Travel Behaviour Trends 2021

In 2021, the busiest time for taking journeys was between 16:00 and 18:59, with nearly one quarter (23.9%) of all journeys taken during this time. Comparing the 2021 data with previous years’ data, this was also the busiest time of day in 2019 (22.5%) and 2016 (24%). One fifth of all journeys (20.6%) in 2021 were made between 07:00 and 09:59, when persons might be travelling to work, dropping children to school, etc., a slight increase on 2016 and 2019 (19.7%). Another one fifth (20.9%) of all journeys in 2021 were taken during lunchtime and early afternoon, between 13:00 and 15:59, when persons might be going for lunch, doing school pick-ups, finishing work, etc., compared with just over one in five (20.7%) in 2019 and 22.2% in 2016. Less than one in five (18.5%) of journeys were taken during the morning between 10.00 and 12.59. See Table 4.1.

During the busiest time of the day (16.00-18.59), males were more likely than females to take a journey. Almost one quarter (24.8%) of males took a trip during this time, compared with 22.9% of females. This follows the same trend as in previous years – in 2019, 23.5% of males’ journeys compared with 21.7% for females, and in 2016, 25.9% of journeys taken by males compared with 22.3% for females. Between 7pm and midnight, males were also more likely to take trips, also following the same trend as in previous years – over one in seven (13.3%) journeys taken by males compared with less than one in nine (11.5%) trips taken by females. Females were more likely to take trips during the early morning (07:00-09:59) and in the afternoon (13:00-15.59). Over one in five (22.4%) journeys taken by females were during these time periods. By comparison, less than one in five journeys taken by males were made during these times – 18.9% in the morning (07:00-09:59) and 19.5% in the afternoon (13:00-15:59). See Table 4.1.

The overall percentage of total journeys made between midnight and 06:59 was relatively low, with less than one in twenty-five (3.7%) of journeys during this time. Journeys taken by males during this time period were nearly double (4.7%) that of females (2.6%). See Table 4.1, Figures 4.1 and 4.2.

The greatest proportion of journeys by 18 to 34 year olds was between 16:00 and 18:59 (25.4%). Over one fifth (21.3%) of journeys by this age group were made in the morning between 07:00 and 09:59. Nearly one quarter (24%) of journeys by persons in the 35 to 54 years age group were also in the morning between 07:00 and 09:59, while a further one quarter (24.6%) of journeys taken by this age group were between 16:00 and 18:59. The busiest time for persons aged 55 years and over was in the morning between 10:00 and lunchtime (29%), while nearly one quarter (23.9%) of journeys by this age group were in the afternoon between lunch and 4pm. See Table 4.3 and Figure 4.3.

Comparing the 2021 results with the 2019 survey data, Tuesday remains the busiest day of the week. Of all journeys taken by respondents to this survey, over one quarter (26.1%) were taken on Tuesdays, up over one percentage point since the survey was last carried out in 2019 (24.6%). The least busiest days of the week are at the weekend. One in fifteen (6.7%) of all journeys taken were on a Sunday, the same as in 2019. Just 6.2% of all journeys were taken on Saturdays, a slight increase on the same period in 2019 (5.8%). One in five (20.1%) journeys were taken on Wednesdays, the same as in 2019, while on the following day, Thursday, one in eight (12%) of all trips were taken on this day, up one percentage point form 2019 (11%). The percentage of journeys taken decreased on Mondays and Fridays. Nearly one in five (18.4%) journeys took place on Mondays, down from 20.3% in 2019, while on Fridays, 10.6% of journeys took place, down one percentage point since 2019 (11.6%). See Table 4.4 and Figures 4.4 and 4.5.

At an overall level, across all travel reference days, the average number of journeys taken has decreased for all age groups of both males and females in 2021, compared with the same period in 2019. Older persons aged 75 years and over travelled least often. Males aged 75 years and over took an average of 2.3 journeys across all travel reference days, while females in this age group took an average of 2.4 journeys (both decreased from an average of 2.8 journeys in 2019). However, males aged 65 to 74 years took an average of 2.7 trips across all reference days, compared with females in this age group who took an average of 2.4 journeys across all reference days. See Table 4.5 and Figure 4.6.