2024 Commuter Census: Executive Summary

We have analysed the responses of 10,325 commuters in the UK to reveal that, for the third year in a row, more people are choosing sustainable commutes. Yet again, the number of employees commuting by driving alone has decreased, while more sustainable modes overall have continued to increase in popularity.

Sustainable travel is on the rise – but so are total emissions

At 45% of all commuters, driving alone remains the most popular single mode of transport, whereas carpooling has now returned to its pre-pandemic levels of 15%.

While sustainable methods are now more popular overall, the numbers of those commuting by cycling has decreased by 21%, while walking and running have seen a marginal increase of 0.7 percentage points.

One of the most fascinating trends from Commuter Census 2024 was the shift away from home working – both in practice and in preference. Just 26% of respondents said they would consider working from home as an alternative to their current commute – a fall of 42% compared to 12 months earlier.

Meanwhile, employers are increasingly enforcing full-time office working: 41% of respondents said they were no longer working at home at all, while the average number of working-from-home days has dropped to 1.6 days a week this year from 1.8 in 2023.

In terms of travel policy and initiatives, the UK Government programme to cap single bus fares at £2 until the end of 2024 appears to have been a success, with a 17% increase in bus uptake and a sharp rise in respondents who would consider the bus as an alternative. However, continually increasing rail fares has led to a reduction in train usage, while the nationwide increase in EV charging ports has led to no uptick in the use of EVs by commuters year-on-year.

Carpooling returns as driving alone becomes less popular

The most significant modal shift to emerge from Commuter Census 2024 is the continued transition from driving alone. In fact, 17% of those who were commuting to work by petrol or diesel car just two years ago are now finding other, more sustainable methods of getting to work.

For the first time ever, fewer than 40% of respondents to our survey reported commuting alone in a petrol or diesel car. This remains the most common mode of transport, but this year’s figure is 38%, down from 43% last year and 46% in 2022.

The total number of workers who drive alone in either a petrol, diesel, hybrid or electric car has decreased by 5% since last year, and currently

stands at just under 45%. This shows a continued steady decline since 2019, except for 2020 and 2021 – when the percentage of people driving alone was up due to COVID (although the total number of drivers was down).

Carpooling, meanwhile, is back up to pre-pandemic levels, with 15% of people sharing a car to work. Although COVID did obviously affect carpooling for several years, it’s reassuring to see it on the rise again; 36% of people would also consider it as an alternative to their current method of commuting – more than would consider any other single alternative – with a further 24% of people who would consider carpooling in an EV.

17% of those who were commuting to work by petrol or diesel car just two years ago are now finding other, more sustainable methods of getting to work.

Are people fed up with working from home?

Four years on from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears people are finally bored with working from home.

Possibly the most remarkable result from Commuter Census 2024 is that just 26% of respondents said they would consider working from home as an alternative to their current mode of commuting – a whopping 42% decrease compared to last year.

Does this mean that people want to work full time in the office?

Despite the above, almost a fifth (17%) of people would still work from home five days a week if they had the choice – an increase by three percentage points from last year. However, hybrid working is by far the preferred choice of employees.

Much like last year, the preference among workers is to be at home three times a week (20%), with twice a week coming a close second (19%). 15% of people would prefer to never work from home, making it the fourthmost popular option.

This, of course, means that more than four in five people still want some form of home working.

But are employers listening? Since the pandemic, the average number of days working at home is steadily decreasing, plunging from 1.8 a week last year to 1.6 this year. Only 11% of respondents want to work from home just once a week, making it the least popular option, yet this is the way the office/home work split is trending.

What we have at the moment is a slight impasse – for example, research last year from The Centre for Economic Policy Research found that while 20% of workers want to work at home five days a week, another 20% want to work rarely or never from home.

Read the full 28-page Commuter Census 2024 now using the button below.