Which Nations Drive, Fly, Cycle And Take The Train Most?

By: Lindsay Wilson

Americans travel 40% further than Canadians on the road each year, 60% more than Australians and double the distance of Brits.  The figures are total road passenger kilometres per capita from 2010.

The Japanese travel further by rail each year than anyone, at over 3,000 passenger kilometres per capita.  The early adoption of high speed rail networks between numerous large cities is key to that.

Decent public data on distance flown per capita is thin on the ground.  The best I could do here was ‘passengers carried per capita’ by airlines from that country.  Ireland is off the charts due to Ryanair.

The Dutch cycle an average of 2.5 km per day.  Three times that of a German, ten fold a Brit and twenty times more than Americans.
Lindsay Wilson
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I founded Shrink That Footprint in November 2012, after a long period of research. For many years I have calculated, studied and worked with carbon footprints, and Shrink That Footprint is that interest come to life.

I have an Economics degree from UCL, have previously worked as an energy efficiency analyst at BNEF and continue to work as a strategy consultant at Maneas.  I have consulted to numerous clients in energy and finance, as well as the World Economic Forum.

When I’m not crunching carbon footprints you’ll often find me helping my two year old son tend to the tomatoes, salad and peppers growing in our upcycled greenhouse.

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