2021 data continued the trend of more persons travelling or making journeys on the travel reference day. Less than one quarter (23.2%) of persons did not take any journeys on the travel reference day, a decrease of over four percentage points on the same period in 2019 (27.4%) and 28.7% in 2016. See Table 6.1 and Figure 6.1.
| Travelled | Did not travel | |
| 2016 | 71.3 | 28.7 |
| 2019 | 72.6 | 27.4 |
| 2021 | 76.8 | 23.2 |
These respondents were asked why they did not travel on the travel reference day. Over one in ten (10.6%) cited working from home as the main reason why they didn’t take any journeys, while over half (54.4%) said that they were fully occupied with home duties or had no need or wish to travel outside the home. One in eleven (8.8%) cited short term illness as the main reason for not making a journey, compared with one in ten in the same period in 2019. A similar number (8.6%) said that they were suffering from a long-term illness or mobility impairment and this was the main reason why they didn’t take any journeys on the travel reference day. Weather conditions was the reason cited by one in sixteen (6.1%) persons who did not take any journeys. Just 0.7% cited travelling abroad as the main reason, down from 3.8% in 2019 and 3.9% in 2016. During the data collection period, many air travel restrictions remained in place and less persons were travelling abroad as a result. See Table 6.2 and Figure 6.1.
| Fully occupied with home duties/no need or wish to travel outside the home | Working from home | Short term illness | Long term illness / mobility impairment | No access to transport | Cost | The weather | Travelling abroad | |
| Reasons for not travelling | 54.4 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 8.6 | 1.9 | 0.1 | 6.1 | 0.7 |
In 2021, the reason ‘Working from home’ as a reason for not taking journeys was added to the NTS questionnaire. Nearly twice as many males selected this as their main reason for not making any trips on the travel reference day – one in seven (14.6%) males compared with 7.6% of females. See Table 6.3.
Nearly six in ten (57.4%) females who did not travel on the travel reference day stated that they were fully occupied with home duties or had no wish or need to travel, compared with just over half (50.3%) of males. One in eleven females said that they were suffering from a short-term illness or longer-term illness or mobility impairment and this was their main reason for not taking any trips on the travel reference day, compared with one in twelve (8.4%) males who cited short term illness as their reason, and one in thirteen (7.7%) who suffered from a long-term illness or mobility impairment. See Table 6.3.
Persons residing in densely populated areas were more likely to have taken a trip on the travel reference day. Nearly eight in ten (78.3%) persons residing in densely populated areas took a trip on the travel reference day, compared with just over three quarters of persons living in intermediate density or thinly populated areas. See Table 6.4, Figures 6.2 and 6.3.
| Densely populated area | |
| Travelled | 78.3 |
| Did not Travel | 21.7 |
| Thinly populated area | |
| Travelled | 76.1 |
| Did not Travel | 23.9 |
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