How to travel to work in 2024 and make the most of your time

Many people see work travel as lost time — but it doesn’t have to be that way.

If you drive to work and sit in traffic, your travel time to work is lost time. But when you choose another means of transport, your travel time becomes an opportunity to decompress, learn, or even work.

This turns your work travel time into an opportunity — allowing you to turn your attention away from driving and to something more fulfilling. When you plan to travel for work, you must be aware that travel time is a gift, not only a period of waiting time. But you must balance any need to work while travelling with the opportunity to switch off — something you can’t do when driving.

Explore the best options for how to travel for work in 2024. ?

How to think about work travel in 2024

Wi-Fi, laptops, and mobile hotspots have all supported the ability to work from anywhere, leading to a sharp increase in hybrid and remote working. But as employers developed hybrid working policies, working while in transit fell under the radar.

Trains offer Wi-Fi, an increasing number of buses and cars have USB charging points, and you can continue to make calls or reply to emails when you use ride-hailing services. So, when you travel for work, you can do the same amount of work as you would at your desk — depending on your means of transport.

This blurs the line between traditional ideas of travelling and not travelling — as being in transit no longer prevents you from completing specific tasks.

With this blurring line comes the need for employers to take action in 2 areas:

1. You must cater for employees who want the option to work while travelling;
2. It’s essential to stress the importance of switching off from work.

Let’s explore these points in more detail. ?

1. Support employees who wish to work while travelling

44% of business travellers want to use travel time to work. For these people, commuting to a client meeting is a valuable chance to catch up on emails or write meeting notes.

You can give these people a free workstation as they move around for business by addressing your team’s travel.

Supporting your team to take more sustainable forms of transport is the solution. Offering allowances or incentives to travel by alternatives to company and private cars makes the costs more manageable, helps to relieve congestion, and gives employees a chance to be productive or switch off. Removing the stress of daily driving will benefit your team’s physical and mental health.

When considering your team’s travel needs, consider public transport and sustainable mobility companies.

2. Stress the importance of switching off after work

Technology allows workers to stay connected while travelling, but they almost have a moving desk. The easier you make it for your team to work while travelling, the more you must remind them to take time out for their health.

While it’s great for touching up a presentation or joining a video call, you should also encourage your team to use travel time to work to switch off. Investing this time back into yourself will benefit your work in the long term through:

• Higher productivity;
• Better quality sleep;
• Improved physical and mental health.

Fortunately, the same methods of transport that can support productivity — trains and work ride-hailing trips — also allow people to switch off. And being an employer who supports a healthy work-life balance is good for employee retention and reduces the amount of sick leave taken.

How to travel for work in 2024

With the blurring line between travelling and not travelling for work, employees are looking for reliable and efficient ways to get around.

Your options are:

• Ride-hailing;
• Driving;
• Public transport;
• Active travel;
• Micromobility.

Let’s look at how each can benefit your company. ?

Ride-hailing

Ride-hailing services connect you with a driver of a private vehicle. You can use the Bolt app to:

• Book or schedule work rides;
• Track your driver;
• Pay for your order.

This level of visibility is excellent for business travel as it adds to the reliability, convenience, and traceability that business travellers need when they travel for work.

Bolt also provides a more transparent payment process. With a digital receipt sent directly to your email, you can easily track your expenses and submit them for reimbursement. This eliminates the need for paper receipts and manual expense reports, saving time and money.

Driving

In most countries, driving beats all other forms of mobility when business travellers choose how to travel for work. But while many people see it as convenient, it’s important to be aware that it’s not the most affordable, sustainable, or healthiest option.

From a business perspective, cars drain your financial resources significantly. Whether you provide your team with company cars or a car allowance, you’re paying for ever-increasing fuel, maintenance, and parking costs (plus much more).

Unfortunately, driving may be the only option, depending on the location of your business and where your team needs to travel for work. But when travelling around a city, there are always better options.

Fortunately, all other mobility options in this list can save your business money, boost your sustainability efforts, and create a healthy working culture.

Public transport

Buses, trains, and trams offer an efficient way to travel between cities.

By promoting public transport over driving, you’ll help to:

• Reduce traffic congestion;
• Lower carbon emissions;
• Encourage physical activity (you need to get to the bus stop or train station).

Many cities offer frequent, convenient, and reliable public transport options to free up your commuting time.

Active travel

Walking and cycling are two great ways to travel for work — when you don’t have to travel too far.

Cycling, for example, combines muscular effort with plenty of sensory stimulation simply by being outside. And this combination makes people who cycle to work the happiest commuters.

Ultimately, you won’t feel like you’re “wasting” your travel time to work sitting behind the wheel of a car.

Even the co-founder of Bolt, Martin Villig, ditched his car keys in favour of cycling to work.

If you like the idea of active travel but don’t want to rely on a push bike or live slightly too far from your destination to walk or cycle, then micromobility could be the answer. ?

Micromobility

Micromobility refers to scooters and bikes.

With a Bolt Business account, you can give your team access to Bolt scooters and e-bikes. Both are proving popular with workers as micromobility trips for work rose by 160% in 2023.Like driving, you can’t work when riding an electric scooter or e-bike. But they’re the perfect way to feel energised before a working day.

Combining mobility options is a growing trend

When considering how to travel for work, you’re not limited to one or the other.

In fact, a growing number of commuters and business travellers are combining modes of transport.

An example of a multimodal commute looks like this:

• Cycle from home to the train station;
• Travel by train to your workplace;
• Walk or use micromobility to get to your workplace.

