The National Travel Survey is a household survey of residents of England travelling within Great Britain. It is designed to monitor long-term trends in personal travel and is the primary source of data on English travel patterns. 

Results are published yearly at a regional level, with the North East data including both the North East and Tees Valley Combined Authority areas. Using this, we are able to get an idea on how, why, when and where people travel, as well as factors affecting travel in the North East.

As a combined authority, we have launched a public consultation for our North East Transport Plan, which sets out our ambitions for the future of transport in the region until 2040. As part of this we would love for you to have your say on transport. For more information on how you can take part, please click here.

In the North East region, people on average made 936 trips per year, a 7% decline on 2022. This is comparable with the rest of England excluding London, where people on average made 946 trips per year. This continues to remain below pre-Covid levels.

Since 2022, both private travel and public transport have both declined as a proportion of total trips by 1% and 2% respectively, with a 3% increase in active travel as a proportion of total trips.  

Despite this decline, private travel remained the most common form of transport in the North East, being used for 59% of trips per person, followed by active travel and public transport at 33% and 8% respectively. This dependence on private travel is particularly true for journeys over 2 miles, where the proportion of trips made by private travel increases significantly.

For trips under a mile, active travel is by far the most common form of transport, representing 84% of all trips under a mile, highlighting a commitment to either walk, wheel or cycle shorter journeys.

Since 2002, the North East has generally recorded a higher rate of active travel trips per person. In 2002-2003, residents made 331 active travel trips per year on average, and though this number saw fluctuations and a decline over the years, it improved to 308 trips in 2023.

Walking has consistently been the dominant mode of active travel in the North East. Average walking trips per person dropped from 319 in 2002-2003 to a low of 225 in 2014-2015 but have shown a steady recovery in recent years, reaching 296 average walking trips per person in 2023. For cycling, the  region recorded only an average of 12 cycling trips per person in 2023, slightly below the national average.

For trip lengths, active travel in the North East is primarily used for local journeys. Walking is predominately used for short trips, with the majority under one mile, while cycling trips are generally between one and two miles.

The North East has greatly improved in active travel, particularly for school journeys. In 2023, 53% of schoolchildren in the region walked or cycled to school, a sharp increase from 36% in 2022, marking it as one of the most improved regions in England.

In total private travel was down around 10% on 2022, down from 613 to 522 trips per person. The significant majority of these trips were made using a car or van, either as a driver or passenger.

Car and Van travel continues to remain the primary form of transport in our region with the most common trip length being between 2 and 5 miles.  

Despite being the primary category of transport, the North East had the fewest number of trips per person using private travel outside of London. It is likely that this is partially due to North East being having both lower levels of cars per household and individuals holding full car driving licenses than the national average. Both cars per household and individuals holding full car licenses has decreased since 2022.

In 2023, just over 8% of trips made by the average North East resident were by public transport. While most were by local bus, the North East also had the highest rate of trips per person by taxi or minicab (about 14 per person).

Trips using the Tyne and Wear Metro are classified as light rail journeys rather than surface rail journeys and included within the "other public transport" category. This also includes trips by non-local bus, air travel and trips using ferries. In 2023, the North East had the second highest rate of trips in this category outside London (7 per person).

The average length of a North East local bus trip in 2023 was 5.1 miles, the median among the nine English regions. In 2021, this average had been at its highest level over the past two decades and, although it subsequently decreased, the latest figure was still higher than in the immediate pre-COVID years.

The latest breakdown of trips by purpose in the North East was similar to that of England excluding London. The region had slightly higher percentages of trips relating to education and of leisure trips including walks but unrelated to visiting friends or holidays or entertainment.

Over the two decades to 2023, North East work-related trip numbers have decreased.  The education (including escort) total changed little over that period until 2020 and 2021 when numbers were lower, followed by a sharp increase in 2022.

The long-term trends in trip numbers for shopping and for other personal business purposes have both been downwards. The trend in trips to visit friends was fairly static in the decade to 2019, while the trend in trips for holidays and entertainment purposes had been upwards. Trip numbers for both purposes decreased during 2020 and have not returned to pre-Covid levels since.  

Trips to North East secondary schools averaged 2.6 miles in 2023, twice the primary school equivalent. Both averages have fallen in recent years.