Author(s): Iain Gately

Culture & Ideas

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 experience of commuting in Britain and around the world: from the crushed passengers of the Tokyo metro to the millions of cyclists in China to the road-rage prone drivers of Middle 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. RUSH HOUR is the first in-depth investigation of the phenomenon and its subculture - past, present and future.