But the National Travel Attitudes Study also found that significantly more people had visited friends and relatives at least once in a seven day period during the autumn (51%) compared to last spring (36%) when restrictions first began.

Results were gathered from interviews with a total of 5299 members of the public.
Atkins technical lead for behaviours and research Dr Felicity Heathcote-Marcz said the ‘fear factor’ transport users have about travelling in confined spaces with other people means that public transport services face a significant challenge of attracting passengers back, which may require a fundamental shift in service models.

“Without significant Government support, the traditional fixed route, fixed cost public transport service will not be viable until the pandemic is completely over, which may not be for another 18 months at least,” she said.

“By shifting focus to essential on-demand services – such as taking a limited number of passengers to vaccine centres, pharmacies, GPs and supermarkets – some modes such as buses may be able to adapt.”

The National Travel Attitudes Study also finds that early on in the pandemic, 65% said they were only leaving home for essential travel and exercise, with just 4% travelling as usual.

But by the autumn the proportion leaving home only for essential reasons fell to 58% and the percentage of people prepared to travel as normal increased to 11%.

Between the first and second samples, the proportion of people who used a car at least once in the last seven days increased from 74 to 82%.

The survey also found that 78% of people said it was not acceptable to make non essential journeys while travel restrictions and social distancing were in place. But there were large variations depending on a respondent’s age.

While more than four in five over 75 year olds thought non essential travel was unacceptable, only seven in 10 between the ages of 35 and 44 thought so too, with just 57% of 16-24 year olds saying that non essential travel was not acceptable.

When asked about future leisure travel plans and when it would be the right time to consider travelling on a plane or ferry to another country, most said over a year (32% for plane and 25% for ferry) with a smaller proportion indicating within a year (22 and 19% respectively) and fewer still saying within the next four to eight months (14 and 12%).

Three percent of people said they would ‘never again’ fly on a plane or take a ferry, with 15% completely rejecting the idea of taking a cruise.

(Photograph: Jessica Girvan - Shutterstock)