Abstract
ObjectivesIncreasing walking and cycling, and reducing motorised transport, are health and environmental priorities. This paper examines levels and trends in the use of different commute modes in England and Wales, both overall and with respect to small-area deprivation. It also investigates whether commute modal share can serve as a proxy for travel behaviour more generally.Methods23.7 million adult commuters reported their usual main mode of travelling to work in the 2011 census in England and Wales; similar data were available for 1971–2001. Indices of Multiple Deprivation were used to characterise socio-economic patterning. The National Travel Survey (2002–2010) was used to examine correlations between commute modal share and modal share of total travel time. These correlations were calculated across 150 non-overlapping populations defined by region, year band and income.ResultsAmong commuters in 2011, 67.1% used private motorised transport as their usual main commute mode (−1.8 percentage-point change since 2001); 17.8% used public transport (+1.8% change); 10.9% walked (−0.1% change); and 3.1% cycled (+0.1% change). Walking and, to a marginal extent, cycling were more common among those from deprived areas, but these gradients had flattened over the previous decade to the point of having essentially disappeared for cycling. In the National Travel Survey, commute modal share and total modal share were reasonably highly correlated for private motorised transport (r = 0.94), public transport (r = 0.96), walking (r = 0.88 excluding London) and cycling (r = 0.77).ConclusionsEngland and Wales remain car-dependent, but the trends are slightly more encouraging. Unlike many health behaviours, it is more common for socio-economically disadvantaged groups to commute using physically active modes. This association is, however, weakening and may soon reverse for cycling. At a population level, commute modal share provides a reasonable proxy for broader travel patterns, enhancing the value of the census in characterising background trends and evaluating interventions.
Highlights
In recent years, promoting walking and cycling for transport (‘active travel’) has moved up multiple policy agendas, including in relation to health, transport and climate change
Commute modal share was dominated by private motorised transport: cars, vans or motorcycles represented the usual main mode of 67.1% of commuters (66.4% in England, 79.4% in Wales). This was followed by public transport (17.8%) and walking (10.9%), and by cycling (3.1%) and ‘other’ modes (1.1%)
In England, the decade between 2001 and 2011 saw a modest decrease in private motorised transport (21.9 percentage points) and a concomitant increase in public transport (+1.9%, with this effect being driven by an increase in train commuting: see Table 1)
Summary
In recent years, promoting walking and cycling for transport (‘active travel’) has moved up multiple policy agendas, including in relation to health, transport and climate change. Active travel is more likely than recreational physical activity to displace journeys by cars [8], which in turn is expected to reduce noise, congestion, road traffic crashes, urban air pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases [9,10,11] Despite these potential benefits, levels of walking and cycling declined in the second half of the twentieth century in Britain, while motorised transport increased [12]. Initiatives have included the publication of an Active Travel Bill in Wales and an Active Travel Strategy for the UK [19,21]; the allocation of £1 billion to local sustainable transport initiatives; and the implementation of town-wide initiatives in 18 ‘cycling towns’ [22] Such interventions may explain the upward trend in cycling reported in London [23] and in the original six cycling towns [22]. I aim to examine national and regional levels and trends of walking, cycling and driving to work in England and Wales
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