欧洲城市居民的上下班交通方式How people in a European city reached their office and got back home

The pie charts depict how people in a European city commuted to their offices in 1959 versus 2009, and also show the average journey distance and time in those years. Overall, there was a dramatic shift from walking to commuting by car over the 50-year span. Furthermore, the average commuting distance increased about fivefold, with journeys becoming much longer and faster due to improvements in transport. In 1959, more than half of commuters (55%) walked, while only one-tenth of them used a car. Buses and trains each accounted for 15%, and “other” modes made up 5% of the commutes that they made. By 2009, the proportion of people who walked to their offices dropped sharply – only a quarter of the total, but the percentage of car users surged to 35% – a 25% increase. Train usage ratio remained unchanged, but bus travel witnessed a slight drop (by 2%), while other transport modes more than doubled to 12%. It is worth noting that the average length of commuting trips increased from approximately 3.5 km in 1959 to 19 km in 2009. Moreover, people in this European city travelled for 17 minutes on average, which also increased to 42 minutes. Despite this increase, their commute got faster as they travelled a far greater distance on average.