Official Statistics

Walking and cycling statistics, England: Introduction and main findings

Published 30 August 2023

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2023

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/walking-and-cycling-statistics-england-2022/walking-and-cycling-statistics-england-introduction-and-main-findings

About this release

This statistical release presents information on walking and cycling in England in 2022. The release makes use of two main data sources, the:

  • National Travel Survey (NTS)
  • Active Lives Survey (ALS)

Statistics are obtained from the NTS unless otherwise stated. More detailed breakdowns for the ALS are found in this section of the report. More information on these data sources can be found in the technical notes and background quality report.

Future publication dates will be announced in advance on DfT’s statistical release calendar.

Data sources

There are many data sources covering active travel in England. Each data source differs in the methodology and definitions used and are not directly comparable. This is why it is important to make sure you’re using the right data source to meet your needs. The data sources are not designed to understand changes in individual active travel schemes in local areas and alternative data sources should be used for these purposes.

See more information on which data source to use in this section of the release.

Walking and cycling definitions (as defined by National Travel Survey)

Walking – Walking includes all travel on foot. It is also used when respondents ride in non-motorised wheelchairs, prams or pushchairs, as well as when they ride on toy pedal cycles, roller-skates, skateboards, non-motorised scooters, or when they jog. For example, children who accompany their parents on a visit to the shops on toy pedal cycles (where the parents are walking) are coded as having walked there. Walks of less than 50 yards are always excluded.

Cycling – All cycles, including e-cycles, which take place on the public highway (any public road, street or path available to the public by a public right of way).

1. Walking

The latest data shows that people are walking more often. Increases were seen in walking trips, stages and miles travelled compared to 2021, with average trips and miles above pre-pandemic levels. Walking is currently the only mode of transport where average trips per person are above 2019 levels, with stages seeing a moderate decrease compared to changes seen in other modes of transport.

In 2022, people walked an estimated total of 18 billion stages in England.

The average person in England in 2022:

  • made 267 walking trips and 318 walking stages
  • walked 221 miles
  • spent about 90 minutes a week travelling by walking
  • made 31% of all their trips by walking
  • had an average trip length of 0.7 miles
  • covered 4% of their distance travelling by walking

2. Cycling

The latest data shows that people are cycling at similar levels to previous years. Whilst cycling trips, stages and miles travelled increased over the pandemic in 2020, the average number of trips and stages has returned to similar to levels seen in 2019. The average distance travelled has increased by 4% (3 miles) compared to 2019, aligning with the general upward trend in average distance travelled since 2002.

In 2022, people cycled an estimated total of 0.9 billion stages in England.

The average person in England in 2022:

  • made 15 cycling trips and 16 cycling stages
  • cycled 57 miles
  • spent about 7 minutes a week travelling by cycle
  • made 2% of all their trips by cycling
  • had an average trip length of 3.6 miles
  • covered 1% of their distance travelling by cycling

3. Trips, stages, and miles walked

What is a trip?

A trip is defined as a one-way course of travel with a single main purpose where the mode recorded makes up the greatest part of travel. Outward and return trips are treated as two separate trips.

What is a stage?

A trip consists of one or more stages. A new stage is defined when there is a change in the mode of transport or when there is a change of vehicle requiring a separate ticket.

In 2022, average walking trips increased by 14%, to 267 trips per person compared to 2021. This is the highest level of walking trips recorded since 2006, and comes after the decreases seen between 2019 and 2021, to 235 trips per person, following impacts of the pandemic (Chart 1).

Average miles walked per person follows a similar pattern, with the NTS recording the highest number in the series in 2022 at 221 miles. The amount of time people are spending travelling by walking has also increased to the highest in the series. In 2022, people are spending an average of 1.5 hours a week walking. This is 26% higher than levels seen 10 years ago in 2012 (an average of 1.2 hours a week). In contrast to this, average trip length and trip duration remains similar to levels seen in previous years (at 0.7 miles and 18 minutes respectively). This further supports that whilst the average walking trip remains similar in length and duration to previous years, people are now making more of these trips to get around.

Average walking stages have increased to 318 stages per person in 2022, from 279 stages in 2021, which saw the lowest level of average walking stages in the series following impacts of the pandemic. This is a 14% increase on 2021 but remains 4% below the 2019 level of 332 average walking stages per person per year.

The proportion of walking trips in relation to other transport modes remained similar to levels seen during the pandemic at 31%. This proportion has been increasing since 2002, with the years following 2019 representing the highest in the series. In comparison, trips made by car or van drivers constitute the highest proportion of all trips at 39% and has remained relatively stable throughout the series.

Chart 1: Walking stages, trips and miles per person per year, 2002 to 2022 (NTS0303)

3.1 Walking trips over one mile

The average number of walking trips of over a mile in 2022 remained the same as in 2021, at 82 trips per person, higher than all years prior to 2020. Walking trips of over a mile make up on average around 30% of all walking trips, with the majority of people taking shorter walking trips (the average walking trip length is 0.7 miles).

Average walking stages of over a mile in 2022 also remained similar to 2021, with an average of 87 stages per person. This has increased by 20% since 2019 and are the highest levels recorded prior to 2020.

3.2 Purpose

Purpose refers to walking or cycling done for the purpose of leisure or travel (commonly referred to as utility journeys).

Walking or cycling for leisure is for the purpose of recreation, health, competition, or training.

Walking or cycling for travel is to get from place-to-place, for example, commuting, education or visiting a friend.

From 2005 to 2017, most walking stages per person were for leisure purposes like shopping, with the average number of stages ranging between 52 and 74 walking stages per person per year. Since 2018, most walking stages were for the purpose of just walking. In 2022, this was responsible for an average 92 walking stages per person per year and made up 29% of the proportion of walking stages by trip purpose, higher than in 2019 (18%), but lower than in 2020 (41%) and in 2021 (38%).

