Commuting to & throe

Thinking about commuting and particularly as that moment to try exploit.
So here is someone's average London journey to work via underground. Something for me to chew on....




Got me thinking about the amount Londoners spend on daily transport, commuting to and throe.
I tried to find some stats about the average time the londoner spends sitting (or getting jostled) in transport and importantly how many months or even years is spent doing so as a result. Strangely enough, I had no luck.
But I came across a website that had some interesting stats on the affect of ads placed on the underground and buses on travellers.
Could prove useful considering the QR code effectiveness in getting people responding to it.

This (London) audience is constantly bombarded with advertising messages but how prevalent is ad avoidance? Which ones are achieving cut through?

A variety of methodologies were used to achieve the research including online questionnaires, travel surveys using PDAs and also ethnographic sections and interviews. 90% of the survey respondents lived within the M25.

Key facts:

• Buses and the Underground are icons of London, ahead of Nelson’s Column and other media such as the Evening Standard and Capital FM.
• The London commuter feels that there is too much advertising on TV and on the Internet but welcomes the advertising on Buses and the Tube, more so than any other media.
• Tube advertising with its captive environment provides a welcome and non-interruptive distraction. 87% of LCs prefer the Tube with advertising and ¾ have actually stood closer to a Tube poster to see it better.
• 73% of LCs also prefer buses to have advertising, which is far higher than the next most popular media with advertising, cinema at only 42%
• The problem of ad avoidance is highest amongst LCs on the Internet and radio, and is smallest for Tube and Bus.
• 58% of heavy Tube users have followed up a Tube ad, highlighting the Underground’s ability to drive response due to its captive audience and the dwell time with its media. 
• Amongst all London commuters the Tube beats radio, the Evening Standard, Metro and all other outdoor formats for its response levels.

The PDA section gave a good highlight into people’s behaviour whilst on the Underground and it provided some interesting statistics:

• 91% of LCs notice when poster ads change on the Tube.
• People are a lot calmer than previously thought despite the stereotypical frenetic nature of the system.
• People generally felt that Underground site types had good positioning, were visible and very few people found them dirty.