COMMUTERS in Scotland will spend around 60 weeks of their lives travelling to and from work at a lifetime cost of more than £32,000 according to a new report.

Commuting also divides opinion amongst travellers, with one in five (22%) workers disliking their commute and one in six (16%) saying it has become less reliable over the last five years.

The findings are part of Bank of Scotland’s How Scotland Lives study, a nationwide analysis run in partnership with YouGov, which also said that despite the time and expense, over half of workers (56%) like their commute and one in 12 (8%) go as far as to say they love their journey into work. They average nearly nine days a year (214 hours) in transit at an annual cost of almost £700, with an average daily journey time of 54 minutes, which works out at 60 weeks’ worth of time (418 days) during their working life. It will come as no surprise to many commuters, that those in Edinburgh and the Lothians have the longest commute in Scotland, an average daily travel time of 66 minutes – longer than those in Dundee (46 mins) or Aberdeen (48 mins).

People living in Central Scotland (59 mins) and Glasgow (56 mins) also face higher-than-average commuting times.

Travellers from Central Scotland spend the most on commuting in any Scottish region – £64 per month (£768 per year). People in the west of Scotland spend slightly less, an average of £63 per month (£756 a year), while workers in Dundee have the cheapest journeys to work at £46 a month (£552 a year).

Workers in the Highlands and Islands have the best deal with the shortest, and one of the cheapest, commutes in the country, paying £47 a month (£564 a year) and undertaking a daily journey of 42 minutes.

Not surprisingly, the Highlands and Islands have some of Scotland’s happiest commuters, with three quarters (72%) saying they either like or love their journey to and from work. More than half of all commuters (59%) use the car, which is still the most used mode of transport for commuting. Almost a third walk to work (31%), one in five (21%) take the bus, 11% use the train, and just 7% cycle.

Commuters in Glasgow (53%) and Edinburgh and the Lothians (52%) are most likely to use public transport (52%), while those in mid-Scotland and Fife are most likely to commute by car (72%). Younger commuters (18-24) are most likely to use public transport (42%) or walk (41%), while those aged over 55 are the most likely to drive (63%).

Ricky Diggins, director at Bank of Scotland, said: “Commuters in Scotland are spending almost £700 a year on their journey to and from work – the equivalent of a city break to sunny Europe. While many may dream of rolling out of bed and straight into the office, the daily commute is the perfect opportunity to invest in yourself, whether that’s keeping up with the latest news, unwinding to a podcast or relaxing to some music.”