Official Statistics

Walking and cycling statistics, England: 2020

Published 22 September 2021

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/walking-and-cycling-statistics-england-2020/walking-and-cycling-statistics-england-2020

About this release

This statistical release presents information on walking and cycling in England in 2020 using 2 main data sources:

Statistics are derived from the NTS unless otherwise stated. More information on these data sources can be found in the background quality report.

Some key uses of the data include describing patterns in walking and cycling, monitoring trends and contributing to evaluation of policies.

Main findings

Walking

Average walking trips and stages decreased in 2020, whilst miles walked per person increased to their highest levels since 2002.

Average walking stages decreased by 16% between 2019 (332 stages per person) and 2020 (281 stages per person) to the lowest levels since 2002 (Chart 1).

Average walking trips decreased by 5%, from 250 trips per person in 2019 to 236 trips per person in 2020 (Chart 1).

Average miles walked per person in 2020 increased to the highest levels since the start of the series, 220 miles per person per year (Chart 1). This follows the 34% increase in average walking trips over a mile in 2020 compared to 2019.

Chart 1: Walking stages, trips and miles per person per year, 2002 to 2020 (NTS0303)

  • the proportion of walking trips in relation to other transport modes increased in 2020, people made 32% of all their trips by walking in 2020 compared to 26% in 2019
  • walking stages for utility (for example to place of work or education) fell by 42% in 2020 compared to 2019, whilst walking stages for leisure increased by 9%

Cycling

Cycling levels increased in 2020 to the highest levels seen since the start of the series, with increases seen in trips, stages and miles cycled.

  • average cycling stages increased by 23% between 2019 (17 stages per person) and 2020 (21 stages per person) to the highest levels since 2002 (Chart 2)
  • average cycling trips increased by 26%, from 16 trips per person in 2019 to 20 in 2020 (Chart 2)
  • average miles cycled per person increased by 62% between 2019 (54 miles per person) and 2020 (88 miles per person), more than double the average distance in 2002 (39 miles per person) (Chart 2)

Chart 2: Cycling stages, trips and miles per person per year, 2002 to 2020 (NTS0303)

  • cycling stages for utility (for example, to place of work or education) decreased by 20% in 2020, but was offset by a 75% increase in cycling stages for leisure
  • cycling as a proportion of trips by all transport modes increased from 2% in 2019 to 3% in 2020

NTS definitions

A walking stage is where someone walks as part of an overall trip, for example, walking then taking the bus to work would be classified as a walking stage (and a stage by bus).

If the walking stage constitutes the longest stage in the trip by distance, it is also classed as a walking trip.

Walks under 50 yards and off the public highway are excluded. Walks over 50 yards but under 1 mile (“short walks”) were recorded on day 1 of the travel diary and are not recorded thereafter. Further information on short walks can be found in the background quality report.

In 2020, people walked an estimated total of 15.9 billion stages in England.

The average person in England in 2020:

  • made 236 walking trips and 281 walking stages
  • walked 220 miles
  • spent about 88 minutes a week travelling by foot
  • made 32% of all their trips by walking
  • covered 5% of all their distance travelled by walking

Both walking trips and stages per person decreased in 2020. Walking trips decreased by 5% compared to 2019 (250 trips per person), whilst walking stages decreased by 16% compared to 2019 (332 stages per person) continuing the decrease seen the previous year. This represents a 10% decrease in walking trips compared to 2002 (264 trips per person), the year when the NTS in its current form began.

A decrease in short walks (1 mile or less), which on average make up more than 70% of walking trips, could be a factor contributing to the overall fall in walking. This is also likely to contribute to the larger fall in walking stages compared to trips.

Notably, walking trips of over a mile increased to 87 trips per person in 2020, an increase of 34% compared to 2019 (65 trips per person) and an increase of 16% compared to 2002 (75 trips per person). This is also shown by the increase in average miles walked increasing by 7%, from 205 miles per person in 2019 to 220 miles per person in 2020. This is the highest levels seen since the series began (NTS0303).

