The bar chart illustrates the percentages of children aged 11 to 16 in the UK who travelled to school by four different modes of transport (walking, bicycle, car and bus) over four distance categories.
Overall, walking was by far the most common means of transport for short journeys, whereas buses were predominantly used for longer distances. By contrast, cycling accounted for only a small proportion of journeys regardless of distance.
For journeys of less than one mile, walking was overwhelmingly the preferred mode, used by approximately 85% of children. This figure then fell steadily as distance increased, dropping to around 60% for journeys of 1-2 miles and 25% for those between 2 and 5 miles. For trips exceeding 5 miles, virtually no children walked to school.
In contrast, bus usage rose sharply with distance. Only about 1% of pupils travelling less than one mile used a bus, compared with 10% in the 1-2 mile category. The proportion increased further to roughly one-third among those travelling 2-5 miles before peaking at approximately 65% for journeys of over 5 miles, making it the dominant mode for long-distance travel.
Car travel also became more common as distance increased. The percentage of children travelling by car rose from around 6% for journeys under one mile to 35% for trips of 2-5 miles, before declining slightly to 30% among those travelling more than 5 miles. Meanwhile, cycling remained relatively stable throughout, accounting for only around 5% to 9% of journeys across all distance categories.