Organisation: Department for Infrastructure (NI)
Date uploaded: 5 February 2020
Date published/launched: January 2020
This report, produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), presents findings from the 2018/2019 Continuous Household Survey (CHS).
2018/2019 was the sixth year that this question set was included in the CHS and this is the sixth such report produced.
Key points
– For main mode of travel for primary school pupils, two thirds (67%) were driven to school by car, and 22% usually walked to and/or from school. A further 9% took a bus, and 1% cycled to and/or from school. These results are similar to 2017/18.
– When compared to results from 2013/14, there has been a decrease in walking, from 31% to 22%, and conversely an increase in those travelling by car from 59% to 67%.
– Amongst post-primary school pupils, almost half (48%) travelled to/from school by bus as their main mode of travel, and a further 35% travelled to/from school by car. Around one in seven (14%) pupils walked to/from school, while a small proportion took the train (2%).
– Since 2013/14, the proportion of post-primary school pupils who walk to/from school has decreased from 22% to 14%. There has been no real change in travel by bicycle, car or bus.
Walking to and from School
– Of the primary school pupils who normally walked to school, 85% walked all of the way.
– Over a quarter (27%) of primary school pupils spent 10 minutes or less walking to and from school. 28% spent more than 30 minutes.
– Around 3 in 5 of primary school pupils who walked to and from school, did so every day.
Distance from home to school
– Half (50%) of primary school pupils lived 0-1 miles from the school. For more than half (54%) of these pupils, the main mode of travel to school was car. Walking was the main mode of travel for 42%.
– For post-primary school pupils, 46% lived between 0-3 miles from their school. For almost half (46%) of these pupils the main mode of travel to school was car. 29% walked and 23% travelled by bus.
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