Walking stages are one of the main measures used to monitor the department’s Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS). Table CW0402 shows that this target of 300 stages per person per year has been consistently met since 2015, with the exception of 2020 following impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

Demographic differences in walking

The number of walking trips and the reasons for walking differ between men and women, and people of different ages.

In 2020, women on average made 28% more walking trips than men (265 trips compared to 207 trips by men), continuing the trend seen in previous years. Women in their 40s (aged 40 to 49) made the highest number of walking trips across all groups. This represents a slight shift as women in their 30s (aged 30 to 39) have historically made the highest number of walking trips since 2002. Walking trips for men are broadly similar across age groups but are lowest in those ages 17 to 29. Only men aged over 60 made a larger number of walking trips than their female counterparts (Chart 3).

Chart 3: Walking trips per person per year, by age and gender, England, 2020 (NTS0601)

Factors influencing walking rates

People without access to a car are more reliant on walking as a mode of transport

People in households without access to a car made 55% of all their trips and 13% of their distance travelled by foot. This compares to 29% of trips and 4% of distance for those in households with access to a car (NTS0702).

The number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured has generally been decreasing

In Great Britain, the number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured has generally fallen since its peak of 8,076 in 2011. However, the decrease between 2019 and 2020 was greater than in previous years. The number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured fell by 32% between 2019 and 2020 and represents a 43% decrease compared to the 2011 peak and a 40% decrease in the last 10 years. This drop is likely at least partly explained by lower levels of walking in 2020 than previous years as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and should be interpreted in this context (Chart 4).

Chart 4: Pedestrians killed or seriously injured (adjusted), in reported road accidents, Great Britain, 2010 to 2020 (RAS30001)

Serious and slight road accident figures have been adjusted to account for a change in severity reporting systems in a large number of forces who record road accidents. We recommend using the adjusted figures for understanding trends over time. For more information see reported road casualties Great Britain, main results 2020.

Please note that 2020 figures are currently provisional, final figures will be published in reported road casualties Great Britain, final results 2020 on 30 September 2021

Local area walking rates (Active Lives Survey)

The proportions of adults walking at least once a week in November 2019 to 2020 has fallen at the national and regional level compared to November 2018 to November 2019. Around 92% of local authorities, in England, between November 2019 to November 2020, had at least 60% of their adult population walking at least once a week compared to 98% of local authorities between November 2018 to November 2020 (Map 1).

Travel restrictions varied by local authority due to national and local COVID-19 restrictions throughout 2020 and will have impacted levels of cycling and walking seen.

Map 1: Proportion of adults walking at least once a week by Local Authority, England, 2019 to 2020 (CW0303)

If a change is statistically significant then we can be confident that the difference seen in those sampled are reflective of the population.

The proportion of adults walking at least once a week decreased in England from 71% in November 2018 to November 2019 to 67% in November 2019 to November 2020, a statistically significant decrease. This was driven by falls in walking for travel that fell from 42% to 30% between the 2019 and 2020 data collection periods. In comparison walking for leisure once a week saw a smaller increase from 51% to 55% over the same period (CW0303).

All regions experienced statistically significant decreases in the proportion of people walking at least once a week in November 2019 to 2020, with exception of the North East. Looking at local authority level, 55 (18%) local authorities saw a statistically significant decreases in the proportion of adults walking at least once a week. These Local Authority changes exclude those affected by boundary changes which mean there is not a comparator the previous year.

The Active Lives Survey has a standard sample size of at least 500 persons per local authority. The data tables accompanying this release include 95% confidence interval half widths, which demonstrate the accuracy of the estimates and the likely range of values for the true value. For more information, see the notes and definitions document and background quality report.

NTS definitions:

  • a cycling trip in the NTS is a trip where cycling is the main mode of transport in terms of distance
  • a cycling stage is where someone cycles as part of an overall trip
  • distance figures include cycling stages made as part of any trip

The number of respondents using this mode is small, so results (particularly year-on-year variability) should be interpreted with caution.

