Millions of people
on the move
Usage and benefits of
the National Cycle Network in 2013
75
%
£1billion
Over
increase
7%
50 million more
journeys made by foot
and bike in 2013
of users
say that the Network has
increased their levels
of physical activity
in health benefits,*
potential savings in
fuel and carbon
*measured using the HEAT tool
Trends in usage
Usage of the National Cycle Network increased by
Existing routes saw a
3%
7% to 748 million
4% 25%
increase, and new routes added another
between
. Over
2012 and 2013.
of all journeys were to work.
7 million,*
an increase of 7%
Scotland usage up by
38 million,
7%
England usage up by
an increase of
Northern Ireland usage up by
an increase of
4%
1 million,
4 million,
7%
Wales usage up by
an increase of
2
Millions of people on the move
*Data indicates that new sections of the National
Cycle Network in Scotland and community links
are attracting higher volumes of users than is the
case in other parts of the UK, suggesting that the
investment by the Scottish Government is paying
dividends in meeting the demand for cycling and
walking - a dedicated funding stream that enables
concentration of investment is proving very effective.
Improving access for all
I am delighted to report that the
number of trips on the National Cycle
Network increased 7% to 748 million
during 2013, with 4.8 million people
choosing to walk and cycle to work,
school, the shops and for leisure and
pleasure.
This record usage generated more than
£1 billion of economic benefit over the
12 months, with the biggest benefit
being to health, valued at £803 million.
The Network is now carrying nearly
half the number of journeys of the
UK’s revitalised railways. But unlike
rail, roads, canals and riverways,
other than in Scotland there is no
dedicated funding for the Network
or funding committed over time
specifically to walking and cycling.
So for example, if the Network in
England received the same average
£2.35 of support from governments
per journey as the rail network
quite rightly enjoys, about £28
per person could be invested in
cycling and walking, transforming
local travel for millions of people.
This level of investment maintained
over the next two decades right across
the UK would get us closer to the
standard of provision for those on foot
and bike seen in much of Northern
Europe. The Dutch, for example, spend
over €30 per person just on cycling.
The increase we have seen year-onyear on the Network since we started
monitoring in 2000 is in stark contrast
to official data on walking and cycling.
The National Travel Survey, which
collects data from our roads, shows
journeys by bike and walking to be in
long-term decline. And survey after
survey shows that the reason for this is
because our roads and pathways are
seen as too dangerous and unpleasant
to get about by foot and bike.
A focus on developing safe,
convenient, useful routes that link
people to places they want to go
on a daily basis, often separate
from traffic, and with safe crossings
of busy roads, railways and other
barriers, is at the heart of successfully
increasing cycling and walking.
of walking and cycling should
secure dedicated funding.
Despite under-investment relative
to the potential, it is still not too late
to create a cycling and walking
revolution. The success of the
Network is that it demonstrates
that when given the choice of highquality, convenient routes people
will leave their cars behind and
travel by foot and bike instead.
That’s why usage on the Network has
increased amongst older people;
more children are walking, scooting
and biking the school run; many
are returning to or starting cycling;
people are walking or cycling to
the bus or train station; and those
who don’t have access to a car
(about a quarter of all users of the
Network, rising to over 40% of those
identifying as Black and Minority
Ethnic) now have a way to get around.
The solution to our congested, busy
towns, cities and villages, for our
physical inactivity crisis and our low
carbon future is to make it so easy for
people to walk and cycle from their front
door that it becomes the obvious choice.
The Network is proving itself a key part
of everyday life for everyone, with each
journey being a physically active, low
carbon, non-polluting one. And it is this
role of bringing physical activity back
into people’s lives, and giving access
to all whilst decongesting our busy
roads that gives the Network its value
– over £1 billion during 2013 alone.
In contrast, roads attract major
investment, often on the basis of
time savings. On average major road
schemes save, according to data
from England, between 150 and 180
seconds per person, or less than
the time it takes to boil an egg. The
health benefit value for each user of
the Network equates to £167, over
and above any time saving, and on
this basis alone increasing levels
2012
A small percentage of transport
investment focused on achieving just
three things would transform local travel:
• slower speeds to make our
roads safer – 20 miles per hour
as the default lower limit
• dedicated, ongoing funding
throughout the UK for walking
and cycling just as there is
for roads, rail and rivers
• a requirement for local authorities to
maintain and develop walking and
cycling routes of which the National
Cycle Network is a major part.
