Connecting Oxfordshire: Insights from Our Community Travel Survey

The results are in! Through our Oxfordshire Travel Survey launched earlier this year, we heard from nearly 1,000 residents across the county.  That’s huge! Our goal? To understand local travel and transport behaviours, identify barriers, and explore motivations for sustainable transport choices.

Key Findings:

1. Reliability emerged as the top factor influencing travel choices, followed closely by convenience and directness.

2. 57% of respondents find it easy to access their local train station, though this varies depending on location and available transport options.

3. Two-thirds of respondents claim high awareness of sustainable transport, but this doesn't always translate into active consideration or use.

4. There's a split view on whether public transport helps or hinders access to opportunities, with roughly a third saying it helps and a third saying it hinders.

5. Integrated transport is praised within Oxford, but attitudes towards transport around the county are more mixed.

6. Young people and those new to the area are more likely to be frequent train users. This highlights the importance of accessible public transport in attracting and retaining a diverse, dynamic population in Oxfordshire.

We also recognise the critical role that travel and transport play in community health and wellbeing, whether it’s getting active through walking and cycling, commuting to work, or catching the bus to a medical appointment…and our survey results supported this!

We found strong links between transport accessibility and community wellbeing, emphasising the potential for travel and transport to unlock access to employment, education, healthcare, and social connections. However, in some areas of the county, a lack of sustainable transport options, accessibility, or integration can actually act as a barrier to these opportunities. 

These findings strongly support our focus on improving access to and confidence using public transport for underrepresented communities, particularly in areas with significant health inequity, transport poverty, or socioeconomic challenges. That is why we support travel and transport solutions that cater to all members of our community, particularly including young people, disabled people, and global majority ethnic groups.

At OxCRP, we're committed to using these insights to shape our future initiatives. We've launched new projects this year, building on our first-year findings and insights from this survey, all aimed at making sustainable transport more accessible, appealing, and inclusive.

We believe that by improving transport connectivity and accessibility, we can significantly enhance community wellbeing and create more equitable access to opportunities across Oxfordshire. But we can't do it alone!

Whether you're a community organisation, in local government, or simply passionate about improving our community, your engagement with these findings is crucial. Together, we can work towards a more connected, inclusive, and sustainable Oxfordshire.  So please check out the full results here.

Stay tuned for more stories and updates, and remember: every journey matters, and every traveller has a story. By listening to and understanding these stories, we can create a transport network that represents the diverse tapestry of life in Oxfordshire.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to our survey and shared their insights with us.  Your views matter!