Northern Way identifies key differences in transport demand North and South

26 March 2010

Pre-recession transport trends demonstrate distinct characteristics in the North compared with the South, according to research published today by the Northern Way.

'Transport Demand in the North' shows that car and rail trips, and port and airport traffic all grew at a faster rate in the North than in the South, but compared with the South bus trips declined. The research also shows that the recession appears to have had a greater impact on transport demand in the North than the South.

Northern Way transport director, John Jarvis said:

"It is critical that policy makers recognise the key differences and unique travel patterns in the North compared to the rest of the country. These findings suggest that as we emerge from the recession, the trend in the North towards faster growth in car and rail use will resume and that without intervention bus use will continue to decline."

"Our analysis of transport demand needs to be fully considered in the Department for Transport's programme of studies that are now underway and will inform the Government's Transport Plan, which will be published in 2012. This is why the Northern Way is sharing this work with each of the on-going regionally and nationally-led studies."

The report, 'Transport Demand in the North' compares the North with the South in the last ten years to the start of the recession in 2007. It also looks at the impact of the recession. Its findings show transport demand is more 'elastic' than in the South, which means that transport demand grows faster in the North when the economy grows and tends to reduce more as the economy contracts. The evidence also shows that this is only partly explained by socio-economic differences.

Over the years leading to the recession, the 'Transport Demand in the North' report shows that:

-Car trips have increased by 11% in the North, compared with 9% in the rest of England.
-Rail trips in Yorkshire and the Humber increased by 56%, in the North West by 48% and the North East by 28%. The trend for England over the same period was a 31% increase.
-Bus trips have declined by 10% in the North, compared with a 16% increase in the rest of England.
-Passengers numbers using the Northern airports have increased by 82% compared with 63% nationally.
-The Northern ports have increased their throughput by 14% compared with 4% nationally.