J.K. Rowling is the person that most Bristol commuters would choose to travel to work with, according to a survey carried out by new shared ride to work service Slide Bristol.
Respondents were asked which local celebrity they would most like to share their commute with, and Yate’s very own Harry Potter author came out top, taking 18% of the vote, beating elusive Bristol street artist Banksy and heart-throb Aidan Turner, who is currently filming Poldark here, into joint second place. Perhaps even more surprisingly, Aardman’s popular Shaun the Sheep failed to pull in votes from the city’s commuters.
Bristol’s beloved Big Brother star and celebrity magazine favourite, Josie Gibson, was unfortunately picked as the local celebrity commuters would least like to share their journey to work with.
The survey also revealed some interesting facts about the way people commute in the city. Over 40% of respondents admitted they currently commute by car. Walking was the next most popular choice at 24%. 13% said they take a bus to work and only 3.5% of those surveyed said they commuted by train.
When asked what would be their favourite way to travel to work if they could use any method, the most popular choice was walking at 29%. 24% of respondents chose Slide as their second favourite way to commute, suggesting that the new service could become a popular transport option in the future. 13% said they would still choose to drive to work, and the least preferred option was taking a bus to work, at 4%.
Coralie Triadou, Slide Bristol, said: “Bristolians have got a clear favourite celebrity they'd wish to commute with. But people in the City are obviously wizards about adopting new forms of transport.
“We really hope that we can improve the city’s travel habits and encourage commuters to get out of their own cars and give Slide a go. Building on Bristol’s reputation for innovation, the city is the first place in the world to have Slide and we hope it can play a small part in helping to reduce the city’s congested roads, providing another alternative for commuters.”
Slide Bristol has this week been shortlisted as a finalist in the TravelWest Sustainable Transport Awards.