How and Why Commuting Influences Life Satisfaction: A Path Analysis

It has been found that satisfaction with the commute varies according to commute duration and transport mode but the consequences for overall life satisfaction of commuting are unclear. According to economic theory, the adverse impact of long commutes should be compensated for by the benefits they bring. Path analysis is used to test the mediating pathways by which commute time influences life satisfaction. The models are estimated on a sample of 16,841 commuters resident in England, drawn from the UK Household Longitudinal Study. For car drivers and cyclists, commute time is shown to be associated with increased strain and reduced satisfaction with job and with leisure time and hence there is an overall negative association with life satisfaction. Evidence of compensation is apparent from the positive association between life satisfaction and income, job type and residential satisfaction. For public transport users, commute time is only associated with reduced satisfaction with leisure time and not increased strain and reduced job satisfaction. The clear implication is that the subjective wellbeing of employees could be improved by reducing the need for them to make the trade-off between the negative wellbeing impacts of long commutes and positive employment opportunities they bring by facilitating shorter duration commutes. Improvements to public transport journey experience could enable passengers to enjoy their time spent in transit, and hence reduce the negative association between commute time and satisfaction with leisure time availability.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADD20 Standing Committee on Social and Economic Factors of Transportation. Alternate title: How and Why Commuting Influences Life Satisfaction: Path Analysis
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Clark, Ben
  • Chatterjee, Kiron
  • Davis, Adrian
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
• Date: 2017

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 20p
• Monograph Title: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile travel; Bicycling; Commuting; Public transit; Quality of life
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01626361
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 17-05703
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 23 2017 9:08AM