Cycling in England remains at pre-pandemic levels, with men riding much more

Cycling in England has returned to pre-pandemic levels, after the boom period, government data has shown.

According to the National Travel Survey, published on Wednesday by the Department for Transport, riding bikes made up just 2% of trips and just 1% of distance travelled in 2023, not an increase since 2019. Also, the average person made just 15 trips and travelled 47 miles by bike, down from its peak of 20 trips and 88 miles during 2020.

Average miles cycled in 2023 was 22% higher than 2002, but the gains made in cycling rates during the Covid pandemic have now disappeared. Meanwhile, car and van trips increased.

>>> What happened to the 'golden age' for cycling in the UK?

The government report reads: "There was a general upward trend in the average cycling miles travelled from 2002 to 2019 followed by a sharp increase in 2020, and has since fallen in 2023 to levels last seen in 2013...

"Traffic statistics published by the department show that there were 3.6 billion vehicle miles travelled by cycling in 2023, 7% lower than 2022 but similar to 2019."

The data makes clear that men cycle a lot more than women in England. On average, males made 22 cycling trips and travelled 72 miles compared to females who made 9 cycling trips and travelled 23 miles.

Catherine Woodhead, the chief executive of the campaign 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.”

A report from the IPPR, Stride and Ride: England's path from laggard to leader in walking, wheeling and cycling, published earlier this year, made clear the impact that a lack of active travel spending has had on the nation, with just one in five people walking, wheeling or cycling every day, compared to one in four across Europe.

While just £10 per person is spent on active travel, £148 per person per year was spent on roads, the report found. The benefits of more people walking, cycling and wheeling are made clear, including making net zero a feasible goal, and reducing the burden on the NHS. Also, for every £1 spent on active travel, there is an average return on investment of £5.62, compared with just £2.50 for roads.

Doubling cycling and increasing walking would prevent 8,300 premature deaths and save £567 million per year through improved air quality. Cycling must increase by at least 20% by 2030 to fairly reduce car use in line with meeting the UK’s climate commitments, according to the study.

Stephen Frost, a principal research fellow at IPPR, told The Guardian this week that the government needed a long-term plan to tackle inequality based on car dependency. He said the transport system was “stacked against the poorest in society and many have limited, or no, access to healthy, sustainable and affordable ways to travel”.