4. Trips, stages, and miles cycled

Cycling trips in 2022 were the same as levels seen in 2021 (15 trips per person).

The number of trips (and stages) cycled, whilst fluctuating, has remained broadly stable since the current NTS series started in 2002, ranging from 14 to 18 trips per person between 2002 and 2019. The number of cycle trips has decreased compared to the series high of 20 trips per person in 2020, falling back in line with the levels of cycling seen from 2002 to 2019 (Chart 2).

In general, most modes of transport have seen a recovery in average trips compared to 2021 with total trips by all modes continuing to increase following a large fall during the pandemic. despite this increase, levels of trips by other modes of transport, including cars, were generally still below 2019 levels, with the smallest decrease seen for cycling and walking seeing an increase compared to 2019.

The average number of miles cycled per person followed a general upward trend from 2002 (39 miles per person) to 2019 (54 miles per person). This rapidly increased during 2020, following the impacts of the pandemic, reaching the highest in the series at 88 miles per person. Since this peak, miles cycled have fallen back in line with previous trends to 57 miles per person in 2022. This is an increase of 4% on 2019, aligned with the general upward trend before the pandemic.

In 2022, the average number of stages cycled (16 stages per person) were 6% higher than levels seen in 2021 (15 stages per person). Average stages are now slightly below pre-pandemic levels (17 stages per person in 2019) but are generally back in line with the levels seen in previous years of the series.

Chart 2: Cycling stages, trips, and miles per person per year, 2002 to 2022 (NTS0303)

Chart 3 shows that the series can be volatile. This is in part due to the small number of cyclists in the sample. Total cycle stages have broadly remained between 0.8 and 1 billion stages in the last 10 years. In 2022, total cycle stages increased by 6% to 926 million stages compared to 2021 (875 million stages) but has decreased by 4% compared to 2019 (964 million stages).

This represents a 12% increase compared to the second cycling and walking investment strategy baseline (824 million stages in 2013) . A further increase is required to meet the target to double cycling to 1.6 billion stages by 2025.

Chart 3: Total stages cycled per year in millions, England, 2010 to 2022 (CW0403)

4.1 Purpose

From 2012 to 2019, most cycling stages were for commuting purposes accounting for an average of 36% of all cycling stages. In comparison, the largest proportion of average cycling stages in both 2020 and 2021 were for leisure (54% and 45% respectively), highlighting the change in personal travel trends during the pandemic. In 2022, leisure continues to be the purpose of most cycling stages, with leisure responsible for 35% of average cycling stages in 2022 (or 6 average cycling stages per person).

5. Walking and cycling to school

In 2020 and 2021, data on travelling to school was impacted by changes in travel behaviours due to the coronavirus pandemic as well as school closures over this period. Data for 2020 and 2021, as well as changes from previous years, should be interpreted accordingly. More details about the coronavirus restrictions can be found in the timeline of UK government coronavirus lockdowns.

5.1 National

The level of walking as the usual means of travel to school amongst both primary school children (aged 5 to 10) and secondary school children (aged 11 to 16) remained similar to 2021 with 49% of primary school and 37% of secondary school aged children walking to school in 2022 (Chart 4).

A similar trend is seen across both primary and secondary school children with levels of walking to school increasing during 2020 with 52% of primary school and 42% of secondary school children walking. Since this increase, levels have decreased for both groups but remain above the rates seen in 2019 (47% for primary and 34% for secondary). Proportions in 2020 and 2021 will be influenced by school closures and the reduction in public transport and private car use during the pandemic.

In 2022, 47% of children aged 5 to 16 walked or cycled to school, an increase from 46% in 2021. In general, this trend has fluctuated over time due to the volatility in the walking to school trend, and current levels are back to the proportion seen in previous years.

Like previous years, only 3% of all children usually cycled to school with secondary school aged children more likely to cycle than primary school aged children. This proportion has remained between 2% and 4% since 2002.

The second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy includes a target to increase the percentage of primary school children (ages 5 to 10) that usually walk to school to 55% in 2025.

Chart 4: Proportion of primary and secondary school children walking to school (CW0410)

6. Walking and cycling trips in towns and cities

The second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS2) includes an objective to increase the percentage of short journeys made in towns and cities through walking, wheeling, and cycling to 50% by 2030.

Short journeys refer to trips of less than 5 miles.

Towns and cities are defined using the official census rural-urban classification of residence and include Urban Conurbations, Urban Towns and Cities, and Rural Towns and Fringes.

The average proportion of trips walked in towns and cities has remained broadly stable since the data series started in 2002 to 2003 ranging between 38% and 41% up to 2018 to 2019.

In 2020, the proportion of these walking and cycling trips increased to the highest level across all years to 48%. This was likely due to trips by other modes decreasing by a greater proportion than active travel modes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since this peak, the proportion of trips remains higher than earlier in the series at 45% in 2021 and 46% in 2022 (Chart 5).

In comparison to other modes of travel, walking and cycling has consistently been the method of travel with the highest proportion of users when making short journeys in towns and cities. In 2022, car and van drivers made up the second largest proportion of trips at 31% and 16% for car and van passengers.

Chart 5: Proportion of trips under five miles in towns and cities (CW0415)

Further information about active travel statistics as well as other sources of data are available, including:

Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website.

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10. Contact details

Walking and cycling statistics

Email activetravel.stats@dft.gov.uk

Public enquiries 020 7944 3077

Media enquiries 0300 7777 878

To hear more about DfT statistical publications as they are released, follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter) at DfTstats.

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