Personal Travel

How much are people travelling?

In 2023, 64% of people had travelled the day before their survey interview. This is slightly higher than in 2022 (61%), but well below the 2019 figure of 74%. This suggests there has been a sustained reduction in daily travel since the COVID-19 pandemic. [Table TD1].

The average number of trips per adult the day before their survey interview was 1.59 in 2023. This is lower than the 2019 figure of 1.94. [Table TD2e, TD3a, Figure 1].

A line chart showing the average number of journeys per day per adult 2012 to 2023. Numbers were steady starting to decline from 2016, but there was a marked drop between 2019 and 2022/2023.
Figure 1: Average number of journeys per day per adult, 2012 to 2023

Who travels?

The reduction in travel since 2019 has been seen across the population, with decreases seen for males and females, all age groups, and all geographic sub-groups. [Table TD1]

The percentage travelling increased with income, with 53% of those with a household income below £10,000 travelling compared to 70% of those with an income above £50,000. [Table TD1 and Figure 2]

A column chart showing that the likelihood of having travelled the previous day rises as household income rises.
Figure 2: Percentage of adults travelling the previous day by household income, 2023

How do people travel?

Driving a car or van was the most common mode of transport, accounting for over half of journeys (51%). This is a drop since 2022 (55%).

Walking was the next most common mode of transport and saw a rise from 23% of journeys in 2022 to 25% of journeys in 2023. 12% of journeys were as car or van passenger, 7% by bus and 2% by rail. [Table TD2, Table SUM1, and Figure 3]

A bar chart showing the share of journeys by mode of transport. Driving has the biggest share at 51%, followed by walking at 25%.
Figure 3: Modal share of all journeys, 2023

The overall reduction in travel between 2019 and 2023 means that, although the proportion of journeys made by each mode is similar over time, the number of journeys in 2023 for most modes was lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of journeys made by walking and cycling were at similar levels to 2019 and prior years. [Table TD2e]

Why do people travel?

As has consistently been the case in recent years, the two most frequent reasons for travel were shopping (24% of journeys) and commuting (21% of journeys). The proportion of journeys made for commuting was slightly lower in 2023 than in 2019 (21% vs 23%). ‘Going for a walk’ has seen an increase to 10% of journeys from 7% in 2019. [Table TD3 and Figure 4].

A bar chart showing the share of journeys by the purpose of the journey. The top four purposes are shopping (24%), commuting (21%), going for a walk (10%), visiting friends or relatives (10%).
Figure 4: Purpose of travel (most frequent categories), 2023

The number of journeys made for most purposes was similar in 2023 to 2022, but commuting trips per adult per day remained down by a quarter since 2019 (0.45 to 0.34). [Table TD3a]

Travel to Work

Working from home

In 2023, the proportion of employed people who described themselves as working at or from home was 29%. This is markedly higher than the figure in 2019 (16%). [Table 7a and Figure 5]

A pie chart showing 29% of employed people say they work from home, while 71% do not work from home.
Figure 5: Percentage of employed people working from home, 2023

There was a slight increase in 2023 in the proportion of working people reporting travelling to work at least one day per week at 83% compared to 80% in 2022. This remains lower than in 2019 when the figure was 95%. In 2019, almost two thirds (62%) of working people travelled to work 5 days a week, but in 2023 the figure had fallen to 41%. [Table 56 and Figure 6]

A bar chart showing the percentages of working people by how many days the travel to work per week. 41% of people travel to work 5 days a week. 17% travel to work for no days per week.
Figure 6: Number of days working people travelled to work per week, 2023

How do people travel to work?

In 2023, two thirds of people who travelled to work (68%) usually travelled by car or van, usually as a driver (63%). 12% of people usually walked to work, while 10% usually took the bus. These figures are similar to 2019. [Table Sum 1, Table 7 and Figure 7]

A bar chart showing percentages for modes of travel to work. 63% drive to work, 12% walk, 10% take the bus, 5% take the train.
Figure 7: Method of travel to work, 2023

Who travels to work by which mode?

Those on a household income below £15,000 were less likely to travel by car (49%), and more likely to walk (17%) or get the bus (20%) than those with household income over £60,000 (70%, 6% and 6% respectively). [Table 7 and Figure 8]

A bar chart comparing modes of travel to work for the lowest and highest categories of household income. People in households in the lowest income band are more likely to walk or take the bus to work than people in the highest income band.
Figure 8: Percentage of people walking, driving or taking bus to work for highest and lowest income bands, 2023

Travel to School

How do children travel to school?

Over half of children (53%) walked to school, around a quarter (24%) travelled by car and under a fifth (18%) used a bus. There was variation in mode of travel by age. In the 4 to 11 age group, 59% reported walking to school, compared to 46% in the 12 to 18 age group. The older age group were more likely to catch a bus than younger children (29% compared to 8%). [Table 15 and Figure 9]

A bar chart showing mode of travel to school. Walking is most common for younger and older age groups. Taking the bus is the second most common mode for older children.
Figure 9: Method of travel to school, 2023 (main modes)

How long do people travel for?

Duration of travel

The majority of journeys reported were of short duration. 66% of journeys lasted up to 20 minutes. Only 6% lasted more than an hour. [Table TD6 and Figure 10]

A bar chart showing percentages of the duration of journeys. 66% of journeys take under 20 minutes, 27% take 21 to 60 minutes, 6% take over 60 minutes.
Figure 10: Percentage of journeys made by duration of journey, 2023

Distance travelled

Over half (55%) of journeys were under 5 km. [Table TD4 and Figure 11]

The median journey length was 4.0 km, and the mean journey length was 12.7 km. [Table TD5]

A bar chart showing percentages of journeys by road network distance. 55% are under 5km, 29% are between 5km and 20km, 16% are 20km or more.
Figure 11: Percentage of journeys by road network distance, 2023

Walking journeys were an average (median) length of 1.1 km, with car driver journeys at 6.7 km and rail the longest at 25.7 km. [Table TD 5a and Figure 12]

A bar chart showing the median distance for modes of transport. The rail median is highest at 25.7km, the driving median is 6.7km and the bus median is 5.2km.
Figure 12: Average (median) distance (km) by different modes of transport, 2023

70% of journeys under 1 km were made on foot; car journeys (whether as a driver or passenger) accounted for most of the remainder (25%). Car was the most common mode of travel for all distance groupings greater than 2 km. [Table TD2a]