Walking and cycling statistics, England: Factors influencing walking and cycling rates
Published 30 August 2023
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2023
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About this release
This section of the walking and cycling publication covers factors that influence walking and cycling rates (such as access to pedal cycles and road safety). The data originates from the National Travel Survey (NTS) which collects data to monitor trends in personal travel and from the road safety statistics publication.
Other sections of the release are found in the full walking and cycling publication for 2022.
1. Factors influencing walking and cycling rates
Whilst differences across demographics can explain some variation in different walking and cycling rates across England, there are other factors that can contribute to these differences, some of which are detailed below.
1.1 Access to cycling
Cycle ownership remains most prevalent amongst school aged people under 17 years old. As with the previous year, people aged 40 to 49 also indicated high cycle ownership at 50% closely followed by those aged 50 to 59 at 45%, in line with the modal age for cycling activity in England (Chart 1).
In England, 43% of people aged 5 and over owned or had access to a cycle in 2022, a decrease from 47% in 2021 (Chart 1). Almost all age groups saw declines in ownership or access to a cycle between 2021 and 2022. The largest decrease was seen in those aged 5 to 10, falling by 12 percentage points to the lowest in the series.
This follows the increase in pedal cycle ownership over the pandemic with 47% of respondents owning or having access to a pedal cycle in both 2020 and 2021 and brings levels back in line with pre-pandemic trends (NTS0608).
Trends over time in cycle ownership differ by age group. Whilst levels for those aged 17 to 49 have remained broadly stable over time, levels amongst young children aged 5 to 16 have been decreasing, with the exception of increases seen during the pandemic. Ownership has dropped by 10 percentage points and 7 percentage points respectively for those aged 5 to 10 and 11 to 16 between 2002 to 2004 and 2022. Although it should be noted that ownership still remains highest amongst these age groups. In comparison, those aged 50 and over have seen a slow steady increase in cycle ownership over this same period.
Chart 1: Percentage who own or have access to a pedal cycle, by age group, in England, 2022 (NTS0608)
It should be noted that this data refers to ownership or access to pedal cycles, so excludes ownership of electric cycles. The national travel attitudes survey estimates that around 4% of respondents owned or had regular use of an electric cycle.
1.2 Road safety
The figures for injured casualties are based on adjusting figures reported by the police to take account of changes in the reporting of injury severity by some police forces in recent years. These adjusted figures can reliably be used to compare trends over time across the country. More details can be found in our severity adjustments guidance.
Walking and cycling rates can be heavily influenced by factors such as road safety. The perception of safety and actual safety conditions on local transport networks can affect people’s decisions when choosing walking and cycling as a mode of transportation.
The latest data on perceptions of safety and what would encourage people to walk and cycle more can be found in the National Travel Attitudes Survey (NTAS) wave 5.
Casualty rates were not available at the time of publication, but will be available as part of the final annual road casualty statistics in September 2023.
Provisional estimates show that in 2022, 22% of fatalities on roads were pedestrians and 5% were pedal cyclists. This compares to 46% of fatalities which were car occupants and 21% which were motorcyclists.
Fatalities by active modes have seen a large decrease since 2019, with a 20% decline for pedestrians and a 15% fall for pedal cyclists. This compares to small increases seen for both motor cyclists and car occupants.
In 2022, 55% of casualties were car occupants, 14% were pedestrians, 12% were motorcyclists and 12% were pedal cyclists.
1.3 Pedestrians
The total number of all pedestrian casualties shows a general declining trend from 2013 (24,033 casualties) to 2022 (provisional estimate of 19,384 casualties). This represents an 11% decrease from 2019 and a 23% decrease from reported casualties in 2012.
The latest estimates show since 2021, pedestrian casualties that are KSI (killed or seriously injured) have increased by 18% from 2021 (5,356 pedestrian KSI casualties) to 2022 (6,297 pedestrian KSI casualties).
The proportion of all casualties that resulted in a fatality have remained similar since 2013 remaining around 2% between 2013 (398 out of a total 24,033 casualties) and 2022 (376 out of 19,384 casualties).
1.4 Cyclists
The total number of pedal cyclist casualties also shows a declining trend from 2013 (19,438 casualties) to 2022 (15,689 casualties). Pedal cycle casualties have fallen by 7% since 2019 and 18% compared to 2012.
The latest estimates show that pedal cyclist casualties that are KSI have decreased by 6% from 2021 (4,425 pedal cyclist KSI casualties) to 2022 (4,146 pedal cyclist KSI casualties).
The proportion of all pedal cyclist casualties that resulted in a fatality has remained under 1% from 2013 to 2022.
Chart 2: Pedal cyclists and pedestrians killed or seriously injured (adjusted), Great Britain, 2013 to 2022 (RAS9101)
For more detailed analysis on pedestrian and pedal cyclist casualties in 2022, please see Reported road casualties Great Britain, provisional results: 2022
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4. Contact details
Walking and cycling statistics
Email activetravel.stats@dft.gov.uk
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