Official Statistics

Walking and cycling statistics, England: Local area walking and cycling rates (Active Lives Survey)

Published 28 August 2024

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/walking-and-cycling-statistics-england-2023/walking-and-cycling-statistics-england-local-area-walking-and-cycling-rates-active-lives-survey

About this release

This statistical release contains information on walking and cycling rates across England. These statistics are taken from the Active Lives Survey (ALS) collected by Sport England and are subsequently analysed by the Department for Transport (DfT). Data for the ALS is collected from November to November each year and any reference to 2023 refers to data collected between November 2022 to November 2023.

This release aggregates data at both the regional and national level to provide an overview of trends in England. The ALS has a standard sample size of at least 500 people per local authority in England. Detailed national, regional, and local authority area walking and cycling rates can be found on the statistical data set page.

For more information, see the background information section.

Due to different methodologies in data collection, definitions, and data coverage statistics from the ALS and other active travel data sources are not directly comparable.

Despite the ALS having a standard sample size of at least 500 persons per local authority, some measures related to cycling might be based on a lower number of respondents in some local authorities. Where applicable, data tables containing survey data with a sample size of fewer than 30 respondents have been suppressed and unweighted sample sizes used in analysis are found in each table.

Due to the lower prevalence of cycling compared to walking at both a national and local level, and for leisure and travel purposes, changes in cycling rates are usually small (plus or minus 2 percentage points).

For example, the proportion of adults who cycled for leisure at least once per week increased by 24% between 2022 and 2023. However, this was only a 1.3 percentage point increase from 5.4% to 6.7%. For this reason, when comparing differences in cycling rates over time, we recommend looking at percentage point changes rather than percentage differences.

Introduction

A range of factors can influence variations in local authority walking and cycling rates and the combination of different factors can vary from one local authority to the other, producing different take-up rates in each area. Active travel policies aim to encourage walking and cycling across England and are designed to support active modes of transport. Local variations can be the product of perceptions about road safety, the conditions of walking and cycling infrastructure, or generally due to differences across demographics.

Local area walking rates

Walking and cycling definitions (as defined by Active Lives Survey)

Walking is defined as any continuous walk of at least 10 minutes. It includes walking for leisure, for travel, rambling and, or Nordic walking, and for wheelchair use. It excludes hiking, mountain and, or hill walking, and walking around shops.

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

Walking for travel is to get to place-to-place, for example, commuting, visiting a friend, or going to the supermarket.

Cycling is defined as any cycle rides of any length for leisure, or for travel. Includes some recreational types of cycling such as mountain biking, track cycling, and cyclo-cross. Excludes exercise bikes and cycling indoors.

Chart 1: Proportion of adults reporting walking at least once per week, by purpose, in England: up to 2023 (CW0303)

Chart 1 is a line chart showing that in England, in 2023:

  • 69% of adults reported walking at least once per week for any purpose, similar to last year (a decrease from 71% in 2019)

  • 55% of adults reported walking at least once per week for leisure, a decrease of 1 percentage points from last year (an increase from 51% in 2019)

  • 38% of adults reported walking at least once per week for travel, an increase of 3 percentage points from last year (a decrease from 42% in 2019)

Table 1: Top ten local authority participation rates (%) for walking at least once per week for any purpose (CW0308)

Area name Class 2023
Richmond upon Thames London Borough 85.0
St Albans Non-metropolitan District 82.2
Oxford Non-metropolitan District 82.1
Bath and North East Somerset Unitary Authority 82.1
Brighton and Hove Unitary Authority 80.7
Woking Non-metropolitan District 80.7
Cambridge Non-metropolitan District 80.2
Waverley Non-metropolitan District 79.8
Warwick Non-metropolitan District 79.6
Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough 79.3

Note that the Isles of Scilly has been excluded from Table 1 due to a lower sample size in comparison to other authorities.

Walking for leisure

Chart 2: Proportion of adults reporting walking at least once per week, for leisure purposes, in each English region in 2022 and 2023 (CW0303)

Chart 2 is a bar chart which shows how walking at least once per week for leisure purposes in 2023, had:

  • the highest prevalence in the South West region at 62%, a decrease of 1 percentage points from last year

  • the lowest prevalence in the London region at 48%, a decrease of 3 percentage points from last year

Walking for travel

Chart 3: Proportion of adults reporting walking at least once per week, for travel purposes, in each English region in 2022 and 2023 (CW0303)

Chart 3 is a bar chart which shows how walking at least once per week for travel purposes in 2023, had:

  • the highest prevalence in the London region at 52%, an increase of 2 percentage points from last year

  • the lowest prevalence in the North East region at 32%, an increase of 2 percentage points from last year

Local area cycling rates

Chart 4: Proportion of adults reporting cycling at least once per week, by purpose, in England: up to 2023 (CW0302)

Chart 4 is a line chart showing that in England, in 2023:

  • 10% of adults reported cycling at least once per week for any purpose, an increase of 1 percentage points from last year (a decrease from 11% in 2019)

  • 7% of adults reported cycling at least once per week for leisure, an increase of 2 percentage points from last year (a decrease from 8% in 2019)

  • 5% of adults reported cycling at least once per week for travel, a decrease of 1 percentage points from last year (a decrease from 6% in 2019)

Table 2: Top 10 local authority participation rates (%) for cycling at least once per week for any purpose (CW0308)

Area name Class 2023
Cambridge Non-metropolitan District 47.8
Oxford Non-metropolitan District 35.1
Hackney London Borough 29.0
Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough 28.1
South Cambridgeshire Non-metropolitan District 27.5
Islington London Borough 25.7
Kensington and Chelsea London Borough 24.5
Lambeth London Borough 23.8
York Unitary Authority 23.4
Cambridgeshire County 23.2

Note that the Isles of Scilly has been excluded from Table 2 due to a lower sample size in comparison to other authorities.

Cycling for leisure

Chart 5: Proportion of adults reporting cycling at least once per week, for leisure purposes, in each English region in in 2022 and 2023 (CW0302)

Chart 5 is a bar chart which shows how cycling at least once per week for leisure purposes in 2023, had:

  • the highest prevalence in the South West region at 8.4%, an increase of 1.6 percentage points from last year

  • the lowest prevalence in the West Midlands region at 5.0%, an increase of 1.1 percentage points from last year

Cycling for travel

Chart 6: Proportion of adults reporting cycling at least once per week, for travel purposes, in each English region in 2022 and 2023 (CW0302)

Chart 6 is a bar chart which shows how cycling at least once per week for travel purposes in 2023, had:

  • the highest prevalence in the London region at 9.3%, similar to last year

  • the lowest prevalence in the West Midlands region at 3.2%, similar to last year

About these statistics

Uses and users of these statistics

Statistics derived from the ALS are of interest to other government departments and local authorities to support health improvement, compare local and national level data, and monitor local active travel key performance indicators.

Further guidance on the technical background of this publication can be found in the background section.

Official statistics

This publication reports on a variety of accredited official statistics and official statistics. The type of statistics presented is detailed in Table 3 below. Related statistics and other sources of data can be found below.

Table 3: Categories of statistics presented in this publication

Name of category of statistics Label Description
National Travel Survey Accredited official statistics These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in July 2011. The continued designation was confirmed in September 2018. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.
Road Safety Statistics Accredited official statistics These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in July 2009. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.
Active Lives Survey Official statistics These statistics are official statistics. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

We also publish details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release.

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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Contact details

Walking and cycling statistics

Email activetravel.stats@dft.gov.uk

Media enquiries 0300 7777 878

To hear more about DfT statistical publications as they are released, follow us on X at DfTstats.

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