Active travel trends Direction of travel On the back of major government announcements aimed at boosting sustainable travel, Chris Wade, founder of People and Places, looks at the active travel trends identified in recent research S ustrans published its UK Walking and Cycling Index* within a week of plans to increase e-scooter use being announced in the Queens Speech, as part of a new Transport Bill, and not long after news of 200m of government funding for new walking and cycling schemes** across England. The aim of the index is to inform local decision-making by providing detailed evidence, gathered from 18 urban areas across the UK and Ireland, on cycling, walking and wheeling trends. (The term wheeling is used to ensure that wheelchair and mobility scooter users are included.) It is important to say that the Index does not currently cover e-scooters, and offers minimal insights on rural active travel trends. But what does it show us? 50 per cent of residents walk at least five days a week, while just 17 per cent cycle at least once a week. 74 per cent of residents think their local area, overall, is a good place to walk, while 42 per cent think it is a good place to cycle. The most popular purpose for walking is to reach a destination work or shopping (51 per cent), followed by enjoyment or fitness (42 per cent). 80 per cent of residents would be encouraged to walk if there were more shops and everyday services, such as banks and post offices, close to their home.*** The most popular way to encourage residents to walk more is to create nicer places along streets to rest (80 per cent), followed by more frequent and quicker road crossings (73 per cent). Opportunities to increase cycling The importance of walking and wheeling The first point to come out of the data is not to underestimate the importance of walking and wheeling within wider active travel. Five billion walking and wheeling trips were made in index cities in the past year. Three million return walking trips are made daily in index cities by people who could have used a car. The most popular infrastructure investment for encouraging more cycling was traffic-free cycle routes away from roads With an estimated 1.99 billion journeys of up to three miles (approximately 5km) driven each year in the index cities alone, it is important to consider the opportunities to increase the role of cycling in extending the active travel reach. Four million cycling trips were made in index cities in the past year. 260,000 return cycling trips are made daily in index cities by people who could have used a car. Cycling increased modestly during the pandemic, despite periodic lockdowns, with 36 per cent of all residents cycling in 2021 compared with 32 per cent in 2019. Only 42 per cent of all residents think their local area, overall, is a good place to cycle. The most popular purpose for cycling is shopping, personal business 38 PN July 2022 pp38-39 Active travel.indd 38 27/06/2022 16:05