UK travel patterns failed to bounce back last year despite a phased relaxation of lockdown restrictions between March and July 2021.

The AA says the Government and councils have failed to push the trend for active travel seen in 2020

New National Travel Survey figures published by the Department for Transport show that people made 757 trips on average in 2021, or 15 trips a week. This was similar to 2020, but a 21% decrease on the level in 2019 prior to the coronavirus pandemic, when people made an average of 953 trips per year.

People travelled an average of 4,329 miles in 2021, a 33% decrease from 6,500 miles in 2019.

On average, people spent around 273 hours travelling in 2021 (around 45 minutes per day), down 26% from the 370 hours of travelling in 2019.

The AA said the statistics show that while the path out of lockdown was a reason for celebration, the pandemic continued to cast a long shadow over UK travel throughout much of 2021.

Edmund King, the AA’s president, added: “In particular, the one lockdown trend that has endured has been working from home, and still probably accounts for the 5%-10% reduction in weekday car travel that exists today.”

The new NTS figures also reveal that the Government and councils wasted an opportunity in 2020 to encourage and change travel behaviour and get more people to cycle, according to the AA.

In 2020, the distance cycled on average had shot up 62%, with the number of trips up 26%. In 2021, compared to pre-pandemic levels, the average distance was up only 2% and the trips 7% lower.

An AA poll of more than 15,000 drivers in July found that, even with record pump prices beyond anything that could have been imagined a year ago, only 2% of them had ditched the car and were walking or cycling instead.

“The reversal of lockdown trends that saw a surge in active travel in 2020, such as cycling, points to the Government and councils’ failure to seize the opportunity to ingrain and promote more of those changed behaviours into the way the UK travels,” added Edmund King.