Changes in the Purpose of Travel Over Time
A snapshot analysis of the National Household Travel Survey 2001
Over the last 35 years the NHTS data series shows that travel has increased dramatically, but the increase in work trips has not kept pace with the increase in recreation, errands, and shopping (see Figure 2 below). Work as a proportion of all person trips (movement from one location to another) has been steadily declining since 1969, when work trips were about 25 percent of all person trips and nearly a third of all vehicle miles. In 2001, work trips account for just over 16 percent of all person trips for the same population (ages 5 and over), and 27 percent of all vehicle miles. Figure 1 and Table 1 show the trends in work travel.
Figure 1 – Trends in Travel to Work as a Proportion of All Travel, NPTS/NHTS
Table 1 – Trends in Work Travel as a Proportion of All Travel, NPTS/NHTS
Person Trips |
Person Miles of Travel |
Vehicle Trips |
Vehicle Miles of Travel |
|
1969 |
25.9% |
31.8% |
33.6% |
|
1977 |
19.5% |
19.9% |
27.8% |
30.4% |
1983 |
20.4% |
20.1% |
27.9% |
30.1% |
1990 |
20.2% |
22.7% |
26.3% |
32.1% |
1995 |
17.7% |
22.5% |
23.8% |
31.1% |
2001* |
15.8% |
21.3% |
22.1% |
27.0% |
This decline is not the result of fewer workers—according to the NHTS data series more than 20 million workers were added in the decade. Neither is the decline a result of fewer work trips per worker—the average weekday worker makes 1.44 work trips per day compared to1.46 in 1990—virtually unchanged.
The reason for the decline in the share of travel that is for work is the added trips for other purposes that Americans are doing (Figure 2). In the space of one year, the average American adult (16 years and older) is taking 45 more trips for social and recreation, 35 more for shopping and 31 more for family and personal errands (plus 76 for other purposes). Of the total of 210 added trips per year, only 22 of the added annual trips are for commuting to and from work.
Figure 2 – Added Annual Trips per Person 16+ from 1990 to 2001 (NHTS)
Simply being a worker increases the probability of making more trips and traveling more miles—workers make an average of 1.7 more daily trips and spend more than 22 minutes a day more in travel (for people 16 years and older) than non-workers. On average workers travel 12 miles more per day than non-workers, accounting for a total of 1.74 billion miles more per year.