Deliver high-quality infrastructure and get people cycling to work – Cycling UK

Local and national governments must do more to make cycling to work a viable and safe option for commuters.

That’s the assessment of Cycling UK, reacting to the Census 2021 travel to work data, which shows that fewer people cycle to work than a decade ago.

The findings show that 569,000 people said they usually travelled to work by bicycle, or 2% of residents aged 16 years and over in employment.

This represents a drop compared to the findings of Census 2011, when 741,000 working residents were found to cycle to work (2.8%).

However, Census 2021 also reveals a marked drop in commuting by car or van.

In 2021, 12.5 million people said they usually travelled to work by driving (45.1%), and a further 1.1 million as passengers (3.9%). 

These figures were higher in 2011, with 15.3 million people (57.5%) driving to work by car or van, and a further 1.4 million (5.1%) commuting as passengers.

It should be remembered that Census 2021 took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, which significantly impacted people’s travel behaviour.

In 2011, just under a quarter (24%) reported working from home, but the ONS estimates that this figure had risen to about 27% by 2019 and that, in the week before Census Day on 21 March 2021, the proportion had gone up to slightly more than 31%.

Therefore, Cycling UK says the findings are not particularly surprising, and caution must be exercised in comparing them directly with 2011.

However, the charity still says it is imperative more is done to tackle car-dependent commuting habits and increase levels of physical activity.

Keir Gallagher, Cycling UK’s campaigns manager, said: “While the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the workplace means we cannot meaningfully compare these statistics to previous censuses, it is clear that more needs to be done to enable people to cycle to work.

“Although separate DfT figures indicate that cycling levels have risen in England in 2022, these still represent a small fraction of journeys. 

“Local and national governments must do more to make cycling to work a viable and safe option for commuters, by delivering networks of high-quality cycle routes in our towns and cities.”

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