The paper uses 1,834 individual life histories to examine changes in journey to work transport modes in Britain since 1890, and 90 in-depth interviews to investigate modal choice amongst commuters since the 1930s. There have been three main periods of change in the transport mode used for commuting, but there has also been considerable inertia in individual modal choice. The reasons why people use particular forms of transport have been quite stable over time, with some long-established differences between men and women. It is suggested that such trends have implications for the formulation of present-day transport policy.