Accredited official statistics

NTS 2023: Trends in public transport use and multi-modal public transport trips

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. Please see our latest technical report for more details. This release covers trends in public transport use and multi-modal public transport trips 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.

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.

Trends in public transport use

Chart 10: Trips per person per year by selected public transport modes: England, 2002 to 2023 (NTS0303)

Public transport trips made up 9% of trips and 15% of distance travelled, on average in 2023.

Trends in other local bus (non-London) saw a gradual fall from 46 trips per person in 2002 to 32 trips per person in 2019, followed by a sharp decrease to 15 trips per person in 2020 and most recently an increase to 25 trips per person in 2023. This represents an overall decline of 46% since 2002. The increase in trip rates on buses outside London in 2023 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. The National Travel Attitudes Study Wave 10 statistical release contains more information about the attitudes towards the bus fare cap. This statistical release highlights that the majority of people reported savings in terms of money, and had used the bus in preference to other transport modes, due to the scheme.

Trends in average trips on the London Underground and buses in London were relatively stable from 2002 to 2019, however these both fell in 2020. Since then, trip rates for buses in London increased slightly, but have remained similar in 2023 compared to 2022 with 14 trips per person. Trip rates for the London Underground recovered from the 2020 low with 10 trips per person in 2023, which was an increase of 36% compared to 2022.

Trip rates for buses (in and outside London) remained below pre-pandemic (2019) levels. This is consistent with trends in passenger numbers from the department’s bus statistics which although showing an increase in bus passenger journeys in the year ending 2023, remain lower than before the pandemic (year ending March 2020).

Surface rail trips per person increased from 13 trips per person in 2002 to 21 trips per person in 2019, but fell to 11 trips person in 2020, and increased to 18 trips per person in 2023, an overall increase of 36% since 2002. Trends on the increase in surface rail trips are comparable to the department’s rail statistics which show an increase in rail passenger journeys in the financial year ending 2023, compared to the previous year. This has been attributed to increased services and capacity.

Chart 11: Miles travelled per person per year by selected public transport modes: England, 2002 to 2023 (NTS0303)

Distance travelled for these selected modes of public transport broadly follow the overall trends in numbers of average trips. Distance travelled by bus in London remained similar in 2023 compared to 2022 with 54 miles per person, other local bus increased by 6% to 127 miles per person. Overall, average miles travelled on buses in London and on other local buses have declined by 17% and 40% respectively from 2002 to 2023. Distance travelled on the London Underground increased by 17% to 84 miles per person in 2023 compared to 2022.

People travelled the longest distance on surface rail on average compared to other public transport modes, with 504 miles per person in 2023, an 11% increase compared to 2022, and an overall increase of 16% compared to 2002.

Trends in public transport use by age and sex

Chart 12: Average bus trips and miles travelled, by age and sex: England, 2023 (NTS0601)

In 2023, females of all ages made more bus trips and also travelled a longer distance by bus than males. On average, females made 44 bus trips and travelled 191 miles compared to males who made 34 bus trips and travelled 171 miles. Females made more bus trips than males for all age groups and travelled a longer distance than males for all age groups apart from the age groups of 0 to 16 and 30 to 39. Males and females aged 17 to 20 made the most bus trips with 79 and 90 trips per person respectively and travelled a longer distance by bus than other age groups with 428 miles per person and 536 miles per person respectively.

Chart 13: Average London Underground trips and miles travelled, by age and sex: England, 2023 (NTS0601)

In 2023, females of all ages made a similar number of London Underground trips to males. Females made 11 trips per person, and males made 10 trips per person by London Underground. However, males travelled slightly longer distances by London Underground with 88 miles per person compared to females who travelled 81 miles per person. Males and females aged 21 to 29 made the most London Underground trips amongst their sex with 29 trips per person and 42 trips per person respectively and travelled the longest distance amongst their sex with 253 miles per person and 288 miles per person respectively.

Chart 14: Average surface rail trips and miles travelled, by age and sex: England, 2023 (NTS0601)

In 2023, females of all ages made a similar number of surface rail trips to males. Females made 18 trips per person, and males made 19 trips per person by surface rail. However, males travelled longer by surface rail with 525 miles per person compared to females who travelled 485 miles per person. Males aged 21 to 29 made the most surface rail trips on average amongst their sex with 33 trips per person and also travelled the longest with 879 miles per person. Females aged 17 to 20 made the most surface rail trips on average amongst their sex with 55 trips per person and travelled the longest with 1,220 miles per person.

Multi-modal public transport trips

Chart 15: Flow of travel by mode for public transport trips recorded on day 1 of the travel diary: England, 2023 (ad hoc analyses NTSQ09043)

Flow of public transport trips between modes of transport

This analysis is based on data from the first day of the travel diary as this is the only day on which walks of under a mile are recorded. Walks of under 50 yards are not recorded. This analysis looks into the combination of modes used within public transport trips to understand how people travel between modes, and how often single modes of transport are used within public transport trips. Each column represents a stage, and the thickness of lines is proportional to the number of public transport trips.

Public transport trips are defined as being those where any of the public transport modes form the main mode of the trip, or the mode which is used for the longest stage of the trip by distance. With stages of equal length, the mode of the latest stage is used. Public transport modes include bus in London, other local bus, non-local bus, London Underground, surface rail, taxi or minicab and other public transport.

In 2023, 9% of trips involved public transport as the main mode. Half of public transport trips used a single mode of transport (50%), and the remaining half used more than one transport mode (50%). For all public transport trips, walk was the most frequent mode to begin a public transport trip with 33%, followed by other local bus (25%) and bus in London (14%).

Chart 16: Flow of travel by mode for multi-modal public transport trips recorded on day 1 of the travel diary: England, 2023 (ad hoc analyses NTSQ09043)

Almost two-thirds of public transport trips using more than one mode started with walking (65%), followed by other local bus (9%), surface rail (6%), bus in London (5%) and London Underground (5%).

Surface rail was most often the second mode used within multi-modal public transport trips with 31%, followed by other local bus (18%), bus in London (17%) and London Underground (14%). The majority of these public transport trips preceded and were followed by a walking stage or other public transport modes.

Chart 17: Proportion of multi-modal public transport trips recorded on day 1 of the travel diary which involve more than one public transport mode, by region of residence: England, 2023 (ad hoc analyses NTSQ09043)

Around 27% of multi-modal public transport trips in England involve more than one public transport mode. This rises to 30% in London, suggesting a slightly higher proportion of more complex public transport trips in this region.

Background information

The 2023 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

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