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Average Car Journeys in the UK
Ever wonder how long the typical car journey is in the UK? Or how many times a day Brits drive their cars? We've analysed data from the Department for Transport to find out. Here's what we found.
Average Car Journey Distance UK
Using ata from 2022 (the latest-available when we updated this article in April 2024), the average car journey distance in the UK is 8.1 miles. Trips where there are passengers in the car tend to be longer (8.9 miles) than trips where the driver is travelling alone (7.3 miles).
These results are not surprising. Quick trips to the shops are more likely to involve a driver only, reducing the trip lengths for drivers travelling alone. Similarly, those going on a long journey (say a UK-based holiday, long weekend away or day trip) are more likely to travel with friends or family than alone.
Note, those figures reflect 2022 data. Below we also display data for 2020. What's interesting here is that driving patterns are not that different now than they were during the pandemic.
| Average Car Journey Distance in the UK | 2020 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Driver travelling alone | 7.0 miles | 7.3 miles |
| Car ride with a driver and passengers | 8.9 miles | 8.9 miles |
| Average car trip length | 7.9 miles | 8.1 miles |
Car Trip Lengths By Region
The region of the UK where people travel the longest distances on each car ride is the South East, where the average car ride was 8.8 miles long in 2022. At the other end of the spectrum, car rides were shortest in the North West, where the average car journey was 7.2 miles long in 2012 (shorter even than London!).
Interestingly, for years London has had the shortest car trip lengths. We wonder if perhaps people got used to driving for longer trips instead of using public transport during the pandemic, and they're still opting for car for longer trips?
| Car Trip Distances by Region | 2022 |
|---|---|
| North West | 7.2 |
| North East | 7.4 |
| East Midlands | 7.4 |
| London | 7.5 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 7.5 |
| West Midlands | 8.6 |
| South West | 8.6 |
| East of England | 8.7 |
| South East | 8.8 |
| England excluding London | 8.1 |
| England | 8.7 |
Number of Car Trips Per Person, Per Year in the UK
Drivers in the South West take the car rides per year—in 2022, South West drivers got behind the wheel 405 times per year (1.1 times per day on average). In contrast, Londoners only drove 155 times per year (0.4 times per day, or around once every other day).
| Number of Car Trips by Region | 2022 |
|---|---|
| London | 155.0 |
| West Midlands | 337.7 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 348.5 |
| North West | 362.3 |
| East of England | 363.9 |
| East Midlands | 376.0 |
| South East | 382.6 |
| North East | 402.5 |
| South West | 404.6 |
| England excluding London | 370.5 |
| England | 336.7 |
Average Car Trip Journey Time in the UK
The average car journey time in the UK is 22.3 minutes. Trips using public transportation are around 1.6X to 2.4X as long, depending on your mode of transport. For example, trips using a local bus take around 37.3 minutes (32.6 minutes in London), while the average London Underground trip takes 51.9 minutes. This data reflects a person's main mode of transportation and uses 2022 figures.
People spend 18 minutes walking on average when they complete a trip mostly on foot. Those heading on longer walks tend to stay out for 31.6 minutes.
| Average Trip Journey Time in the UK (minutes) | 2022 |
|---|---|
| Walk | 18.0 |
| Taxi / minicab | 20.8 |
| Car | 22.3 |
| Bicycle | 23.6 |
| Motorcycle | 24.4 |
| Long walks (over a mile) | 31.6 |
| Other local bus | 32.6 |
| London bus | 37.3 |
| London Underground | 51.9 |
| Rail | 81.8 |
| All modes of transport | 22.6 |
Average Number of Car Journeys
In a year, the average person drives solo 172 times and travels in a car where there are multiple people (as either driver or passenger) 337 times. This means that the typical Brit takes a car ride alone where they're the driver every other day, and a car ride with other people slightly less frequently.
| Number of Car Journeys per Person in the UK | per year | per day |
|---|---|---|
| Driver travelling alone | 172.2 | 0.5 |
| Car ride with a driver and passengers | 164.6 | 0.5 |
| Number of car journeys per person | 337 | 1.0 |
On average then, each person takes 1 car ride a day (roughly split evenly between them being a solo driver and driving with other people).
