Active travel is popular: walking, wheeling and cycling

The briefing highlights that active travel is a common part of daily life for most people in Britain, with strong public support for investment in walking, wheeling, and cycling infrastructure, even if it reduces road space for cars. While active travel is associated with freedom for one third of respondents, there is a significant gap in perceived safety compared to car travel, with only 19% associating active travel with feeling safe versus 52% for cars. Geographic disparities exist, with a higher proportion of people in Wales reporting they rarely travel actively compared to those in London.

• Active travel is a frequent activity for the majority of the population, with 60% of people engaging in it every day or every other day and 19% doing so once a week.
• There is strong public support for investing in active travel and public transport, including the reallocation of road space away from cars, with nearly two-thirds of people in favor.
• Regional differences in active travel frequency are notable; approximately 33% of people in Wales rarely or never travel actively, compared to 12% in London.
• While one third of people associate active travel with freedom, there is a significant disparity in perceived safety; 52% associate car travel with feeling safe, while only 19% feel the same about active travel.

APA

James, E., & Hawkins, N. (2024). Active travel is popular: walking, wheeling and cycling. Climate Outreach. https://climateoutreach.org/active-travel-is-popular-walking-cycling/

Chicago

James, Emma, and Nicky Hawkins. Active travel is popular: walking, wheeling and cycling. Climate Outreach, 2024. https://climateoutreach.org/active-travel-is-popular-walking-cycling/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=James |first1=Emma |last2=Hawkins |first2=Nicky |title=Active travel is popular: walking, wheeling and cycling |publisher=Climate Outreach |date=24 October 2024 |url=https://climateoutreach.org/active-travel-is-popular-walking-cycling/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{james2024active, author = {James, Emma and Hawkins, Nicky}, title = {{Active travel is popular: walking, wheeling and cycling}}, institution = {Climate Outreach}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://climateoutreach.org/active-travel-is-popular-walking-cycling/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }