National Travel Survey reveals public ‘have no viable alternatives to the car’

30th Aug 2024

The annual National Travel Survey (NTS) has shown that the average number of car journeys made by people living in England have increased by 6% in 2023.

This means that people made 915 trips on average in 2023, or 18 trips a week.

Despite the growth, ‘trip rates’ remained 4% lower than in pre-Covid pandemic in 2019.

The NTS is a household survey of personal travel by residents of England travelling within Great Britain.

From the data collected through interviews and seven-day travel diaries, the Government can provide analysis of patterns and trends within driving across the country.

The data showed that there were increases in trip rates amongst private transport modes – including as car drivers, car passengers and motorcycles), and public transport modes in 2023.

The 2023 statistics show, average trips increased for both car drivers and passengers to 363 trips per person and 185 trips per person respectively, however, these remained below pre-pandemic levels.

When it comes to the most frequent mode to begin a trip, 39% of trips started with driving a car.

Interestingly, females made more car trips than males, however, males made longer car journeys than females.

When it comes to public transport, journeys on buses are significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels.

The data was analysed by the Department for Transport (DfT), and RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said: “It’s abundantly clear that the private car remains the mode of choice for journeys over a mile in length, despite the fact that the proportion of households with access to a car has remained broadly flat for the last 50 years.

“And while the average distance travelled by bus has crept up slightly this year, it’s still the case that these figures are down hugely compared to the start of the century – reinforcing the fact that many local bus services, where they still exist, simply aren’t working for people.

“The findings give the new government some food for thought as it tries to balance the needs of all road users, whether they are bus riders, cyclists, pedestrians or drivers.

“In the case of the latter, it’s clear many people feel they have no viable alternatives to the car for the trips they need to make.”