Brussels fails to impress commuters – but its offices are among the best

Date: 04/07/02

THE journey between home and work is a growing source of stress for office workers in Brussels, according to a new survey.

Commuters - among them thousands of EU staff - take an average of 44 minutes to reach their offices in the Belgian capital, compared with 33 minutes in Barcelona.

The survey, called Working in Europe Today, asked people in full-time jobs what they thought of their cities, their place of work and the journey between home and work.

It also carried out surveys in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan and Paris.

On travel-to-work time, only Amsterdam (47 minutes) and London (51 minutes) fared worse than Brussels.

However, the capital of Europe performed better on the quality of its offices, beaten only by Frankfurt's.

On security, 63 of those questioned in the Belgian capital said they felt safe in the streets while 54 rated friends and office colleagues as the main attraction of working in the city.

Eric Peeters, of Cushman and Wakefield Healey & Baker, which conducted the poll, said: 'Brussels gets the lowest score in terms of mobility and commuting but does better in terms of the quality of the city's offices.'

Results of a survey, Working in Europe Today, which asked people in full-time jobs what they thought of their cities, their place of work and the journey between home and work.