The time it takes to get to work and back

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Home-to-work travel times: change from 1992 to 2005

Data from the 2001 Census showed that the median travel distance between home and the usual workplace increased slightly between 1996 and 2001, going from 7.0 to 7.2 kilometres.

Among the factors explaining the increase in these travel distances is the fact that jobs-especially those in the manufacturing sector-are increasingly located in the suburbs. This trend, which affects most industrialized countries (Ingram, 1998), means that a greater number of workers travel from one suburb to another to get to work (Statistics Canada, 2003). According to some researchers, these inter-suburban commutes involve not only longer distances but also, because they are much more likely to be done by car, an increase in pollution and added pressures on the urban infrastructure (Luk, 2003; Newman and Kenworthy, 1990). However, according to other authors, inter-suburban commutes, even if they are longer from the standpoint of distances travelled, are not necessarily associated with longer travel times (Levinson, 1998). What is the real story ?

Data from the 2005 survey of time use show that the average travel time between home and work is trending upward. The increase in average travel time is probably greater than one would expect from the modest change in distances travelled.¹ In 2005, commuters spent an average of 63 minutes on the round trip between their place of residence and their workplace. By comparison, the average time was 54 minutes round trip in 1992 and 59 minutes in 1998.

From another perspective, the findings are similar (Chart 1). In 1992, 17% of workers spent 90 minutes or more going from home to work and back; in 2005, one-quarter of workers (25%) did so. On the other hand, workers with relatively short travel times, namely round trips of 30 minutes or less, were rarer (21% in 2005 compared to 27% in 1992).

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Regional variations in average travel times

Average travel times between home and work for Canada as a whole mask relatively large variations between regions of residence.

In British Columbia , the average duration of the round trip between home and workplace did not change significantly between 1992 and 2005 (Table 1). However, the situation is quite different in the other provinces. In the Prairie provinces , for example, commuters' average travel times went from 45 minutes in 1992 to 57 minutes in 2005. In these provinces, 71% of workers spent less than one hour commuting between their home and their workplace in 1992 ,but only 56% in 2005 (Table 2).

In the Atlantic provinces, the average travel time also increased significantly: whereas nearly 45% of workers spent less than 30 minutes making the round trip between home and workplace in 1992, only 30% did so in 2005 (Table 2). In Quebec, the proportion of workers taking an hour and a half or more to get to and from work went from 16% to 27% over the same period. In short, in all provinces except British Columbia, more workers allocated more time to making the round trip between home and workplace in 2005 than in 1992; furthermore, fewer of them made this round trip in less than one hour.

The differences in commute times observed between regions are also reflected in Canada 's six largest metropolitan areas. In five of these six urban areas, average travel times were significantly higher in 2005 than in 1992,² especially in the Calgary and Montreal metropolitan areas. In 2005, the round trip between home and work took an average of 66 minutes for Calgary residents, 14 minutes more than in 1992 (Table 1). Similarly, the average duration travel time for workers residing in Montreal went from 62 minutes to 76 minutes . Average travel times between home and workplace also rose in smaller urban areas, but not as substantially. By contrast, Vancouver workers spent no more time on average getting to work in 2005 than they did in 1992.

Chart 2 illustrates the same story in a different way, showing that in several major cities, a larger percentage of workers devote a greater part of their day to commuting. The greatest changes are observed in Montreal , Calgary and Edmonton . For example, whereas in 1992, fewer than half of Montreal workers spent an hour or more travelling both ways between home and work (47%), 60% of them did so in 2005. In Calgary , the increase was even larger: in 2005, 57% of workers spent an hour or more getting to and from their workplace, compared to only 36% in 1992. (Information on average commuting times in other urban areas are presented in the second section of this report.)

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Average travel time is rising for both automobile users and public transit users

Do the increases in the average travel times between home and workplace, observable in most regions, affect drivers and public transit users equally? It is known that automobile users generally spend much less time travelling to and from work than do public transit users ( Downs , 2005). In 2005, for example, the majority (55%) of workers travelling by car made the round trip between home and work in less than 60 minutes.³ It was quite another matter for workers commuting by bus or subway: only 13% of them spent less than one hour on the round trip between their home and their workplace.

This being said, the average duration of the round trip between home and workplace increased for both public transit users and automobile users between 1992 and 2005. Specifically, the average duration of the round trip for commuters travelling by car went from 51 minutes to 59 minutes. For public transit users, their average travel time rose 13 minutes, from 94 minutes to 106 minutes.

