Survey: 20% of UK travelers go the wrong way

A new survey by transportdirect.info – the UK Government’s travel planning website, which claims to be Britain’s most comprehensive travel information and journey planning service – shows that at least one in five people are going the wrong way on familiar journeys.

Once they use transportdirect.info and discover alternative routes or modes of transport, 20% of people change their familiar route. One in six people ditch their car for the benefits of public transport and 20% of people change the time they travel.

Nick Illsley, chief executive of transportdirect.info says, “Millions of wise travelers use our service every year, either directly or through our partners. However millions more are missing out on faster, cheaper and more enjoyable journeys throughout Great Britain by not using transportdirect.info. On the commute alone this could mean that nearly six million workers are spending a total of 800 million hours each year going the wrong way. They are needlessly traveling longer or less comfortably than needed on their journey to and from work, often the most stressful part of the working day.”

transportdirect.info is a free, transport neutral, one-stop internet portal connecting people to places by providing up-to-the-minute, comprehensive information about travel options, ticket prices and timings for any journey in Britain.

Transport modes covered by the site include bus, coach, train, domestic plane, ferry, taxi, tube, tram, metro, car and foot – or any combination of these. It also offers live travel information with the latest information on roadworks and delays, advice on the cheapest rail fares, maps for detailed location and traffic information and a car park finder.

The site recognizes 30 million UK addresses, postcodes, places, public transport locations, amenities and attractions, including 2,500 railway stations and 330,000 bus stops, each located to within 1m accuracy.

Professor Glenn Lyons of the Centre for Transport & Society at the University of the West of England says, “People spend a lot of time traveling – about an hour a day overall…Many people have entered a travel rut as their route choices are merely down to the force of habit. It’s worthwhile experimenting once in a while – which can be assisted by journey planning with transportdirect.info – to discover new alternatives for familiar journeys.”

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