This is the only way to guarantee
travel choice for all.
Malcolm Shepherd, Chief Executive
303
395
2013
325
423
698
Total
million trips
748
Total
million trips
Trips on the National Cycle Network 2012-2013 (millions)
Millions of people on the move
3
Reliable, efficient and
healthy commuting
You could be forgiven for renaming the Network the National Commuting Network. Over a
quarter (27%) of journeys were to work, with the bike particularly popular for commuting.
x2
90
%
Over one in three bike
journeys were to work
Over one in three (36%) of all journeys
by bike were to work, and over half
of all cyclists felt that being able to
cycle made them more productive
at work. And 2% of all trips on the
Network were for business travel – a
big increase on the previous year. All
those businesses investing in bike
pools, and offering bike mileage are
at the vanguard of smarter travel to
meetings and between offices.
38
4
found their route
convenient
Nearly 90% of route users find their
route convenient, an important
part of persuading people to leave
their car behind. And 38% of users
strongly agree that they feel more
relaxed and less stressed as a result
of walking or cycling. Users of the
Network take, on average, just under
3 days sickness leave a year. The
average in the UK was 9 days.
of users strongly agree that they feel less stressed as a % result
of walking and cycling
Millions of people on the move
Journeys to work by
women doubled
Women doubled (to 74 million) the
number of journeys to and for work
they made the previous year, and over
a third (37%) of women’s journeys by
bike were to work and for business.
And it is the journey to work that seems
to have inspired many people to get
on their bikes. Last year saw a 300%
increase in the proportion of new or
returning cyclists who were commuting.
%
30 0
r
wo
e
n
g
f
on o
ut i n
i
t
r
m
o
om
pr o p
re c
increase in the
e
w
t s who
returning cyclis
Millions of people on the move
5
Extending travel choice
If you create space that people want to walk and cycle through, they will choose to leave
their cars behind. We have enormous choice in most areas of our life, from TV to food
to the hospital we attend. Not so when it comes to travel, something we all do every day.
With bus and train fares rising faster than inflation, and the cost of driving in real terms
decreasing over time, we are being forced to become ever more car dependent.
The Network is giving people choice
for those two thirds of journeys that
are less than five miles, enabling
people to get about by foot and
bike. This is particularly noticeable
in younger age groups, with 35% of
16-24 year olds saying they could
have travelled by car for their journey,
but chose not to, nearly double
the percentage the year before.
One in three of all users could have
used a car for their journey, but chose
not to, with those travelling by bike
more likely to have made this choice
(58%). That’s as many as 157 million
fewer car journeys.
Women, in particular, seem to be
making different choices with a 14
percentage increase in the proportion
who could have used a car but chose
not to, with 46% of women on bikes
choosing not to use a car.
And the Network is giving people
space to get back on their bikes
– nearly one in ten cyclists were
new or returning to cycling, with
40% of these being women.
Good routes are important to extending
this choice and getting more people
out on bikes – over a third (35%) of new
and returning cyclists say they would
not have made the journey if the route
they used did not exist.
As many as
157 million
fewer car journeys
6
Millions of people on the move
68% of users made most of their
day-to-day journeys of less than
five miles by foot and bike.
The most common reason why people
leave their car behind is health,
with convenience and directness
the second most common.
Those who chose not to use a car
saved £215 million in fuel, and
carbon to the value of £25 million.
And for those 26% of users who
had no access to a car at all,
the Network is crucial to having
any ability to get around.
Those who chose not to use a car
£215
LESS
million in fuel
carbon valued at
£25
SAVED
million
one in ten
cyclists are
new or returning
Millions of people on the move
7
Fit for life
Physical inactivity is a growing problem. As a recently published report from the All-Party
Commission on Physical Activity confirms “in all human history, we have never
been so inactive. … we have simply stopped moving”.
As an ever growing number of health
experts are warning us, sitting
is the new enemy. It’s as bad as
smoking on the effect it has on
our health and well-being. For our
children it could mean a shorter life
expectancy than their parents.