From the standpoint of the proportion of commuters' average travel times and their mode of transportation, the story is largely the same. In 2005, almost two-thirds (64%) of workers using public transit spent an hour and a half (or more) of their day commuting between their home and their workplace (Chart 3). In 1992, the corresponding proportion was only 48%.

For workers travelling by car (either as drivers or as passengers), the proportion whose round trip between home and workplace took at least an hour and a half rose from 15% in 1992 to 21% in 2005.

The increase in travel time applies to both those who make stops between home and work and those who go directly

With the increase in the number of two-worker families, one might tend to believe that the average travel time mainly increased for parents who must do various errands on their way to work, including detours to drop children off at daycare or school.

When workers who go directly to work without doing errands on the way are separated from those who do one or more errands between home and work, it becomes clear that this assumption is not true. For both these groups, the average daily travel time between home and work grew in substantially the same way. In 2005, commuters going directly from home to work and from work to home (without stopping on the way) spent an average of 58 minutes travelling, an increase of 10 minutes in comparison to 1992. Workers who made one or more stops between home and work (and/or the reverse), saw their average travel time (excluding the time stopped) increase by 9 minutes (75 minutes compared to 66 minutes on average in 1992).

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More people travelling simultaneously at rush hour

From whatever angle the situation is examined (region, transportation mode used, population that does errands versus population that does not), it emerges that workers' average travel time between home and workplace has generally increased since 1992. What explains this? In addition to an increase in average distances travelled getting to work, there has also been an increase in congestion in urban areas.

There are several definitions of congestion and several methods for measuring its severity (Transport Canada , 2006; Gourvil and Joubert, 2004).⁵ The time use survey does not directly measure road congestion in Canada 's various major cities and regions. However, the survey data may be used to calculate the estimated number of persons who are on the road at different times of day.

Reflecting the increase in the total population and the growth of employment between 1992 and 2005, Chart 4 shows that the number of persons who are travelling at the same time (regardless of the mode of transportation) has grown significantly since 1992, for most times during the day. The differences between 1992 and 2005 during rush hours are especially marked. One explanation for this is that the average unemployment rate for 1992 was 11.2%, compared to only 6.8% in 2005. Not only did the overall population increase between 1992 and 2005, but the employed population that had to travel at rush hour rose substantially between the two years.

There are also differences between 2005 and 1998, but these are mainly observable for rush hours. Finally, the chart shows that it is between 5:00 and 5:10 p.m. that the peak number of persons aged 15 and over are travelling simultaneously.

If the majority of people (including workers and non-workers) travelling at peak hours did so on public transit, on foot or by bicycle, there would probably be less impact on the overall level of congestion. Studies have shown that the private automobile is the mode of transportation that contributes the most to road congestion (Downs, 2005). However, the data from the time use survey show that the number of persons on the road as drivers has also significantly increased since 1992 at all hours of the day. Between 1998 and 2005, the increase in the total number of drivers on the road at the same time was mainly observed during the morning rush hour (Chart 5).

However, despite appearances, it would be difficult here to identify the main cause of the increase in average travel times observed between 1992 and 2005. There are too many unknowns, including the actual change over time in the level of congestion in all regions of Canada , the increase in the number of accidents and non-recurring events causing road congestion, and different factors specific to particular metropolitan areas. It is nevertheless realistic to think that the slight increase in distances travelled, combined with the significant increase in the number of persons on the road at the same time, may have played a role in the increase in workers' average travel times.

The next section focuses exclusively on data from the 2005 time use survey and compares the relative importance of the different factors associated with an increase or decrease in travel times.

Notes:

1. Note that the most recent information on the change in distances travelled is for the period 1996 to 2001.
   
2. The General Social Survey in 2005 survey had a total of 20,000 participants, but in 1998 and 1992 had approximately 10,000 respondents only. For this reason, it is impossible to provide quality estimates on the evolution of travel times for all of Canada 's metropolitan regions. For more detailed information on trip distances between home and workplace in the 27 metropolitan areas, please see the document Where Canadians Work and How They Get There, Statistics Canada, 2003. For more detailed information on travel times for other metropolitan areas in 2005, see below as well as the appended table.
   
3. Automobile users are those who do the greatest part of their commute in a private vehicle (as either the driver or a passenger). The same concept applies to public transit users.
   
4. It should be noted that in the census, respondents were asked to identify a single transportation mode, the one they used for most of the travel distance. On the other hand, the time use survey allows respondents to identify all modes of transportation used to get to work.


5. On this subject, see the recent study ordered by Transport Canada on the cost of congestion in major metropolitan areas (2006).