National travel survey ‘underlines importance of car for personal mobility’

People living in England made an average of 363 trips as a car or van driver in 2023, up 7.7% from the total of 337 during the previous year.

Average trips as a car or van passenger were up 12.1% from 165 to 185 (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Wire)

An increase in car trips last year demonstrates “the importance of the car for personal mobility”, a motoring organisation has said.

The AA made the claim as Department for Transport (DfT) statistics show people living in England made an average of 363 trips as a car or van driver in 2023, up 7.7% from the total of 337 during the previous year.

Average trips as a car or van passenger were up 12.1% from 165 to 185.

Today’s national travel survey, released by the Department for Transport, shows that greater use of road transport and particularly cars signals a return to near-normality after the disruption of Covid and the lockdowns

Jack Cousens, AA

Public transport modes saw small rises in trips, from 23 to 25 per year for buses outside London, and from 15 to 18 for rail services.

For active travel, walking trips fell by 1.7% from 267 to 263, while cycling trips were stable at 15.

AA head of roads policy Jack Cousens said: “Today’s national travel survey, released by the Department for Transport, shows that greater use of road transport and particularly cars signals a return to near-normality after the disruption of Covid and the lockdowns.

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

Rod Dennis, RAC

“More significantly, increases in trip rates amongst private transport modes and public transport modes in 2023 – while trip rates for active transport modes such as walking and cycling have remained similar in 2023 compared to 2022 – underline the importance of the car for personal mobility.”

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.”