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Commuting on your motorbike is good for you!

Published: February 17, 2014

Commuting, most of us do it; most of us would rather not! Last week a rather interesting report came out examining the affect this often arduous task has on our ‘personal well-being,’ and furthermore looked into specific affects riding to work, be it on a motorcycle, scooter or moped, has on our life satisfaction, sense of worthwhile and levels of happiness and anxiety.

The article was published as a part of the ONS (Office for National Statistics) Measuring National Well-being programme and to sum it up, the results suggest that travelling to work on two wheels is the mode of transport that is least likely to affect your well-being. Meaning that if you want to be happier, less anxious and have a sense of worthwhile, travel to work by motorbike.

Those who commute are defined as those who do not work from home in their main job and spend one minute or more travelling to work. Previous research has shown that commuting can have a negative influence on our personal well-being. We can become less satisfied with our lives and experience lower levels of happiness and higher levels of anxiety when compared to those who do not have to commute. It was found that the negative affect of commuting on a person’s well-being was the highest when commute time was between 61 and 90 minutes. The study also suggests that those that travel to work by bus or coach had lower levels of satisfaction and sense of worthwhile than those that travelled in a private vehicle.

Motorbike Commuter

Yet, interestingly this study found that, when travelling to work on a motorcycle, scooter or moped your well-being is least likely to be affected, in comparison with other modes of transport. This study suggests that a commute that consists of riding to work, for up 30 minutes, does not negatively affect your happiness or level of self-worth, and your level of anxiety does not increase. Whereas driving to work or getting a mode of public transport has an adverse effect on all of these things.

So basically for all you commuters out there – get to work on a motorbike! You’ll be happier, less anxious and have more self-worth! (As long as your journey time stays under 30 minutes.) And for those of you already commuting the “healthier” way by riding in – now you know you’re doing the right thing, despite those days when you get to work; dripping wet, freezing cold and with the worst hair in the office thanks to your helmet.

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