Personal Travel

How much are people travelling?

In 2024, 73% of people had travelled the day before their survey interview. This is higher than in 2023 (64%) and a return to the level seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. [Table TD1].

There was also an increase in the average number of trips per adult the day before the survey interview to 1.96 in 2024 from 1.59 in 2023. This average was similar to 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 2024. Numbers were starting to decline from 2016, but there was a marked drop between 2019 and 2022. In 2024 the number had risen to 2019 level.
Figure 1: Average number of journeys per day per adult, 2012 to 2024

Who travels?

The increase in travel between 2023 and 2024 has been seen across the population, with increases seen for males and females and all age groups. [Table TD1]

The percentage travelling increased with income, with 62% of those with a household income below £10,000 travelling compared to 80% 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, 2024

How do people travel?

People were using the different modes of transport in a similar proportions in 2024 to 2023. Since people were making more journeys in 2024 than in 2023, the increase in journeys can be seen across most modes of transport. [Table TD2, Table TD2e].

Driving a car or van was the most common mode of transport, accounting for over half of journeys (51%) in 2024. Walking was the next most common mode of transport at 25% of journeys in 2024. 12% of journeys were as car or van passenger, 7% by bus and 2% by rail. [Table TD2, Table SUM1, and Figure 3]

Two-thirds of people (66%) had walked as a means of transport at least one day in the week leading up to the survey interview. This percentage has been steady in recent years, but the percentage of people doing so in 6 or 7 days that week (16%) has fallen since 2019 (22%). At the same time, walking for pleasure or to keep fit has risen with 69% of people doing so at least one day in the week in 2024, compared to 62% in 2019. [Table 25]

In 2024, 5% of people had cycled as a means of transport at least one day in the week leading up to the survey interview and 5% had cycled for pleasure or to keep fit. These figures were slightly lower than in 2023. [Table 25a]

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: Breakdown of transport modes used for all journeys, 2024

Why do people travel?

As has been the case in recent years, the two most common reasons for travel were shopping (23% of journeys) and commuting (20% of journeys). The proportion of journeys made for commuting remains lower in 2024 than it was in 2019 and prior years. ‘Going for a walk’ was the reason for 10% of journeys, about the same as 2023. This represents an increase compared to 2012 to 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 (23%), commuting (20%), visiting friends or relatives (11%), going for a walk (10%).
Figure 4: Purpose of travel (most frequent categories), 2024

There were increases in the number of journeys for most purposes in 2024 compared to 2023. [Table TD3a]

Travel to Work

Working from home

In 2024, the proportion of employed people who described themselves as working at or from home was 25%, a drop from 2023 (29%). This continues to be above the percentage in 2019 (16%). [Table 7a and Figure 5]

A pie chart showing 25% of employed people say they work from home, while 75% do not work from home.
Figure 5: Percentage of employed people working from home, 2024

There was a slight increase in 2024 in the proportion of working people reporting travelling to work 2 days per week at 10% compared to 7% in 2023. The percentage who reported travelling to work 0 days per week (14%) fell compared to 2023 (17%), but remained well above the 2019 figure of 5%. [Table 56 and Figure 6]

A bar chart showing the percentages of working people by how many days the travel to work per week. 40% of people travel to work 5 days a week. 14% travel to work for no days per week.
Figure 6: Number of days working people travelled to work per week, 2024

How do people travel to work?

In 2024, two thirds of people who travelled to work (66%) usually travelled by car or van, usually as a driver (62%). 12% of people usually walked to work, while 10% usually took the bus. [Table Sum 1, Table 7 and Figure 7]

A bar chart showing percentages for modes of travel to work. 62% drive to work, 12% walk, 10% take the bus, 6% take the train.
Figure 7: Method of travel to work, 2024

Who travels to work by which mode?

Those on a household income below £15,000 were less likely to travel by car (50%), and more likely to walk (23%) or get the bus (19%) than those with household income over £60,000 (66%, 7% 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, 2024

How long do people travel for?

Duration of travel

The majority of journeys reported were of short duration. 68% of journeys lasted up to 20 minutes. Only 4% lasted more than an hour. [Table TD6 and Figure 9]

A bar chart showing percentages of the duration of journeys. 68% of journeys take under 20 minutes, 28% take 21 to 60 minutes, 4% take over 60 minutes.
Figure 9: Percentage of journeys made by duration of journey, 2024

Distance travelled

An improvement has been made to the methodology for estimating the distance of journeys. This has had a small impact on statistics involving distance and the time series has been revised.

More information is included in the Supporting Information section.

Over half (54%) of journeys were under 5 km. [Table TD4 and Figure 10]

The median journey length was 4.3 km, and the mean journey length was 13.1 km. [Table TD5]

A bar chart showing percentages of journeys by road network distance. 54% are under 5km, 30% are between 5km and 20km, 16% are 20km or more.
Figure 10: Percentage of journeys by road network distance, 2024

Walking journeys were an average (median) length of 1.3 km, with car driver journeys at 6.5 km and rail the longest at 21.7 km. [Table TD5a and Figure 11]

A bar chart showing the median distance for modes of transport. The rail median is highest at 21.7km, the driving median is 6.5km and the bus median is 5.4km.
Figure 11: Average (median) distance (km) by different modes of transport, 2024

71% of journeys under 1 km were made on foot; car journeys (whether as a driver or passenger) accounted for most of the remainder (22%). Car was the most common mode of travel for all distance groupings greater than 2 km. [Table TD2a]