate why the massive hike in the price of fuel in public transport has hit workers very hard.

The cost of putting fuel in the tank and paying fares to get to work is an essential and unavoidable item in the household budgets of nearly three quarters of the workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who travel to work. It is no wonder that household budgets have taken a hammering.

Pay freezes and below inflation pay rises are no longer tolerable. Workers across the UK want a pay rise.

The low numbers using public transport outside the main cities and London is a reflection on the sheer lack of availability giving people no alternative to using their car. Cycling to work is growing. The figures also demonstrate the importance of the local economy where people can walk to work.

For the UK as a whole there is an on-going need for investment in an integrated transport policy for all modes of travel.”

Ends

Contact: Kamaljeet Jandu, GMB National Equality Officer on 07956 237178 or GMB Press Office: 07921 289880 or 07974 251823.

Note to editor:

1              Source and definitions:

Office for National Statistics; Census of Population 2011, table QS701EW – Method of Travel to Work for England and Wales

Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency; Census of Population 2011, table KS701NI - Method of Travel to Work for Northern Ireland

Crown Copyright Reserved

The data shows usual residents aged 16-74 by their method of travel to work as at census day 27 March 2011. A usual resident is anyone who, on census day, was in the UK and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a minimum of 12 months or who had a permanent UK address and was outside the UK and intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months.

The method of travel to work used for the longest part, by distance, of the usual journey to work. This is only applicable to people who were in employment in the week before the census day.

The % figures will not total 100% as the ‘other’ method of travel to work has been omitted. Other would include those that travel by ferry or hovercraft services.

These percentage figures may differ from other published data as the denominator used does not include those who work from home.

Further details can be found www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census-analysis/method-of-travel-to-work-in-england-and-wales/art-method-of-travel-to-work.html

 2             Cost of fuel January 2003 to April 2013 Source: The AA Fuel Price Report www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/fuel/index.html

	Pence per litre
Date	Unleaded	Diesel
Apr-13	136.9	141.8
Jan-13	132.1	139.8
Jul-12	132.2	137.3
Jan-12	133.5	141.9
Jul-11	135.6	139.7
Jan-11	128.3	132.8
Jul-10	117.5	119.9
Jan-10	111.8	113.7
Jul-09	103	104.1
Jan-09	86.6	98.7
Jul-08	119.5	133.1
Jan-08	104.3	109.2
Jul-07	96.7	97.2
Jan-07	87.5	92.1
Jul-06	97.5	99.1
Jan-06	89.4	93.5
Jul-05	88.7	92.7
Jan-05	79.6	84.8
Jul-04	81.3	82
Jan-04	76.9	78.5
Jul-03	75.1	77
Jan-03	76.3	77.5