Sometimes 'joe public' considers academic research to be a waste of money because they don't understand what the research is actually trying to do. The The Large Hadron Collider is a good example. I have no real understanding of what they are trying to do, but for better or worse I trust them.

Today, I came across a BBC News article reporting that a University Professor had concluded that:

"Research shows that an individual's travel choices are bound up with many factors including their personality, habits, family structure and social networks."

My God! Had I only realised that before!

Someone paid him for this...