Fewer than 3 per cent of all journeys are made on foot

The distance walked by Britons has fallen by nearly 20 per cent in a decade and now accounts for less than 3 per cent of journeys made.

The distance walked by Britons has fallen by nearly 20 per cent in a decade and now accounts for less than 3 per cent of journeys made.

A typical person walks 189 miles a year – a drop of nearly 40 miles in the past 10 years, according to a Department for Transport survey. Since 1990-91, the proportion of children walking to primary school has fallen from 62 per cent to 54 per cent, with an increase from 27 per cent to 39 per cent in the numbers of those driven to school.

Driving accounted for four fifths of the total distance travelled in a year, an increase of 11 per cent on the 1990s. It was also revealed that 61 per cent of time spent travelling was by car, with this being the dominant form of transport for all trips longer than a mile.

While 60 per cent of cars carried one occupant, this figure rose to 84 per cent for commuting and business trips.

On average, each person travelled 6,815 miles a year from 1999 to 2001. This was an increase of 5 per cent since 1989-91, mainly due to a 13 per cent increase in the length of trips, which are, on average, 6.7 miles. The National Travel Survey is part of a bigger survey that began in July 1988.