Overview
- Published in Environmental Research Letters, the analysis by ICTA–UAB and McGill used time‑use data from 43 countries covering more than half of the world’s population.
- Average daily travel time converges near 1.3 hours with a variability of about 12 minutes, independent of income level or transport mode.
- The authors report that faster or more efficient transport does not reduce time spent traveling, as people typically use higher speeds to go farther.
- Country comparisons highlight wide differences: Morocco averages about 48 minutes per day and South Korea about 1 hour 48 minutes, with UK at roughly 1 hour 27 minutes and US at about 1 hour 21 minutes as reported.
- The study argues energy used per hour of travel drives future demand, so policies that favor walking, cycling, or electric public transport can sharply lower use, with car‑based cities consuming up to roughly 100 times a pedestrian city’s energy and light‑rail cities around five times.