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London cyclists at traffic lights (copyright Britishcycling.org_.uk).jpgSport England survey finds twice as many people cycle for leisure than for travel
A new survey from Sport England suggests that there are twice as many leisure cyclists in the country than people who use bicycles as a form of transport.
The finding comes from the Active Lives survey, published last week, and which has what in market research terms must be considered a huge sample size.
A whopping 200,000 adults aged 16 or above participated in the survey, which covers the 12 months to mid-November 2016.
The survey replaces the former Active People Survey and, for the first time, includes cycling for travel as well as leisure.
It says that 15 per cent of people cycle for leisure and sport, while 7 per cent cycle as a means of transport (some, of course, will do both).
Men are two and a half times more likely to cycle for travel than women are, at 10 per cent versus 4 per cent.
When it comes to cycling for leisure and sport, however, the gap is narrower, at 19 per cent compared to 11 per cent.
Walking is also included for the first time, and the survey found that women are more likely than men to walk for both leisure (44 per cent versus 38 per cent) and travel (34 per cent versus 30 per cent).
As with any survey, the results need to be treated with some caution. They reflect “the proportion of adults taking part at least twice (at moderate intensity for the equivalent of 30 minutes) in the last 28 days in the broad groupings of activity that make up sport and physical activity.”
So someone who commutes by bike to their work or place of study, for example, would be counted in the same way as someone who, say, hops on their bike once a fortnight for a ride around their local park.
One in four people in England (25.7 per cent) do 30 minutes’ physical activity a week or less, including walking, while a further 13.7 per cent are described as “fairly active” but fail to reach 150 minutes’ activity.
The remaining 60.7 per cent are active for 150 minutes or more each week, in line with the recommendation of the government’s chief medical officer.
The Active Lives survey is an ongoing project, with the next wave of results due to be released in September.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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13 comments
I continnued my quest last evening and went to the newish Tescos on the Oxford road, slightly different as more central town, the bike parking there was supurb. Maybe 10 times the capacity. And it was being properly used on a wetish winter evening.
Oh, and this. For getting to the supermarket.... When the apocalypse comes!
http://singletrackworld.com/2016/12/surly-big-fat-dummy/
I cycle for travel (commute) by bike, so it becomes leisure.
Rode out to the sainsburys in calcot the other day, personel quest for Yorkshire Gold loose leaf tea, they didn't have any, grrr. Huge car park, internet says close to 1,500. After searching I found 3 bike stands. According to the fag smoking staff there was another bit of bike parking next to the sports direct. Now the Bath road was not a particularly enjoyable cycling experience, but reserving what must have been 2 car parking spaces for bicycles was woefully inadequate. The bike parking I did use was right next to the exit.
Blimey, I remember when that was all fields!
"Men are two and a half times more likely to cycle for travel than women are, at 10 per cent versus 4 per cent.
When it comes to cycling for leisure and sport, however, the gap is narrower, at 19 per cent compared to 11 per cent."
Funny how statistics can be portrayed in different ways. Cycling for leisure and sport the proportion may be reduced but the gap is actually wider, 8 percentile points against 6 for travel. Sorry, slow afternoon.
I go there at least once a week. Usually chain bike up on the railings around the greenhouse entrance, or even inside that entrance. Think the official bike racks are further to the left, or you can use the railings on the walkway between the entrance and the bus stops.
Considering it's a broadly out-of-town hyper market where they're expecting the majority of their customers to arrive in a car (probably with kids) for the weekly shop, it's understandable and not really a surprise that cycle parking isn't their priority.
Bath road isn't so bad for the traffic - it's the road surface that's the problem. I reported potholes a couple of years ago that STILL haven't been fixed! Was told they weren't going to do them as the road was scheduled for re-surfacing.
Ignore the Bath Road, use Pincents Lane from Tilehurst. No through road for cars and you can say hello to the horses in the fields. Just don't buy anything too heavy and make sure your gears are low...
To increase the number of people using bike to travel I think we need to improve the facilities at the destinations. For me personally that is more of an issue than the building of bike lanes etc.
I cycle to work, because there is secure parking and good shower facilities available.
I don't cycle to the supermarket because I won't leave any of my bikes chained up in a public place.
I agree that you need to make the end destination facilities good, not sure I agree with the supermarket part. The supermarkets I go to have good bike facilities right next to the door so theft would be very visible, I do have issues with a lot of train stations locally though who have the bike areas out of sight.
They might be right next to the door, but nobody is going to challenge a couple of blokes with a van and some bolt cutters nicking your bike. Definitely not the fat bloke dressed as a security guard.
I've seen some strange little parking garages in some supermarkets where people can secure their trolley while they visit the cafe. something like that in the entrance foyer would do it for me. You could even leave your shoes in there while you do your shopping in some flip-flops or something.
The facilities that I use are under cover between the door and the trolley park meaning there is a good flow of footfall from both public, door security and trolley collectors. You may have not faith that someone with a van that has to park a significant distance away from the bikes will be challenged when walking up with bolt cutters and back with a bike or two. I have a different belief in what would happen, each to thier own.
Just out of interest, how long do you expect to spend at the supermarket if you are travelling on your bike?
I'm not arguing against better cycle parking at supermarktes, but:
I suspect you are approaching utility cycling from a lesure cyclist standpoint. You are already interested in riding a bike, so much so that you are prepared to get tired, hot and sweaty on the way to work and you are worried about your nice bike being nicked.
Put yourself in the position of the average person, not interested in the process of cycling apart from the doctor telling them to get more excersise, owns a bottom of the range carrera bike from halfords and pretty scared of traffic. You could put all the bicycle storage/security features you want at all supermarkets and I am sure it wouldn't make much difference.
You already cycle, and most people like you already cycles, the article above shows you that there aren't that many of you though! Providing somewhere secure for your nice bike at a supermarket wont make much difference to the levels of cycling in the rest of the population. At best it might convert a proportion of the small number of lesure cyclists into utility cyclists.
That's a very good point!
How many people are likely to go to the supermarket on the ££££ race bike vs. pub bike?
To my mind a supermarket shop on a bike involves a pannier rack or similar which would rule out the majority of top end bikes? So therefor facilities to cater for high end bikes are a bit of a waste?
Indeed. If you aren't prepared to lock your bike up outside, then how can you use your bike as a realistic mode of transport? I'm mainly a utility cyclist, and having parking facilities doesn't even cross my mind before going somewhere. The route to get there with the fewest cars, however, is probably my main consideration.