Why Longer Trips on Public Transport Are More Efficient

I'm writing this on the bus home from work, even though it's slower than driving. This is not because it's my only option but because it's actually more efficient. Now this is not true for 100% of scenarios because in most cities the bus will be slower. If you need to get somewhere fast then driving or Uber is the best option.

Why the bus is more efficient

Most drivers dislike driving and even ones who like it, don't like busy rush hour traffic. The average Australian has a commute in 2025 of 48 minutes a day.¹ 48 minutes think about what you could do with that time, fully focus on a podcast, catch up on emails or read my blog. Now what someone who disagrees with this would say is that a driver can listen to podcasts or music. I would agree that this is possible, but in peak traffic where the road needs a lot of attention did you really fully understand the podcast or enjoy the music?

Now if we think about what percentage of a person's day is spent commuting. Let's start by claiming a day has 24 hours a shocker right. Let's remove the hours people sleep which according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics is 7 hours and 30.² We now have 16 hours and 30 minutes left. Now let's add work which for most people is necessary which if it's from 9 to 5 is another 8 hours taken away which leaves us with 8 hours and 30 minutes. Now everyone else will have more things in their life but I'm using eight and a half hours as my usable time a day.

Now that we have the usable time what percentage of that is taken up by commuting? To start let's convert everything to minutes making a usable time at 510 minutes. Let's take our average commute of 48 minutes and divide it by our usable time which is 510 minutes. Let's then take that number and times it by 100 to get a percentage and let's round down that's 9% extra time you can work on hobbies would you say no to that?

The goldilocks zone

Now this does not work for every trip there is a goldilocks zone around it. If you are in a city where public transport is faster this does not apply to you because it's the natural option. But for other people there is a range where it makes sense. Obviously for everyone this range will change but for me as someone who is going to go home and watch Youtube any way if a trip takes twice as long that's fine for me. For a regular person I would say the range is between one and a half times longer to one and three quarters times longer.

The advantage of spending time alone kinda

Now if you're a person who has kids or has a lot to do at home having some time to yourself with no distractions is such a valuable thing. While in the car you are alone you are not able to quiet you're mind as your focusing on driving.

Hopefully I changed your mind about how time spent on public transport can be more efficient compared to driving even if driving is the fastest option.