These statistics are sometimes presented with years combined. However, these statistics are presented as a single year for 2020. This is due to changes in the methodology of data collection, changes in travel behaviour and a reduction of data collected during 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and care should be taken when interpreting this data and comparing to other years, due to the small sample sizes.

In 2020, people cycled a total of 1.2 billion stages.

The average person in England in 2020:

  • made 20 cycling trips and 21 cycling stages
  • cycled 88 miles
  • spent about 12 minutes a week travelling by cycle
  • made 3% of all their trips by cycling
  • covered 2% of all their distance by cycling

The number of trips (and stages) cycled has remained broadly stable since the current NTS series started in 2002, ranging from 14 to 18 trips per person between 2002 and 2019. In 2020, cycling trips increased to 20 trips per person, a 26% increase compared to 2019 (16 trips per person) and a 13% increase since 2002 (18 trips per person). Similarly, stages cycled per person increased by 23% compared to 2019.

As well as cycling more in 2020, people also cycled farther. The average miles cycled in 2020 (88 miles per person) was 62% higher than in 2019 (54 miles per person). This continues the general upward trend since 2002 (39 miles per person) (NTS0303).

Chart 5 shows that due to the relatively small number of cycle trips in the sample, the series can be volatile, but total cycle stages have broadly remained between 0.8 and 1 billion stages in the last 10 years. in 2020, total stages cycled increased to 1.2 billion, an increase of 24% compared to 2019 (964 million stages) and a 45% increase compared to the 2013 Cycling and walking investment strategy baseline (824 million stages).

Chart 5: Total stages cycled per year in millions, England, 2010 to 2020 (CW0403)

The department’s cycling and walking investment strategy includes an aim to double cycling activity from 0.8 billion stages in 2013 to 1.6 billion stages in 2025.

Demographic differences in cycling

Men cycle more often and further than women in all age brackets.

In 2020, men made more than double the amount of cycle trips than women (28 trips per person compared to 13 trips per person) and cycled on average more than double the distance (127 miles per person compared to 50 miles per person). Men aged 17 to 20 cycled the most (40 trips per person), but this was closely followed by men aged 40 to 49 (39 trips per person). Similarly, amongst women, those aged 40 to 49 cycled the most (21 trips per person), although still well below levels seen by men in all age groups (Chart 6).

Chart 6: Cycling trips per person per year, by age and gender, England, 2020 (NTS0601)

Due to the relatively low number of cycling trips in the sample, the series can be volatile, however the data shows that cycling has generally been increasing for both men and women since 2002.

Factors influencing cycling rates

Nearly half of people in England have access to a bicycle NTS0608

In England, 47% of people aged 5 and over owned or had access to a bicycle in 2020, an increase compared to the 3-year average of 42% for 2017 to 2019. This increase was seen across all age groups.

Bicycle ownership remains most prevalent amongst people under 17 years old. As with previous years, people aged 40 to 49 also indicated high bicycle ownership at 58%, in line with the modal age for cycling activity in England.

This increase in bicycle ownership is also reported by the Bicycle Association, whose data showed a large increase in UK bicycle sales from January to October 2020 compared to previous years.

Half of adults would be encouraged to cycle more with safer roads and off-road and segregated cycle paths

The National Travel Attitudes Survey (NTAS) wave 5 asked people aged 16 and over about what would encourage them to cycle more. Respondents could select more than 1 incentive from the list provided.

The most commonly selected reasons were related to safety and infrastructure including:

  • off-road and segregated cycle paths (55%)
  • safer roads (53%)
  • well-maintained road surfaces for cycling (49%)

Less than half of women surveyed felt confident when riding a bicycle compared to almost 3 quarters of men

The National Travel Attitudes Survey (NTAS) wave 5 also asked people aged 16 and over how confident they feel when riding a bicycle. 58% of Wave 5 respondents reported to feel confident when riding a bicycle. Men (74%) felt more confident than women (43%).

