Today's National Travel Survey
statistics from the Department for Transport reveal
that:
-
People on the lowest income
are far less mobile than the wealthiest in England, or even the
average person.
Those on a lowest income (by quintile) travelled on average
4,400 miles less in 2023 than people on the highest income, and
over 2,300 miles less than the average person. People on the
lowest income made over 170 less trips than those on the
highest incomes.
-
Bus usage has not yet
returned to pre-pandemic
levels, with long term
trends revealing the dire state of England's bus
sector. The average
distance travelled per person by bus outside London is still
down 31 miles on 2019 levels, and 40 per cent lower than in
2002. In London people are travelling 19 miles less per person
by bus than in 2019, with a 17 per cent decline since
2002.
-
There is a mixed picture for
levels of walking, wheeling and cycling.
Walking and wheeling are steadily
increasing, with 225 miles
clocked per person (a 10 per cent increase from 2019).
The hoped for post-pandemic boost
hasn't emerged for cycling - the average distance travelled per
person by cycling is now lower than in 2019
(47 miles were cycled per
person in 2023, compared to 57 miles in 2022 and 54 miles in
2019).
Women are more likely to walk then
men (women made 13 per cent
more walking trips than men) but are less than half as likely
to cycle than men (men made 22 cycle trips per person compared
to nine trips for women).
-
The distance travelled by
car remains lower than 2019 but continues to
climb.
Car trips (as a driver and
passenger) made up over three quarters (78 per cent) of the
average distance travelled per person in 2023. These remain
below pre-pandemic levels but have increased by almost 500
miles on average per person since 2022. These increases aren't
compatible with meeting the UK's 2030 carbon reduction targets.
The number of households
without access to a car remains relatively stable at 22 per
cent. Those on the lowest income are the least likely to have
access to a car – 44 per cent
of households in the lowest income quintile had no access to a
car, compared to 15 per cent in the highest income
quintile.
Reacting to today's data
release, Stephen Frost,
principal research fellow at IPPR,
said:
“These statistics reveal the scale
of the challenge the new government has inherited in transport.
The transport system is broken. It is currently stacked against
the poorest in society and many have limited, or no, access to
healthy, sustainable and affordable ways to
travel.
“The new transport secretary has
rightly said that ‘fixing' transport is key to the success of all
Labour's missions – including growing the economy, meeting the
UK's climate commitments and improving public health. The
government has limited time to achieve these goals and must
quickly deliver on its promise of ‘unprecedented levels of
funding' for active travel if it is to keep its targets in reach
and make streets safer and more
attractive.
“England's first integrated
transport strategy is a welcome opportunity to make transport
work better for ordinary people and put in place a long-term plan
to tackle the underlying inequalities caused by forced car
dependency.”
ENDS
NOTES TO
EDITORS
