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Most commuters in Germany prefer to travel by car, even for shorter distances
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Most commuters in Germany prefer to travel by car, even for shorter distances

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© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
Dec 11, 2021
Emily Proctor
Former Editor at IamExpat Media.Read more

According to new research done by the Federal Statistical Office, commuters in Germany would rather travel by car to get to work, even over short distances. 

Almost 70 percent of people drive journeys of five to 10 kilometres 

The research has found that for distances of less than five kilometres, 40 percent of people say that they prefer to use their car. This increases sharply when considering distances of five to 10 kilometres, with 69 percent of people saying they would prefer to drive. 

The data, which was collected in the year 2020, also found that 26 percent of commuters use bicycles on journeys less than five kilometres to work, with only 11 percent of people willing to cycle further distances up to 10 kilometres. 

Only 8 percent of people use public transport for short journeys 

Though public transport in Germany is relatively cheap and convenient, only 8 percent of people said that they would use public transport for journeys to work when the distance is less than five kilometres. This does however increase to 18 percent over distances of five to 10 kilometres. 

Out of those who took part in the survey, many people lived close to their place of work. Over half of respondents said that their workplace is less than 10 kilometres away. For 27 percent of respondents, their journey to work each day is even shorter - less than five kilometres.

By Emily Proctor