The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured has been increasing

In Great Britain, the reported number of pedal cyclists killed or seriously injured increased by 11% in the last 10 years, from 3900 in 2010 to 4340 in 2020. Similarly, there was a small increase of 3% between 2019 (4210) and 2020 (4320). This may be in part due to increases in miles cycled and cycling trips per person in England over this period (Chart 7).

For more detailed analysis on pedal cyclist casualties in 2020, please see The impact of lockdown on reported road casualties Great Britain, provisional results: 2020.

Chart 7: Pedal cyclists killed or seriously injured (adjusted), Great Britain, 2010 to 2020 (RAS30001)

Please note that 2020 figures are currently provisional, final figures will be published in reported road casualties Great Britain on 30 September 2021.

Local area cycling rates (Active Lives Survey)

Around 96% of local authorities in England between November 2019 and November 2020 had less than 20% of their adult population cycling at least once a week.

The proportion of adults cycling at least once a week in England, increased from 11% in November 2018 to November 2019 to 12% in November 2019 to November 2020, a statistically significant increase.

At the regional level, cycling rates were similar to the previous year with only the East of England seeing a statistically significant increase, although there continue to be differences between regions in levels of cycling (CW0305).

The picture at local authority level was more varied, with 19 local authorities seeing a significant increase on the previous year and 8 a significant decrease.

Map 2: Proportion of adults cycling at least once a week by Local Authority, England, 2019 to 2020 (CW0302)

Similar to walking, trends were heavily influenced by the differences in cycling for travel and leisure. For more detailed analysis on the impact of the changes in cycling for leisure, see Impact of the coronavirus pandemic on walking and cycling statistics.

Walking and cycling to school

Data on travel to school will be impacted by changes in travel behaviour due to the coronavirus pandemic. During both national and local lockdowns, many schools stopped face-to-face teaching and lessons were taught virtually, which meant that children were not travelling to school for large periods of the year. Data for 2020 and changes from previous years should be interpreted accordingly.

In 2020, 50% of children aged 5 to 16 walked or cycled to school (when able to), an increase from 44% in 2019 and the largest proportion of children walking or cycling to school since 2009. This included 47% of all children who usually walked to school and 3% who usually cycled.

There were increases in walking as the usual means of travel to school amongst both primary school (aged 5 to 10) children (47% in 2019 to 52% in 2020) and secondary school (aged 11 to 16) children (34% in 2019 to 42% in 2020). This was the highest proportion of secondary school aged children walking to school since 2009. School closures and the reduction in public transport and private car use are all likely to have contributed towards this.

Only 3% of all children usually cycled to school. This proportion has remained between 2% and 4% since 2002. In 2020, the proportion of secondary school aged children cycling to school increased to 5% from 3% in 2019. Over the same period, primary school children walking to school decreased from 3% to 1% (NTS0615).

The Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy includes a target to increase the percentage of children that usually walk to school from 49% in 2015 to 55% in 2025.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Impact

These statistics cover walking and cycling during 2020, during which several travel restrictions were in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This significantly impacted travel patterns across the country, with effects differing by area depending on the level of local restrictions in place.

Caution is needed when interpreting results for 2020 using NTS data as they are based on a smaller sample size. This means that the standard errors are likely to be larger and therefore less representative of residents of England, compared to previous years.

Further details can be found in the Impact of the coronavirus pandemic on walking and cycling 2020 report.

Background information

Further information about these statistics is available, including:

National Statistics

The NTS was assessed by the UK Statistics Authority against the Code of Practice for Statistics and was confirmed as National Statistics in July 2011.

The results from the ALS are not National Statistics, but adhere to the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for Statistics.

Which dataset should I use?

The NTS allows us to look at walking and cycling in isolation, but also compare to other modes of travel and look at long term trends. The smaller sample size means that we cannot look at the data below regional level.

The ALS has a much larger sample size than the NTS, so allows us to look at estimates of walking and cycling at the local authority level.

Data sources used in this publication:

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Contact details:

Walking and cycling statistics

Email activetravel.stats@dft.gov.uk

Public enquiries 020 7944 3077

Media enquiries 0300 7777 878

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