The Best Way to Commute
The previous post I made on this blog was related to food: "what does make a food sustainable?". This time, I would like to write yet another topic closely related to our daily life: commuting. Have you ever ask yourself, "What is the best way to commute?". Commuting is an inevitable daily activity. No matter if you are a working professional, students, or even a retiree, at some point in your day, you will need to move from one point to another. Since I am now a student, commuting between home and school is the most frequent daily route I need to take. I walk to the university and I love doing that. It is because I believe that walking is the best way to commute.
Cars are not the best way to commute (Jager 2013)
Driving has been known to be one of the most common contributors to stress. People spend a lot of time to drive and complain that commuting this way is a burden. A research (Stutzer and Frey 2004) indicates that commuting is "a stress that doesn't pay". Longer commute by car (both in time or distance) has been linked to lower rates of well-being (Wei 2015). Another research from McGill University (Legrain et.al. 2015) conducted a survey to 4000 participants in Montreal who commute daily from home to work or school. The study asked a very simple question, "which type of commuters are less stressed: walkers, public transport users, or drivers?". Unsurprisingly, walking is the most enjoyable mode of transport followed by public transport. The least favorable way of transport and the most stressful mode is driving.
Regardless of these findings, unfortunately, most of Australians still rely on private cars for daily commute. Two in three Australians drive to work in a private car and only one in ten relies on public transport (ABC News 2014). The report mentioned that if combined, drivers in Australia drive a total 167 billion kilometers distance annually. That is equal to driving from here to Pluto (yes, the planet Pluto) and back 20 times. This is clearly not sustainable. This condition can be linked back to the way cities designed and developed. Although it's not directly correlated to sustainability, compact city is a possible way to avoid this condition. I have explained why having compact city doesn't necessarily achieve sustainability in my previous post. Density is a quality in the context of built form that can contribute to sustainability but is not a guarantee of sustainability.
Cars are the most popular mode of commute in Australia (ABC News 2014)
Back to the issue of commute, driving is stressful and not sustainable. On the contrary, there are way too many benefits of walking. One of the most important benefits is related to human health, physically and mentally. A number of researches have shown that walking has been proved to improve people's well being. Walking can make you healthier and happier. As Victoria State Government mentioned in their website, several health benefits of walking include:
" - increased cardiovascular and pulmonary (heart and lung) fitness - reduced risk of heart disease and stroke - improved management of conditions such as hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol, joint and - - muscular pain or stiffness, and diabetes - stronger bones and improved balance - increased muscle strength and endurance - reduced body fat."
Besides physical and psychological benefits, walking also has a number of social, economic and environmental benefits. More people walking in a neighborhood can increase the community interaction and increase property value.
Commute Alternatives to Driving Alone (RTSNV 2016)
The first priority is of course to walk everyday, whenever and where ever possible . However, in some cases, for longer distance where walking is not feasible the next mode priority is bicycling. Bicycling has the same benefits as walking besides it allows more travel distance in shorter time. Both walking and bicycling are absolutely free and reduce stress. If the distance from home to work is too far to reach by walking or bicycling, next option is to use public transports (buses, trains, etc.). A report suggested that commuters are feeling better when they travel by public transport compared to driving. It's because by taking public transport, you have time to relax, read or socialize. Taking public transport also means you need to walk to bus stops or train stations.
The final option if the public transport network doesn't cover your home, is to have a carpool. The idea of carpooling is to optimize the capacity of the car. Instead of driving alone, you can share your car with two or more people. You can also share responsibility to drive by taking turns. It's cheaper and more fun rather than stressful lonely driving. Club Ride, a Program run by Regional Transportation Commission of South Nevada is a good example how the authority suggested alternative modes of transport to driving.
References:
ABC News 2014, 'Two in three Australians drive to work, study of commuting habits finds, 13 February,
Dollaghan, K 2015, 'The Best Ways to Get to Work, According to Science', 30 September,
Jager, C, digital image, 'Sydney Traffic Rated Amongst Worst in The World', 5 April,
Legrain, A, Eluru, N, and El-Geneidy, A 2015, 'Am stressed, must travel: The relationship between mode choice and commuting stress', Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, vol. 35, pp. 141- 151, <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369847815001370>
Stutzer, A and Frey, B 2004, Stress that Doesn't Pay: The Commuting Paradox, IZA, Bonn.
Walker, A 2013, 'How Encouraging People to Walk Can Help Strengthen Our Cities?",
Wei, M 2015, 'Commuting: The Stress that Doesn't Pay', Psychology Today, 12 January,
Zamon, R 2015, 'The Best Way to Commute For Your Mental Health', 10 August,
