How Many People Drive to Work?

How people in China get to work depends on whether they live close to public transportation or need to drive to work. The majority of people commuting in cities will avoid driving both because it’s expensive to acquire a license plate in China and because traffic is too much of a pain. In major cities, more than 50% of people use the public transportation to commute to work, because it’s the easiest way to avoid the traffic—and in Beijing and Shanghai the metro system is well developed. People also take buses, especially in Tier 2 cities which only have 2-3 metro lines, compared to Shanghai's 15 lines and Beijing's 20 lines.

The average distance people commute to work in China is 12.5km which takes about 50 minutes in the big cities, either on public transportation or by car. The metro is very reliable so you don't have to worry about being late to the office. Additionally, if you drive to work in Beijing, you can only do so on certain days depending on your license plate, a policy developed to reduce traffic jams and air pollution. Perhaps that's why a staggering 70% of people in Beijing take public transportation to work.

For short distance commutes, many people have a scooter or a bicycle, with bike shares becoming more and more popular. Although bikes and scooters aren't the best option when it's raining, even if you have a scooter-shaped umbrella. On rainy days, it seems like everyone takes a taxi because the wait time on taxi apps like Didi can be as long as an hour. Besides rainy days, taxis are especially popular for people who work overtime and leave the office at 10pm after the metro closes.