One in three Londoners lose one day every week from commuting
A third of Londoners spend the equivalent of a whole
day’s work every week
commuting to and from the office, a study revealed today.
The findings were revealed in the annual London Commuter Index which
looks at attitudes towards daily commutes.
It found that 30 per cent of workers spent an average of eight hours and
45 minutes a week on their commute, and 31 per cent were commuting for an
average of six hours and 15 minutes.
Cost of travel was also shown
to put workers under financial strain, with more than half spending an average
of £1,500 on annual season tickets — the equivalent of paying the average
London rent for about two months.
Three quarters of Londoners said reducing this expense would improve
their journeys.
To beat rush-hour blues more than 64 per cent of commuters said they
listened to music — and more than one in 10 practised mindfulness during their
journeys.
About 61 per cent of people thought overcrowding was the worst part of
commuting, while 28 per cent said it was delays. A survey of Tube passengers
found a third liked the Victoria line best, while 36 per cent said the Central
line was worst and would be improved by air conditioning.
The survey was carried out by season ticket loan company CommuterClub
which quizzed 554 customers.
Questions:
1) How many people made each statement?
2) How long is each journey if the total in the week is 8 hours 45 mins?
3) If everyone not mentioned has an average commute of 3 hours, what is the average commute for everyone in London?
4) Which part of the article doesn’t seem sensible?
5) How might they have collected the data?
What can we do with the information about the cost of the
tickets?
Answers:
1) How many people
made each statement?
% given
|
lower bound
|
'exact'
|
upper bound
|
lowest integer
|
highest integer
|
30%
|
163.43
|
166.2
|
168.97
|
164
|
168
|
31%
|
168.97
|
171.74
|
174.51
|
169
|
174
|
75%
|
412.73
|
415.5
|
418.27
|
413
|
418
|
64%
|
351.79
|
354.56
|
357.33
|
352
|
357
|
10%
|
52.63
|
55.4
|
58.17
|
53
|
58
|
61%
|
335.17
|
337.94
|
340.71
|
336
|
340
|
28%
|
152.35
|
155.12
|
157.89
|
153
|
157
|
33.333%
|
181.8967
|
184.6667
|
187.4367
|
182
|
187
|
36%
|
196.67
|
199.44
|
202.21
|
197
|
202
|
[To work out the final two columns I used the Excel formula “Ceiling.Math”
and “Floor.Math”]
2) How long is each journey if the total in the week is 8 hours 45 mins: This is 525 minutes. Divide it by 10 (5 days of travelling there and back) to get 52 and a half mins per journey.
3) Average: 5 hours 44 mins
4) Which part of the article doesn’t seem sensible: How will having a cheaper ticket make the journey more bearable? Do people get grumpy at delays and overcrowding and then get even crosser because they are paying lots for the privilege? Or would they be able to afford more takeaway coffee if the tickets were cheaper?
5) How might they have collected the data: Asking people at different stations. Emailing those who use their website. Are there any problems with this?
