The survey is wave two in a series of four; together these will undertake quantitative and qualitative social and behavioural research up until Spring 2021. It is part of the All change? research programme designed to track changes in travel behaviour over time and understand the reasons for these changes. Wave one was undertaken from 15 May-4 June 2020.

Wave two was undertaken between July-August 2020, which was when opening of pubs, restaurants and hairdressers took place, and two households were allowed to meet up and social distancing rules were relaxed from 2 metres to 1 metres plus in England. The quantitative part of the survey involved 4061 UK adults aged between 16 and 75, and 2782 of these also took part in the wave one study. The qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 respondents. 

The survey showed that for the most part people did not switch between modes but they either de- or increased their travel patterns across all modes they used. Some other findings include:

• more than half (54%), of those who did less cycling at wave 2 compared to wave 1, drove more frequently.
• a quarter (25%) of people who decreased their driving between April/May and June/July also increased their underground/metro use.
• The data also suggests a link between an increase in walking and a decrease in bus use since April/May. While differences were not statistically significant, the group who increased their frequency of walking appeared more likely to have decreased their frequency of bus use (49% compared to 44% of those whose frequency of walking had not changed or had fallen).
• Changes in travel behaviour also reflected a significant increase in the proportion of people who said they would feel comfortable taking the bus in the next 4 weeks. This increased from 19% to 30% between waves. It is important to note, though, that improvements in confidence were relative, and it remained the case at wave 2 that many more people were uncomfortable travelling by public transport than were comfortable.

Qualitative interviews made it clear that pre-COVID factors such as speed, distance, cost, time of day, reliability, still strongly influenced choices about what mode of transport to use, especially decisions about public transport. There were also COVID-specific factors; participants talked about lacking confidence in public transport while, by comparison, car use was seen as more COVID-secure and more appealing even for journeys over relatively short distances.

The survey also suggest that other behaviours developed during the UK-wide lockdown would continue such as online shopping as well as cycling and walking for recreation. Interviews found a recognition of the appealing health and environmental benefits of active travel but also identified various barriers such as personal safety, a lack of confidence and poor weather.

What do you think it will take to increase active travel in the United Kingdom - take part in the conversation on CIHT Connect here. 

Access the full reports here.