When I created a LinkedIn poll about business travel frustrations, I expected people to say they hated wasting time. I also expected sustainability concerns to be relevant to decision-making. After all, if you can’t work while traveling, those hours feel lost, and global warming is topic that keeps getting hotter.
But that’s not what happened.
44 % of respondents said unreliable trains or flights are their biggest frustration when traveling for work in the DACH region. 28 % chose not being able to work, 17 % said cost, and only 11 % named “bad for the planet.”
The message is unmistakable: when it comes to travel, reliability trumps everything else.
We Talk Green, but Act on Pain
This small data point captures a big truth about human behavior. We say sustainability matters — but when it’s time to decide, personal pain points dominate.
A delayed train or canceled flight feels personal. It disrupts meetings, ruins plans, and adds stress. CO₂ emissions, in contrast, are abstract. We don’t feel them in the moment.
That’s not hypocrisy — it’s human nature. Behavioral economists call this temporal discounting: we give more weight to what affects us now than to what affects us later — even when we know the later consequences matter more.
If we want individuals and organizations to make more sustainable choices, we can’t just appeal to values. We need to align sustainability with self-interest.
Make the Sustainable Option the Smart Option
For years, companies have tried to encourage greener travel through incentives, awareness campaigns, and CO₂ reporting. Yet most professionals still choose the fastest or most convenient option — even when it’s the least sustainable.
Why? Because time, reliability, and comfort are the currencies that matter most in business life.
To change behavior, the sustainable choice has to feel better, not just be better.
That means designing experiences where sustainability is built into the most reliable, productive, and stress-free option — not as a moral add-on, but as a functional advantage.
That’s the Challenge BizBus Is Taking On
At BizBus, we’re rethinking business travel from the traveler’s point of view.
Our goal isn’t only to offer a lower-emission alternative to flying or driving — it’s to make that alternative the most productive and predictable experience on the road.
Imagine boarding in Zurich or Munich, sitting down at a large table with fast, stable Wi-Fi, and working without interruption until you arrive at your destination — on time, city-center to city-center.
That’s not just sustainable. That’s smarter.
We call it a home office on wheels — because productivity, reliability, and sustainability don’t have to be opposites. They can reinforce each other.
The Real Shift
The poll results remind us that change doesn’t start with preaching. It starts with designing systems that work for people as they are, not as we wish they were.
People won’t switch to sustainable options because they’re told to. They’ll switch when it gives them a better experience while saving on stress and frustration.
When the sustainable option becomes the easiest, most reliable, and most productive one — that’s when real transformation happens.
And that’s when we’ll stop talking about sustainable travel and start living it.
Join the BizBus Private Beta
We’re now inviting professionals and companies who believe in this vision to help shape the future of business travel.
If you care about reliability, comfort, and sustainability — and want to turn travel time into productive time — join our private beta!
Together, we can prove that the sustainable choice can also be the best choice.