A useful new government backed report has been published looking at the numbers of people regularly cycling and walking and the change in numbers since the period 2013/14.
The basic stats are interesting in themselves:
Walking: The proportion of people walking at least once a month in England has remained at 86% for the past three years. However the proportion of people walking at least once a week, 3 times a week and 5 times a week have all experienced statistically significant increases for 2 consecutive years. This suggests that there is no change in the percentage of people that walk, but that people are walking more frequently.
Cycling: In England the proportion of the population who cycled at least once per month has remained at around 15%. Cycling rates at higher frequency levels have also had no significant change. However, cycling rates (at least once a month) vary greatly between authorities, ranging from 5% in Burnley to 43% in Oxford and 58% in Cambridge. Cambridge and Oxford have high student populations and students cycle more frequently than other groups. This may partly explain why these local authorities have higher cycling rates.
To read the full report, which contains much fascinating date, download a copy now