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National Travel Survey 2021: Introduction and main findings

Published 31 August 2022

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-travel-survey-2021/national-travel-survey-2021-introduction-and-main-findings

About this release

The National Travel Survey (NTS) is a household survey of personal travel by residents of England travelling within Great Britain, from data collected via interviews and a seven-day travel diary, which enables analysis of patterns and trends. This release covers the main findings from these travel behaviours during 2021. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from March 2020, has had a substantial impact on travel trends in 2020 and 2021 and has affected the operation of this survey.

Fieldwork for the NTS 2021 survey continued to be impacted by the coronavirus restrictions from March 2020, with data collection combining the approach used in 2020 with interviews being conducted via telephone (push-to-telephone approach) instead of face-to-face, and to increase response rates, doorstep recruitment by trained interviewers with interviews being conducted over the telephone (knock-to-nudge approach).

Response rates to the survey in 2021 were halfway between 2019 levels (14,356 individuals) and 2020 levels (6,239 individuals) with 9,971 individuals participating in the survey, an increase of 60% compared to 2020, but a decrease of 31% compared to 2019. Consequently, caution is needed when interpreting these results for 2020 and 2021 as they are likely to be less representative of residents of England compared to previous years. Please see our technical note for more details.

Main findings

Average trips made by people living in England have remained at a similar level in 2021 compared to 2020, however trip rates remain lower than in 2019 (-21%) with 757 trips made on average in 2021.

There were increases in trip rates amongst car passengers and all public transport modes in 2021 compared to 2020, and decreases in other private and active transport modes such as cycling. Walking and car driver average trips remained similar to 2020. Most of the increase in overall average trips was due to an increase in the average number of car passenger trips taken. There were 10% more car passenger trips with 148 trips per person in 2021. Across public transport modes, trips increased by 19% compared to 2020, but remain 45% lower than average trips in 2019.

Following a peak in cycling in 2020, the number of trips and distance cycled per person fell back towards pre-pandemic trends. In 2021, there was an average of 55 miles travelled per person, which was similar to pre-pandemic levels, although a greater proportion of the trips were for leisure purposes, and a smaller proportion were for commuting trips. This matches changes seen in commuting trip numbers generally since the start of the pandemic. Compared to 2020, average cycling trips decreased by 27% in 2021 to 15 trips per person, a figure which is 7% lower than 2019.

Males made more cycling trips on average than females in all age groups, with 24 cycling trips per person in 2021, compared to 7 cycling trips per person by females. Males travelled four times the distance with an average of 89 miles cycled as opposed to 22 miles cycled by females.

Walking trips in 2021 were similar to the average in 2020 at 235 trips per person, but a decrease of 6% compared to 2019. Average miles walked decreased by 4% in 2021 to 210 miles per person compared to 2020 (220 miles per person), however, this remains an increase of 3% compared to 2019 (205 miles per person). Females made more walking trips on average in 2021 with 256 trips per person, compared to males with 213 trips per person. This was seen across all age groups apart from those aged 17 to 20. Females also walked longer journeys than males with 218 miles per person, compared to 202 miles per person by males in 2021.

There have been increases in trips for the purposes of commuting, education, personal business and visiting friends at home in 2021 compared to 2020, however, trips for these purposes remain lower on average than in 2019. There were decreases in day trips and other trips including just walk in 2021 to 36 and 106 trips per person, a decrease of 20% and 7% respectively compared to 2020. However, these are the only trip purposes that remain higher on average than trips in 2019, an increase of 15% and 74% respectively.

The most common trip purpose in 2021 was for shopping, however, there has been a decrease of 6% in shopping trips in 2021 compared to 2020, to 133 trips per person. The longest trips in terms of distance travelled were for commuting with 817 miles per person, the second longest were for visiting friends at home with 695 miles per person and the third longest were for shopping in 2021 with 466 miles per person.

COVID-19 and travel in 2021

During 2021, residents of England faced varying levels of pandemic-related restrictions, including the third national lockdown from January to March and phased exit thereafter, with the final restrictions on social contact lifted in the summer. Towards the end of the year, with the emergence of the Omicron variant, the Government issued guidance including ‘work-from-home’ for office workers, which would have impacted personal travel at that time. The National Travel Survey has found that broadly, personal travel in 2021 has not returned to pre-pandemic trends and patterns, although there were increases in public transport usage compared to the low levels seen in 2020. This is consistent with Department for Transport’s COVID-19 transport use statistics which show that personal travel, whilst varying month-to-month, remained below the pre-pandemic reference point, especially in the early part of the year.

Chart 1: Trends in trips taken, miles travelled, and hours spent travelling: 1972 to 2021 (NTS0101)

From the early 1970s to the early 2000s, the average distance people travelled per year increased, but the number of trips and time spent travelling stayed broadly the same. Since then miles travelled on average has gradually declined, however the average number of trips per person and hours spent travelling have remained broadly stable. In 2020 there was a sharp decline in average miles, trips and hours travelled compared to 2019, during a year when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in restrictions on travel. In 2021, average miles travelled remained at a similar level to 2020 (4,329 miles, -33% compared to 2019), which is the lowest on record. The average number of trips and time spent travelling were also similar to 2020.

Chart 2: Trends in trips taken, miles travelled and hours spent travelling: England, 2002 to 2021 (NTS0101)

People made 757 trips on average in 2021, or 15 trips a week. This was similar to 2020 (739 trips on average) and a decrease of 21% compared to 2019 (953 trips on average). People travelled on average 4,329 miles in 2021, a decrease of 33% compared to 2019 (6,500 miles on average). People spent 273 hours on average travelling in 2021, a similar level to 2020 (269 hours on average) and a 26% decrease compared to 2019 (370 hours on average). This includes 26 minutes per cycling trip, 19 minutes per car driver trip and 19 minutes per walking trip, on average in 2021.

Background information

The 2021 National Travel Survey (NTS) is the latest in a series of household surveys of personal travel by residents of England travelling within Great Britain, from data collected via interviews and a seven-day travel diary. The NTS is part of a continuous survey that began in 1988, following ad-hoc surveys from the 1960s, which enables analysis of patterns and trends.

Some key uses of the data include describing patterns, for example how different groups of people travel, monitoring trends in travel, including sustainable modes; assessing the potential equality impacts of different groups; and contributing to the evaluation of policies.

We always welcome feedback to help ensure that the survey meets the needs of users, and any feedback provided will help inform the future design and development of the survey. If you have any feedback, please email National Travel Survey statistics.

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