Average cycling distances in England fall to lowest levels in a decade: Government urged to deliver on active travel promises as think tank expert slams transport system as “broken and stacked against poorest in society”

Just a week on from newly appointed Transport Secretary Louise Haigh pledging to invest “unprecedented levels of funding” in cycling and walking, as well as developing a new road safety strategy, think tanks and campaigners have urged the Labour government to act quickly on their active travel promises after official figures revealed that distances cycled annually in England have fallen to their lowest levels in a decade, while car journeys continue to rise.

According to figures released this week by the Department for Transport as part of its annual National Travel Survey, cycling accounted for two per cent of all trips made in England in 2023, and one per cent of distance travelled on average.

The average person made 15 cycling trips throughout the year, the same number as 2022, but down from the high of 20 annual trips in 2020.

Cycling’s decline in England since its pandemic-related boom four years ago is also strikingly evident in the average cycling miles travelled, which fell to levels last seen in 2013. According to the DfT’s figures, the average person in England cycled 47 miles during 2023, just over half of the high-water mark of 2020, which saw 88 miles travelled on average by bike.

However, 2023’s average distance was also 17 per cent down on the previous year’s figure of 57 miles per person, and below the pre-pandemic average of 54 miles in 2019.

> "The UK is travelling in the wrong direction": Cycling miles travelled down and car journeys up according to latest government stats

The DfT noted that this drop could be attributed to a range of factors, such as shorter trip lengths and changes in the nature of cycling activities. It also pointed out that the government’s traffic statistics show that there were 3.6 billion miles travelled by cycling in 2023, which was still seven per cent lower than 2022’s mileage, but roughly the same as 2019, and that the relatively small number of cycling trips recorded in the survey could account for the variations between these statistics.

Meanwhile, leisure retains its status as the most common purpose for cycling in England, with 40 per cent of all trips by bike in 2023 made for leisure purposes (up from four per cent the previous year).

Cycle commuting trips remain proportionately down compared to pre-pandemic levels, with 29 per cent of cycling activities in 2023 related to getting to work (compared to 30 per cent in 2022 and 33 per cent in 2019), followed by education (13 per cent) and shopping (nine per cent).

Men also continue to dominate the cycling figures, recording 22 cycling trips and 72 miles on average, compared to nine trips and 23 miles for women.

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While cycling continues to endure something of a post-pandemic malaise, it’s not all doom and gloom for active travel. The survey revealed that walking and wheeling is steadily increasing, averaging 225 miles per person in 2023, the highest mileage since the survey began in 2022 (despite the number of trips falling by one to 263).

However, despite some positive signs for active travel, the distance travelled by car, while still lower than 2019, continues to climb in the post-lockdown era. Car trips, either as a driver or passenger, made up 78 per cent of the average distance travelled in 2023, an increase of almost 500 miles per person since 2022. Bus journeys, meanwhile, have continued to plummet, with the average distance outside London down 31 miles compared to 2019, and forty per cent off the miles recorded over two decades ago in 2002.

Responding to the survey’s findings, Catherine Woodhead, the chief executive of active travel group Living Streets, said: “It’s clear there’s work needed to help get more of us walking and wheeling. The government needs to invest in making streets both safer and more welcoming for everyone, and that includes an end to pavement parking.”

“It’s great to see more people embracing walking as transport, but the plateau of cycling figures suggests more needs to be done to improve our cycle network, improving health, and reducing the burden on NHS,” added the Campaign for Better Transport’s Michael Solomon Williams.

> Cycling levels dropped in England because “short-sighted councils pulled out protected lanes”

The survey also highlighted both the rising car dependence of people in England and a growing mobility divide based on wealth, which has led the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) to argue that the UK’s current transport system is “stacked against the poorest in society”.

According to the DfT’s survey, those on the lowest income by quintile travelled on average 4,400 miles fewer in 2023 than people on the highest income, and over 2,300 miles fewer than the average person. People on the lowest income made over 170 fewer trips than those on the highest incomes.

Those on the lowest income are also the least likely to have access to a car – 44 per cent of households in the lowest quintile do not own a car, compared to 15 per cent in the highest quintile.

“These statistics reveal the scale of the challenge the new government has inherited in transport,” Stephen Frost, a principal research fellow at the IPPR, an independent think tank and charity “working towards a fairer, greener, and more prosperous society”, said in response to the new statistics.

“The transport system is broken. It is currently stacked against the poorest in society and many have limited, or no, access to healthy, sustainable, and affordable ways to travel.

“The new transport secretary has rightly said that ‘fixing’ transport is key to the success of all Labour’s missions – including growing the economy, meeting the UK’s climate commitments and improving public health.

“The government has limited time to achieve these goals and must quickly deliver on its promise of ‘unprecedented levels of funding’ for active travel if it is to keep its targets in reach and make streets safer and more attractive. 

“England’s first integrated transport strategy is a welcome opportunity to make transport work better for ordinary people and put in place a long-term plan to tackle the underlying inequalities caused by forced car dependency.”

> Labour government to invest "unprecedented levels of funding" in cycling

Last week, speaking to Laura Laker for the Guardian, Labour’s new Transport Secretary Louise Haigh explained how active travel would form an important part of the government’s approach to improving health and the environment, adding that “walking and cycling and moving more are essential to solving both of these in the immediate term and in the long term”.

“There’s lots of evidence to show that will reduce the number of GP appointments by hundreds of thousands, if not millions,” Haigh said. “We absolutely want to make sure that we invest at unprecedented levels.”