Transport for the North's Rural Travel Case Studies illustrate the diversity of rural travel within the North of England, as well as some of its common characteristics and challenges. The case studies are based on detailed first-hand account of travel experiences within a two-week period in the life of 10 rural residents of the North (members of the Northern Transport Voices online research community). 

For each journey, participants were asked to record details regarding the journey purpose, origin and destination, duration, mode of travel, rationale for the chosen mode of travel, and any transport challenges experienced. The locations of the case studies presented include villages and outskirts of market towns in several areas of the North. The demographic profile of the travel diary participants is also varied.

The case studies present a range of different transport modes being used for different journey purposes. The private car is the exclusive or predominant mode of transport used in five of the ten case studies. In many cases the private car is seen by the participants as the most convenient, reliable and comfortable mode of travel. Among those who use a private car most often, there is frequently the view that this is the only travel mode available to them. The case studies reveal a high level of car dependency in rural areas. 

There is evidence of some active travel being carried out across many of the case studies, however they also point to how use of active travel in rural areas can be hampered by personal safety concerns, particularly at night/after dark. 

Across this set of rural travel case studies, bus was the third most frequently used mode of travel after private car and walking. Motivations for using bus are quite varied – for some of the participants the bus is mostly used when travelling for social occasions when they may be drinking, so driving would not be suitable, whereas for other participants the bus is a much more essential mode of travel for day-to-day journeys. 

Very limited level of rail use can be seen across most of the case studies, despite the fact many of the case study participants live in relatively built-up areas with a reasonable proximity to a train station. The case studies illustrate the potential to encourage greater use of rail in rural areas, particularly for leisure purposes, such as days out to nearby cities and towns, by combining the use of park-and-ride sites with rail.