The car continues to dominate UK modes of travel

64% of journeys taken in 2014 were made by car, the 2014 National Travel Survey (NTS) has revealed.

The NTS, based on a survey of 16,000 UK residents, showed that 42% of the respondent’s main mode of travel was as a driver, while 22% revealed their main source of travel to be as a passenger.

The survey also revealed cars to be responsible on average for 78% of the distance travelled each year by an individual.

Travel by train accounted for the next highest distance (10%), with buses at 5%, walking 3% and cycling down at 1%.

Longer term trends in travel suggest that increasing ease of access to cars, and the rise in number of driving licence holders could account for the rise in car journeys.

The NTS estimates that 73% of all adults aged 17+ in England held a full car driving licence in 2014, an increase from 48% in the mid-1970s. There are now 32 million licence holders.

In the long term, licence holding among both men and women has increased with the rate of increase much greater for women.

The proportion of males holding a licence has been flat since the mid-1990s, whereas it has continued to increase, though more slowly, for women, reaching 67% in 2014.

On top of this, since 1985 the number of households with two or more cars has almost doubled from 17% to 32%.

On the flip side the number of households without a car is down from 38% to 24%.

The annual survey, produced by the DfT, also shows that 43% of 17-20 year olds without driving licences state cost of learning to drive or cost of insurance as the main reason for not learning to drive.

General statistics show that there were 590 trips made by car (driver or passenger) per person on average in 2014.

The average distance covered by car in 2014 was 5,067 miles with the average car journey lasting just 22 minutes.

68% of the survey use their car more than three times a week, and 61% of car journeys are made without passengers.