People who depend on cars to get around are more likely to feel lonely and disconnected than those who have access to good public transport, a UK study has found.

Analysing official statistics on loneliness and transport usage, researchers said there was a clear correlation between people without decent transport alternatives and those who describe themselves as feeling left out or without companionship.

According to the findings from the Social Market Foundation (SMF), based on Department for Transport data, the trend appeared across Britain and was statistically significant in all but one region.

Car dependency had the highest impact on loneliness in rural towns, the thinktank found, and the least in cities, where people are more likely to have reliable alternatives in terms of train, buses, trams, walking or cycling.

A report last year for the DfT concluded that most people were “no more or less likely to be lonely if they used public transport or not”, with an exception for those with health conditions that stopped them driving.

However, by cross-referencing the data with that from another major study, the DfT’s national travel survey, the SMF concluded that when people were dissatisfied with their public transport, they were more likely to also be lonely.

The thinktank said: “Our first-of-its-kind analysis shows a very clear and statistically significant link between car dependency and loneliness, with results indicating that loneliness increases by 5% for every 20% fall in satisfaction with public transport and active travel. Put another way, failing to provide alternatives to cars is making people more lonely and more isolated.”

The report says the correlation was found across every region of the country, but car dependency was shown to have the highest impact on loneliness in rural towns.

Gideon Salutin, a senior researcher at the SMF, said the study showed that people in car-dependent areas were lonelier even if they were able to drive. Among possible explanation for the link was that people had “fewer ways to reach others, cutting them off from job sites, pubs and other social spaces”.

“It might also be that the infrastructure we build to support motoring builds more barriers in what might have been walkable neighbourhoods and green spaces,” he said. “Given that driving tends to poorly affect stress and health, it’s also possible that it leaves people more vulnerable to loneliness and isolation. Driving also means you can’t drink, which can be an exclusionary factor in many social settings.”

Salutin said that while the data did not show that cars themselves caused loneliness, a recent US academic study had found that relying on a car more than 50% of the time was associated with a decrease in life satisfaction.

A number of UK thinktanks and charities have expressed concern about increased car dependency in new housing estates, as well as the decline in rural bus routes.

A report by the New Economics Foundation in 2024 said newbuilds across Britain were leading to ever more car dependency, relative to existing homes.

Steve Chambers, the director of Transport for New Homes, said: “It’s not surprising to learn that people are lonely. When we visit housing estates, it’s very rare that we see many people outside at all. When they leave the house, they have to get in their car – there are very few trips that are possible on foot.”

He said examples such as Derwenthorpe, on the edge of York, built around walking and cycling with open spaces and people interacting, were few. “That vibrancy of life is in really stark contrast to many places where people have no reason to set foot outside their home, bar maybe to wash their car.”