Accredited official statistics

NTS 2023: Introduction and main findings

Published 28 August 2024

Applies to England

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 7-day travel diary, which enables analysis of patterns and trends. This release covers the main findings from these travel behaviours during 2023. During 2023, there were no longer any restrictions due to the pandemic, therefore these trends offer an insight into how personal travel compared to 2019.

NTS 2023 was the first year since 2019 to operate with a fully face-to-face data collection. The final response rate for NTS 2023 was 32%. This is an increase of one percentage point since NTS 2022 (31%). The number of households invited to take part in the NTS was increased in 2023. This means that the number of individuals responding was 74% higher than in 2022 (8,087 individuals), with 14,102 individuals participating in the survey in 2023. Please see our latest technical report for more details.

These are accredited official statistics and were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in September 2018. For more information, see the background information section.

Main findings

Average trips made by people living in England have increased by 6% in 2023 compared to 2022, however, trip rates remain lower than in 2019 (-4%) with 915 trips made on average in 2023.

There were increases in trip rates amongst private transport modes (such as car drivers, car passengers and motorcycles), and public transport modes (apart from buses in London which have remained similar to the previous year) in 2023. Trip rates for active transport modes such as walking and cycling have remained similar in 2023 compared to 2022. Trip rates for all transport modes were however still lower than 2019 (pre-pandemic) apart from walking and motorcycle trips.

Walking trips continued to show an increase of 5% compared to 2019 levels with 263 walking trips per person in 2023, similar to 2022 (267 trips per person). Where more than one transport mode is used within trips, 60% of these trips began with walking in 2023. Nearly all walks recorded in the NTS were under 5 miles in 2023 (99.8%). Most trips to and from school for trip length of under 1 mile were made by walking (80% for children aged 5 to 10 and 89% for children aged 11 to 16) in 2023. Average walking distance travelled was the highest on record since 2002 with 225 miles per person. In 2023, females of all ages made more walking trips on average and walked a greater distance than males, with the age group 30 to 39 making the most walking trips with 327 trips per person.

In 2023, average trips increased for both car drivers and passengers^{[footnote 1]} to 363 trips per person and 185 trips per person respectively, however, these remained below pre-pandemic levels. Car driver was the most frequent mode to begin a trip, with 39% of trips. Females made more car trips than males, however, males made longer car journeys than females. Outside London, residents in England relied on cars for commuting, with 70% of commuting trips made by car by residents from urban areas outside London, and this increased to 81% by residents in rural areas (excluding London).

Half of public transport trips use a single mode of transport, the remaining half use more than one transport mode. Around 27% of multi-modal public transport trips in England involved more than one public transport mode. Average trips by buses outside London increased by 8% in 2023 compared to 2022 with 25 trips per person. This may have at least partially been impacted by the national £2 bus fare cap which came into effect on buses outside London from January 2023 under the previous government. Trip rates on London buses have remained similar in 2023 to 2022 with 14 trips per person. Trip rates on buses are however still lower than pre-pandemic levels. Secondary school children (aged 11 to 16) made 35% of trips to and from school which are 2 to under 5 miles in length by bus, and 47% of trips to and from school which are 5 miles and over in length by bus.

The most common trip purpose in 2023 was for shopping with 169 trips per person. Females aged 40 and over and males aged 60 and over made most of their trips for shopping in 2023. This was followed by commuting with 117 trips per person. Commuting accounted for the longest distance travelled with 1,055 miles per person.

COVID-19 and travel in 2023

The National Travel Survey has found that, broadly, personal travel increased in 2023 but had not returned to pre-pandemic trends. There were increases on many public transport modes such as buses outside London, London Underground and surface rail. Active transport modes (walking and cycling) remained fairly stable compared to 2022. This is consistent with Department for Transport’s COVID-19 transport use statistics which show that travel by various transport modes, whilst varying month-to-month, remained below the pre-pandemic reference point. Monthly domestic public transport use has grown during 2023, although it has remained below pre-pandemic levels.

Chart 1: Trends in trips taken, miles travelled, and hours spent travelling: Great Britain (1972 to 1988) and England (1989 to 2023) (NTS0101)

National Travel Survey mid-year estimates: year ending June 2023

A new statistical release showing mid-year estimates for the year ending June 2023 of travel behaviours by residents of England travelling within Great Britain have been published under the ‘official statistics in development’ label – formerly called experimental statistics. These mid-year estimates have been released in response to internal and external user demand and have focused on key indicators. Prior to the full annual statistics being published, these mid-year estimates show an early indication of trends within headline findings.

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. From then, miles travelled on average gradually declined, however the average number of trips per person and hours spent travelling remained broadly stable until 2019. 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 was the lowest on record and remained at a similar level to 2020. Since then, average miles travelled increased to 5,974 miles in 2023, but remained 8% lower than 2019. The average number of trips and time spent travelling also increased in 2023 compared to 2022.

Chart 2: Trends in trips taken, miles travelled and hours spent travelling: England, 2002 to 2023 (NTS0101)

People made 915 trips on average in 2023, or 18 trips a week. This was an increase of 6% compared to 2022 (862 trips on average), but was a decrease of 4% compared to 2019 (953 trips on average). People travelled on average 5,974 miles in 2023, a 11% increase compared to 2022 (5,373 miles on average) but a decrease of 8% compared to 2019 (6,500 miles on average). People spent 353 hours on average travelling in 2023, an increase of 9% compared to 2022 (324 hours on average) but a 5% decrease compared to 2019 (370 hours on average). This includes 22 minutes per cycling trip, 21 minutes per car driver trip and 18 minutes per walking trip, on average in 2023.

Background information

The 2023 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 7-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.travelsurvey@dft.gov.uk.

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in September 2018. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and are labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

Further information is available, including:

• data tables

• notes and definitions

• guidance and quality information

• future developments

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Contact details

National Travel Survey statistics

Email national.travelsurvey@dft.gov.uk

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1. All references to ‘car’ include a small number of vans. ↩