New figures released by the Department for Transport suggest that cycling levels in England are down on their peak levels seen in March 2021, but that they are still far above 2013 levels.
In March 2021, cycling levels peaked during the coronavirus pandemic with an increase of 63% since December 2013. COVID-19 restrictions were still in place during this peak and will have impacted travel patterns across England.
Cycling levels have been decreasing since this peak, falling by 24.1% between March 2021 and December 2022 but remain 11.1% above pre-pandemic levels seen in December 2019. In comparison, provisional road traffic estimates show that motor traffic levels have decreased by 4.9% between December 2019 and September 2022.
Traffic flow data is collected continuously from DfT’s network of Automatic Traffic Counters which record some physical properties of passing vehicles which are used to classify traffic by type, including cycles.
Chris Boardman, the former Olympic cyclist who heads government agency Active Travel England, told the Institute of Engineering and Technology “It’s great to see cycling in this country riding high at 11% above pre-pandemic levels. The movement for moving is catching on as more of us choose to ride bikes for everyday trips, putting the joy back into journeys. This is great for our health, it’s free transport and it helps us to be more connected to our communities. Everyone’s a winner.”
(File picture – TfL)
