Rush hour : how 500 million commuters survive the daily journey to work

An exploration of the history and nature of commuting that uncovers the extraordinary lurking beneath the everyday

Across the world, half a billion people commute to work daily. This "time between" work and home is experienced by every person with a job at some point in their life. Iain Gately traces the history of commuting from the Victorian age of the steam train to the mass-commuting of the present. He investigates the contrasting experiences of commuting around the world: from the crushed passengers of the Tokyo metro to the millions of cyclists in China to the roadrage prone drivers of America. Whether undertaken by car, bus, train, or bicycle, commuting shapes our days and creates a time and a space for a surprisingly diverse range of activities. This is the first in-depth investigation of the phenomenon and its subculture, past, present, and future.