Brits spend 18 years of their working lives commuting to work!

London, May 19 : Commuters in Britain spend up to 18 years of their working lives reaching and getting back from office.

The average figure is five years, 29 days a year, but for anyone who spends more than three hours a day driving to and from work, the figure rises to 96 working days a year.

To contribute to the stress for 18 million commuters, increasing fuel prices mean their journeys now cost 16 per cent more.

The figures are revealed by Work Wise UK, in conjunction with the AA, which is lobbying for more staff to be allowed to work from home.

They said that the motorists pay 866 million pounds more to fill up than a year ago.

Meanwhile, congestion and delays cost Britain's economy 22 billion pounds a year.

Phil Flaxton, Work Wise UK boss, predicted that a change in travel patterns could make the daily commute a thing of the past for millions.

"The requirement to travel to and from work at the same time to the same place every weekday is going to look more and more old-fashioned," he said.

"A change to work practices, and hence travel patterns, is one of the solutions to road congestion and public transport overcrowding," he added.

According to AA president Edmund King, working from home one day a week would help reduce the crippling cost of commuting.

"The equivalent of our annual holiday from work is lost commuting by car," The Sun quoted him, as saying.

ANI