• by Ray Schultz , August 30, 2018

Commuting time should be counted as work time, given that many people check and send emails en route, judging by a new study.

The University of the West of England found that 54% of commuters accessing WiFi on trains going into London were sending work emails. 

This prompted researcher Juliet Jain to deplore the “blurring of boundaries” between home and work life, according to the BBC. 

This is in line with other recent studies.

Adobe reported last week that of 1,011 U.S. white-collar workers surveyed, 22% check their emails when commuting to and from their jobs. And 10% do so while driving.

B2B marketers might conclude that morning and evening rush hours are good send times for emails.

However, Adobe determined that 39% don’t check their emails until they get to the office.

Of consumers polled by Adobe, 41% check their work emails while watching TV or a movie, and 31% while in bed. People ages 35 and older are less likely to check work emails in such situations. Overall, 85% regularly check email on smartphones.

The UK study shows that somecommuters like the "buffer" of being able to work on the train, the BBC continues.

"It's really important to my sanity that I can get work done on the train," says one.

The University of the West of England studied the patterns of 5,000 commuters.