New Zealand Celsias

With news that petrol prices have risen again—up to $1.95 a litre for 91 octane—recent findings from IBM’s Commuter Pain study seem more poignant. The survey scanned the thoughts of 937 commuters aged between 18 and 64 across Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. It found that when it comes to the price of petrol, the higher it is, the higher the stress levels of commuters. But exactly how much can commuters take before they seriously consider other options? As many as 31 percent of those who use a car to get to work, university or school, say that were petrol prices to rise by up to 30 percent, they’d seriously consider options like public transport or carpooling— the latter of which only 10 percent say they partake in on a regular basis. 

One of the major findings, though not entirely surprising, is that New Zealanders are still heavily dependant on private cars to get around the place. In fact, 98 percent of us get behind the wheel at least once a week, with around eight in ten of us driving everyday. In Christchurch, that represents 76 percent of those surveyed and for Auckland, 74 percent.

And all that driving is stressing us out, with 80 percent of respondents finding parts of their commute frustrating. But how can that stress be reduced? First of all, don’t drive—if sufficient alternative transport is in place to allow you to do so, of course. Of those surveyed, 45 percent recognise that improving public transportation has the potential to reduce stress levels.

Interest in public transport is strongest among Auckland drivers at 51 percent, with just 27 percent of Christchurch drivers interested in this option. Then again, Christchurch does have the shortest commute of just 22 minutes on average (covering 14 km at an average speed of 140 km/h), when compared to Wellington (25 minutes, covering 17 km at an average speed of 41 km/h) and Auckland at (26 minutes, covering 17 km at an average speed of 39 km/h). 

Wellington is also the country’s best performer when it comes to public transport, with 15 percent taking the bus, 10 percent walking and 9 percent taking the train.

Another option for stress reduction—involving accurate and timely road conditions information through technology like digital road signs—finds favour with 28 percent of respondents.

And should businesses play along, 29 percent of respondents say that introducing greater flexibility to work from home could help too. In fact, 28 percent of drivers say they believe traffic negatively affects their performance either at work, university or school, with the number in Auckland sitting higher at 33 percent. 

When it comes to working from home, it seems the practice is more prevalent in European and American cities. While in New Zealand only 21 percent of full time employees say they work from home at least once a week, that number jumps to 40 percent for many European and American cities. In Wellington, 20 percent say they work from home, while in Auckland the number is 31 percent, and Christchurch has the lowest at 27 percent. 

Aside from working from home, how else do we compare to international cities? While the IBM survey has been conducted for three years globally, 2010 marks its New Zealand debut. Internationally this year, 8,192 motorists in 20 major cities have been surveyed.

Leading the commuter pain index for 2010 is Beijing and Mexico City, both with a score of 99. Johannesburg follows with 97. Auckland’s score of 28—though the highest out of the New Zealand cities (Christchurch, 23 and Wellington 17)—pales in comparison, and puts it somewhere between Toronto (32) and Amsterdam (25). Wellington commuters have one of the lowest index scores, putting it on par with Melbourne and Houston, and keeping close company with Stockholm (15).

So what's the solution to all this congestion and stress? IBM chief technology officer Dougal Watt, says the solution rests in more sustainable, technologically smarter solutions.

“These findings reveal that previous traditional solutions to traffic congestion such as widening existing roads or building new ones will no longer be enough to fix this transport congestion.

"We should look to focus on introducing technology that allows for traffic problems to be predicted and analysed in real-time to help solve commuter pain and ease congestion of our transport networks," says Watt.

Meanwhile Green Party Transport spokesperson Gareth Hughes says the findings illustrate a Government that is out "out of step" with what the country needs for transport. 

“The reason we are so dependent on cars as a nation is not because New Zealanders don’t want to walk, cycle or take good quality public transport, it is because successive governments have reduced transport options through poor policy."

Main image: Flickr - bark