National Travel Survey 2019

These respondents were asked why they did not travel on the travel reference day. By far the most common reason given was that they had no need to travel outside the home (43%), while over one fifth (21.1%) were fully occupied with home duties. Nearly one fifth (19%) cited illness as the reason for not making a journey - 10% were suffering from a short-term illness while 5.5% were suffering from a long-term illness and a further 3.5% had a mobility impairment. Weather conditions was the reason cited by 4.1% of persons who did not take any journeys, while a further 3.8% were travelling abroad. See Table 6.2 and Figure 6.1.

Almost one quarter (24.8%) of females who did not travel on the travel reference day stated that they were fully occupied with home duties. This compares with 16% of males who cited this as a reason. Over half (51.2%) of all males who did not take any trips on the travel reference day stated that they had no need to travel outside the home, compared with 37.3% of females who cited this as a reason. Females were more likely not to have made any journeys due to short term illness (11.4%). See Table 6.3.

Over three quarters (76.8%) of persons residing in densely populated areas took a journey on the travel reference day, an increase of nearly six percentage points on 2016. Nearly three quarters (73.6%) of persons living in intermediate density area took trips on the travel reference day, up from 65.9% in 2016. By comparison, 68.6% of persons living in thinly populated areas made trips on the travel reference day, a drop of nearly nine percentage points on the same period in 2016. See Table 6.4, Figures 6.2 and 6.3.