Forthcoming change: occupancy and journey purpose split updates
Updated 16 April 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tag-forthcoming-changes/forthcoming-change-occupancy-and-journey-purpose-split-updates
Description: updates to vehicle occupancies and vehicle and mode journey purpose splits
Unit: TAG data book
Change announced: April 2026
Expected release date: May 2026
Description
We are updating the vehicle occupancy rates and journey purpose splits. The updated figures will be included in a new version of the TAG data book (v2.03).
Updates to vehicle occupancies
Table A1.3.3 (car and vehicle occupancies) in the TAG data book presents car and public service vehicle (PSV) occupancies, which are used to convert values of travel time per person into values of travel time per vehicle for modelling purposes.
Car occupancies are calculated using data from the National Travel Survey (NTS) covering the years 2009 to 2012. PSV occupancies use data from the NTS covering the years 1999 to 2001.
We are updating car and PSV occupancies using the most recent NTS data available, which covers years 2023 and 2024. We are not using data from any earlier years because COVID-19 disrupted data collection, resulting in sample sizes which are too small to produce robust estimates, and which would not represent behaviour post-COVID.
Car and PSV occupancies have changed minimally. The average occupancy per vehicle-kilometre travelled on an average car, as an all-week average has virtually not changed. PSV occupancy has increased by 5%.
The tables below show the updated car occupancies.
Table: car occupancy per trip
| Trip Purpose | Weekday 7am – 9:59am | Weekday 10am – 3:59pm | Weekday 4pm – 6:59pm | Weekday 7pm – 6:59am | Weekday average | Weekend average | All Week average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business | 1.10 | 1.12 | 1.06 | 1.12 | 1.10 | 1.18 | 1.11 |
| Commuting | 1.07 | 1.08 | 1.06 | 1.07 | 1.07 | 1.07 | 1.07 |
| Other | 1.64 | 1.58 | 1.67 | 1.62 | 1.62 | 1.87 | 1.69 |
| All purposes | 1.44 | 1.51 | 1.48 | 1.43 | 1.48 | 1.80 | 1.55 |
Table: car occupancy per vehicle-kilometre
| Trip Purpose | Weekday 7am – 9:59am | Weekday 10am – 3:59pm | Weekday 4pm – 6:59pm | Weekday 7pm – 6:59am | Weekday average | Weekend average | All Week average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business | 1.10 | 1.12 | 1.07 | 1.14 | 1.11 | 1.18 | 1.12 |
| Commuting | 1.06 | 1.08 | 1.07 | 1.08 | 1.07 | 1.06 | 1.07 |
| Other | 1.71 | 1.74 | 1.77 | 1.77 | 1.75 | 2.09 | 1.87 |
| All purposes | 1.39 | 1.59 | 1.45 | 1.42 | 1.48 | 1.98 | 1.61 |
The table below shows the updated PSV occupancies.
Table: updated PSV occupancies
| Weekday average | Weekend average | All week average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Passenger | 12.80 | 12.80 | 12.80 |
Updates to vehicle and mode journey purpose splits
Table A1.3.4 (proportion of travel and trips) in the TAG data book presents the proportion of distance travelled and trips made by vehicles and occupants, broken down by vehicle type or mode, time of the day, and day of the week. These proportions are also referred to as journey purpose splits. Journey purpose splits are used in the calculation of values of travel time per vehicle. We are not updating light goods vehicles (LGVs) or other goods vehicles (OGVs).
The current journey purpose splits are calculated using NTS data covering the years 2009 to 2012. We are the following journey purpose splits using NTS data covering the years 2023 and 2024:
- percentage of distance travelled by vehicles and percentage of vehicle trips for cars only
- percentage of distance travelled by occupants and percentage of person trips for all modes and vehicles
The change in journey purpose splits is mixed. The table below summarises the main trends in the changes, and shows the absolute change in the all week average proportion of distance travelled by occupants across vehicles or modes.
Table: main trends in the change in journey purpose splits
| Vehicle or mode | Journey purpose | Trend in the change | Absolute change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car | Work | Down | -2 pp |
| Commuting | Down | -1.9 pp | |
| Other | Up | +3.9 pp | |
| PSV | Work | Up | +1.4 pp |
| Commuting | Up | +12.2 pp | |
| Other | Down | -13.6 pp | |
| Heavy rail | Work | Down | -0.1 pp |
| Commuting | Up | +5.5 pp | |
| Other | Down | -5.4 pp | |
| Light rail | Work | Up | +0.2 pp |
| Commuting | Down | +2.3 pp | |
| Other | Up | -2.6 pp |
Similar trends in changes, but of a smaller absolute magnitude, apply to the proportion of person trips.
Note that we have used NTS data on local buses to update PSV in v2.03 of the TAG data book, thus capturing potentially different vehicles than in v2.02. This may explain why PSV records the biggest changes in journey purpose splits.
The changes to values of travel time per vehicle or mode are within a range to be expected given the changes outlined so far. The table below provides a high-level overview of such changes, which refer to the all-week average change in journey purpose splits.
Table: high-level overview of changes to values of travel time per vehicle or mode
| Vehicle or mode | Absolute change (£/hour) | Relative change |
|---|---|---|
| Car | -1.17 | -7% |
| PSV | -6.03 | -9% |
| Heavy rail | +0.42 | +3.1% |
| Light rail | +0.22 | +2.3% |
These changes should not be interpreted as solely representing the impacts of the pandemic or other social changes in the past 10 to 15 years. They also reflect various changes and improvements to the NTS data during that timeframe.
Adding journey purpose splits for the London Underground
Due to a small sample size, and following NTS recommended practice, journey purpose splits for light rail should be used ‘cautiously’. To help users to overcome this issue, we are adding journey purpose splits for the London Underground, which use 2023 to 2024 NTS data. They are presented in the table below.
Table: London Underground – percentage of distance travelled by trip purpose across mode, day, and time
| Journey purpose | Weekday 7am – 9:59am | Weekday 10am – 3:59pm | Weekday 4pm – 6:59pm | Weekday 7pm – 6:59am | Average | Weekend average | All week average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business | 6 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
| Commuting | 73 | 22 | 61 | 58 | 56 | 14 | 48 |
| Other | 21 | 68 | 34 | 38 | 37 | 83 | 47 |
Table: London Underground – percentage of stages travelled by trip purpose across mode, day, and time
| Journey purpose | Weekday 7am – 9:59am | Weekday 10am – 3:59pm | Weekday 4pm – 6:59pm | Weekday 7pm – 6:59am | Average | Weekend average | All week average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business | 7 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 7 |
| Commuting | 67 | 20 | 56 | 54 | 51 | 12 | 43 |
| Other | 25 | 68 | 37 | 41 | 41 | 85 | 50 |
Contact
For further information on this guidance update, please contact:
Transport Appraisal and Strategic Modelling (TASM) division
Department for Transport
Zone 1/3 Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London
SW1P 4DR
Email: tasm@dft.gov.uk