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Access to services by transport

Journey time statistics for each North East local authority area, estimates of the population at risk of transport related social exclusion.

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Travel to major employment centres

The latest journey time statistics were published in 2021 and cover 2019. For local authority areas, they provide information based on journey times to specific types of sites by different transport modes.

The types of site include employment centres with different sizes of workforce. We have defined those with employment of 5,000 plus as being "major employment centres". In the seven local authority areas within the North East in 2019:

  • The average travel time by public transport to the nearest major employment centre was highest in Northumberland and lowest in Newcastle, Sunderland and Gateshead, where the averages were similar
  • the average travel time by car was longer than by public transport in County Durham, Gateshead and Sunderland, highlighting the impact of rail and metro journeys
  • the average number of major employment centres accessed within 30 minutes by public transport was highest in Newcastle and lowest in Northumberland
  • for cars, the average numbers accessed were lower in each case, with Newcastle the highest and County Durham the lowest
  • all working age residents in Tyne and Wear could access at least one major employment centre  within 30 minutes by public transport
  • in contrast, this was true for fewer than two thirds of Northumberland residents
  • using cars, nearly all working age residents in North Tyneside and Newcastle could access a major employment centre within 30 minutes
  • this was true for fewer than three quarters in Northumberland and County Durham.

Travel to other key sites

In 2019 in within the seven North East local authority areas:

  • The average travel times by public transport to the nearest primary schools, secondary schools and further education (FE) establishments were all highest in Northumberland
  • for primary schools, the average was lowest in Gateshead, for secondary schools and FE locations it was lowest in North Tyneside
  • all areas had, on average, at least seven primary schools within 30 minutes by public transport
  • In Northumberland, in contrast, this was true, on average, for fewer than two secondary school and FE establishments
  • the average travel time by public transport to the nearest town centre was highest in Northumberland and lowest in Newcastle
  • in contrast to major employment centres, average travel times to the nearest town centre were always shorter by car than public transport in all seven areas
  • average travel times by public transport to the nearest hospital were much longer than for other sites in every local authority area
  • the times were shorter for car journeys in all seven areas.

Transport related social exclusion

  • In 2022, Transport for the North (TfN) developed estimates of transport related social exclusion (TRSE) for local areas of England:
    • TRSE means being unable to access opportunities, key services, and community life as much as needed, and facing major obstacles in everyday life through the wider impacts of having to travel
    • these wider impacts include the cost and time entailed in using the transport system, and the impacts of stress and anxiety linked with using the transport system.
    • together, these impacts can contribute to a vicious cycle of poverty, isolation, and poor access to basic services.
  • In the North East, just over 31% of the population were at risk of TRSE at the time of the analysis:
    • this was equivalent to more than 613,000 people
    • the North East regional percentage was higher than for any of the eight other English regions
    • more than two thirds of the North East population at risk lived in County Durham or Northumberland
    • however, South Tyneside (55%) had the highest percentage of its population at risk, just above the rate for County Durham (53%).
  • The report includes estimates of the population at risk in different domains of TRSE. In the North East:
    • About 35% of the population were at risk of TRSE within the basic services category
    • almost 33% were at risk within the employment category
    • the percentages were smaller for the education and health categories (23% and 22%, respectively)
    • among the seven North East local authorities, Sunderland had the greatest percentage of its population at risk of TRSE in the basic services category
    • this was true for South Tyneside in the employment category and for County Durham in both the education and health categories.
  • For further information, access the Transport for the North blog and report.