If you want to be happy on your commute, walk to work — but not in the cold. That’s one of the broad conclusions reached in a study on commuters’ happiness by researchers at McGill University in Montreal.
Unfortunately, walking — especially only in warm weather — isn’t usually an option in Maine. Only 3.5 percent of Maine workers commute to their jobs by walking, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. A whopping 80.5 percent drive in their cars, trucks or van alone, while another 8.9 percent carpool. Here’s the full breakdown:
In the Montreal study, the researchers asked 3,400 commuters to campus to rate how satisfied they were with their mode of transportation. Pedestrians, train commuters and cyclists all said they were happier with their commute than drivers, metro riders and bus riders.
Here are the ratings broken down into a single satisfaction score for each transportation mode:
The results fall in line with previous studies. If you’re active in your commute, and have some control over it, you’re more likely to be happier about it than if the experience is a passive one. People on trains, for instance, can be more productive than those who drive.
(Maine has the same small percentage of workers — 0.5 percent — who take public transit as workers in five other rural states: Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Dakota.)
Of course there are several complicating factors. Bicyclists and walkers reported being not as happy in bad weather. (Go figure.) And, overall, the length of time spent commuting significantly affected satisfaction.
And Mainers do spend a fair amount of time in their cars, though nowhere near as long as people from Maryland. Again, data come from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics:
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the study is that commuters are happier when they can choose their mode of transportation. Does that include you?
