For many of us, the commute to work takes up a large portion of the day and has an impact on our mood and productivity! A late train or a crash on the motorway can really set you off to a bad start, while a quick and enjoyable journey into work can make you feel positive and motivated!

So, what are the perks and pitfalls of the most popular commuting options? Let's take a look at some of the most significant aspects of the commute and put public transport and cars head-to-head to see what comes out on top.

Price

When you're making a journey twice a day, five days a week, you want to know you're getting some bang for your buck. When you add it all up, learning to drive, buying a car, filling it with petrol and forking out for maintenance is likely to cost you more in the long run.

There are a range of discounts available for public transport users, especially if they use season tickets, buy in advance or use a railcard. The costs for public transport users are fairly straight forward in comparison to a typical driver, so in this round public transport wins!

People

If you've ever graced your local bus or train station, you'll know they can be chaotic at the best of times - never mind during rush hour! For some, the hustle and bustle is a welcome bit of excitement, while for others, the large crowds coupled with the unpredictability of public transport can be completely overwhelming.

When you drive your own car, you can avoid the awkward conversations on the platform, enjoy a bit of peace and quiet or offer a lift to a colleague if you do fancy a bit of company on your way to and from work.

Having your own car gives you freedom pick and choose who you want to travel with, so we'll give this one to car drivers.

Activities

One of the benefits of choosing public transport is the additional time to you during your day for activities! Without having to keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road, you can use your commute time to your advantage. Some popular public transport activities include:

• Reading a book
• Ordering shopping online
• Learning a new language

Thanks to aux cables and Bluetooth connections in cars, you can listen to a podcast or your favourite radio show while you commute, but there really are limits to what you can do. So, for that reason, public transport wins this round!

Environment

Traditionally, public transport options are more eco-friendly than personal transport and it's clear to see why. One vehicle like a train or bus can carry a number of people to their desired location at once! If all of those individual people drove their own cars to work, they'd use more petrol & produce more emissions.

That being said, the gap between the environmental impact of cars and public transport is starting to close. With more and more electric vehicles on the road, we might be seeing a shift towards more eco-friendly commutes on the roads. With that in mind, we'll have to call this one a tie!

Hopefully, this has helped you decide whether you should travel to work using public transport or by car. If you're someone that doesn't currently have a commute... browse our current job vacancies!

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