Being able to get about by foot and
bike changes all this. Users of the
Network are physically active, and the
benefit to our health, calculated using
the World Health Organisation’s HEAT
tool, is £277 million for cyclists and
£526 million for pedestrians.
Health benefits
£526
£277
million
million
Three quarters of users say that
the Network increases their regular
physical activity, and nearly half of
users are achieving their recommended
levels of physical activity.
Users say that
the Network
has increased
their levels of
physical activity
75%
8
Millions of people on the move
9 in 10
Around
users over 65
get enjoyment from using the Network
Children made over 110 million
active, healthy trips on the Network,
15% of the total, with 27 million
of these to and from school, 10
million more than last year.
A third (33%) of users of the Network
are over 55, and usage has increased
by people over 65. The rate of growth
in the number of pedestrian trips
made by users over 65 (9%) was
greater than the rate of growth in
the overall number of pedestrian
trips across the Network (7%).
95% of over 65s say they use the
Network to get exercise, and around
9 in 10 get enjoyment from using it, an
important part of mental well-being.
Over half of users over 65 walking say
they get 2.5 hours (the recommended
weekly minimum) or more of exercise
a week, but the less active are also
benefiting - nearly one in three of over
65s are achieving up to an hour a week.
The majority of cyclists over 65 are men,
but 16% are women, and 7% of trips
in this age group were made by those
new or returning to cycling. 90% of
pedalling pensioners feel happier, and
nearly all cyclists in this age group feel
fitter, with 77% saying it increases their
levels of physical activity.
Over half of users over
65 walking say they get
2.5 hours
exercise a week
Millions of people on the move
9
Methodology
We would like to thank all those who have contributed to our monitoring
of the National Cycle Network. If you would like further information
on any part of this report, please contact Sustrans’ research and
monitoring unit: [email protected]
Estimating usage of the National Cycle Network
The approach to estimating usage
on the Network is based on eight
clusters of route types. The clusters
group together sections of the Network
based on the population size and the
proportion of people who cycle to work
in the area. Using regression analysis,
these variables were found to have
the greatest effect on the numbers of
cyclists recorded by automatic cycle
counters (ACCs) and in manual counts.
The Network is broken up into half
mile sections and each section is
assigned to one of the eight clusters.
Each ACC used in the estimate is also
assigned to one of the eight clusters.
Sustrans is a registered charity in the UK No. 326550 (England and Wales) SCO39263 (Scotland)
The annual average daily total (AADT)
of cycle trips for the year is calculated
for all ACCs with a minimum of six
complete months of data. Where
counters do not have 12 months
data, counts are extrapolated to give
a full year estimated AADT using
seasonal profiles from similar count
sites. For counters without at least
six months’ worth of data in 2013
but where sufficient 2012 data are
available and there is a reasonable
expectation that 2013 data will
become available, a growth rate based
on average growth in the cluster was
applied to the 2012 count to estimate
2013 usage. Data from 469 ACCs
was used in 2013 and 432 in 2012.
The average (median) cyclist AADT
for each cluster is multiplied by the
number of kilometres of Network
in that cluster and multiplied by
365 to give the annual cyclist
kilometres for each cluster.
The annual cyclist kilometres value for
each cluster is divided by the average
trip distance on the Network to give an
estimate of cyclist trips for each cluster.
Pedestrian trips for each cluster are
calculated by applying a ratio of three
pedestrian trips to every cyclist trip.
This ratio has been calculated using
data from nearly 400 manual and
automated counts. Pedestrian usage is
only estimated for traffic free routes, as
pedestrian count data are not currently
available for on road Network sections.
The sum of the pedestrian and
cycle trips for each cluster
gives the estimated number
of trips on the Network.
About Sustrans
Sustrans makes smarter travel choices possible, desirable and inevitable. We’re a leading UK charity enabling people to travel
by foot, bike or public transport for more of the journeys we make every day. We work with families, communities, policy-makers
and partner organisations so that people are able to choose healthier, cleaner and cheaper journeys, with better places and
spaces to move through and live in.
It’s time we all began making smarter travel choices. Make your move and support Sustrans today. www.sustrans.org.uk
© Sustrans 2014
Sustrans (Head Office)
2 Cathedral Square, College Green Bristol BS1 5DD
www.sustrans.org.uk
@Sustrans