Combining mobility options allows you to exercise on either side of some free time on public transport. Suddenly, commuting time becomes an opportunity.

How to spend your travel time to work

If you choose active travel, micromobility, or driving, then how you’ll spend your travel time to work is decided for you, as you should be fully aware of your surroundings.

However, a key difference between these forms of travel is how they’ll affect you in the long run. If you drive all the time, then you could develop various health problems, like increased blood pressure.

Meanwhile, walking and cycling can help to reduce those same health problems.

Aside from health, you can use your travel time to:

• Work;
• Make some calls;
• Catch-up on emails or Slack messages;
• Do some research;
• Learn a new skill;
• Listen to music or a podcast;
• Read a book, newspaper, or magazine;
• Write your to-do list;
• Do nothing.

Of course, how you spend your work travel time may depend on your reason for travelling. ?

Reasons for business travel

There’s almost an endless list of reasons you may need to travel for work, such as:

• Meeting with colleagues;
• Meeting clients;
• Attending a conference or event.

All types of work travel come with pros and cons. Let’s dive into them. ?

Benefits of business travel

Employers and employees alike can benefit from travelling for work. Here are a few benefits:

Personal growth and professional development

Getting out of the workplace and into a new environment is the ideal way to broaden your horizons. And the experience of meeting new people (clients or colleagues) will be great for confidence.

Gives your business the edge over competitors

Exploring new and existing markets and territories allows you to identify gaps and work on products or services that meet the needs of your competitors.

Interact with other industry professionals

Attending a conference is a great chance to meet fellow professionals in your network. Over time, the relationships you make at these events could become fruitful business opportunities.

Build rapport with colleagues

Travelling for business isn’t all about networking with new people. It’s also an excellent opportunity to get to know those you work with daily.Having the opportunity to build stronger relationships with the people you work with can lead to better business results.

Increase morale, productivity, and retention

Sending employees away on business trips shows that you value them and consider them a great representation of the company. By trusting your team to represent the company, they’ll feel a stronger connection with their work.

Disadvantages of travelling for work

As you’ll see, driving is the cause of many disadvantages of travelling for work. If you still rely on company cars or car allowances, then it might be time to rethink your company’s travel policy.

Expense

Travelling for work has many benefits but comes at a financial cost.

If your team travels frequently, then the expenses will soon add up. And those expenses attached to business travel are the most significant downside for many organisations.

On top of transport, you have:

• Accommodation;
• Meals;
• Insurance.

Longer trips, especially, can soon become a financial burden. This is why employers need to be aware of the expenses, plan, and look for ways to cut costs.

Impact employee productivity

Business trips are an opportunity for personal growth, making new connections, and feeling a stronger connection to your company.

But depending on the length of your trip, there can be some downsides:

• Routine disruption;
• Added stress;
• Fewer chances to focus.

To keep the above to a minimum, you need a clear plan and full visibility of everything happening — this is where ride-hailing services help.

?Get transparent travel prices, visibility of the driver’s arrival time, and automate your expenses with a Bolt Business account or a Work Profile.

Time

Commuters who drive lose around 54 hours a year in traffic. But, as we’ve seen, travel can be an opportunity to work or recharge when you’re not driving.

And when you frequently travel to work behind the wheel, it’s also bad for your health. ?

Employee health

Employers need to consider employee wellbeing (both physical and mental) ahead of every business trip. Without proper planning, work travel can lead to:

• Reduced physical activity;
• Poor sleep quality;
• Increased stress levels;
• Unhealthy eating habits.

Combine them all, and you won’t have a productive business trip.

To keep employees feeling well during a business trip and counter these potential health problems, employers need to:

• Encourage physical activity;
• Offer mental health support;
• Provide ergonomic equipment such as a laptop stand and keyboard.

You can also give your employees more control over their trip by allowing them to book their own travel. With Bolt Business, your employees can charge work rides straight to the company — giving them the reliability they need.

How to use technology to improve work travel

Technology has made it easier than ever to travel for business.Embrace digital tools, and you’ll see the benefits:

• Cut your company’s business travel expenses;
• Gives each individual added convenience and reliability;
• Allows business travellers to focus on the job.

The first thing you need to do is download the best business travel apps. And when your company creates a Bolt Business account, your employees can turn Bolt into a business travel app.

Pack all the technology you need for every business trip — such as your laptop, mobile phone, and noise-cancelling headphones. Pack everything you need with this business trip packing list.

Travel time for work FAQs

What is travel time in the workplace?

The time spent travelling for work purposes during the working day is considered working time. The only time it isn’t, in most cases, is when commuting.

What is considered a lot of travel time for work?

Regarding commuting, spending more than 1 hour travelling is considered an extensive period.

For roles that involve business travel, some companies will display necessary travel time as a percentage of the entire role. For example, 20% of your time will be spent away on business trips.If this percentage goes between 50-75%, that’s a considerable amount of time. Spending 2-3 weeks of each month away on business can impact your relationships with family and friends.

What is the meaning of travel time?

Travel time refers to the time it takes to travel from one place to another. Your work travel time will vary depending on how far away you live from your workplace, where clients are based, and whether you need to travel abroad.

Make the most of your travel time to work with Bolt Business

Using the Bolt app for work travel gives your employees various ways to travel in 500+ cities across Europe and Africa.

By creating a Bolt Business account, your employees will see your company as a payment method in the Bolt app — allowing them to charge work travel straight to your company. Meanwhile, the admins of your company’s Bolt Business account can set spending limits, build travel policies, and get complete visibility of all orders.You can create an account for your company online in minutes. It’s the first step towards improving your team’s travel time to work.