New study highlights benefits of active travel in England

Active Travel England (ATE) has announced that it has welcomed new figures released from Sport England’s Active Lives survey, which shows that 33% of adults took part in active travel at least twice in November 2022.

The survey, which engaged just under 180,000 people and used data from all England local authorities, has revealed that activity levels have returned to pre-pandemic levels, with more adults active in England in 2022 than in the previous year and travel habits seeing the biggest change of all.

In total, 3.2 million more people had regularly used active travel in England in the year up to November 2022 than they did in the previous 12 months, with walking and cycling as a form of transport now accounting for around 20% of all minutes of activity taken by adults in England. This is the largest increase in any activity in a given year.

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Sport England’s Activity Check-In survey, published in February 2023, has also found that one in five adults are now walking or cycling rather than using the car due to cost-of-living increases. This is a smaller survey of 2,000 adults and 450 children and young people that tracks attitudes and opinions at semi-regular intervals during the year.

Sport England Chair and National Active Travel Commissioner, Chris Boardman, said: “It’s fantastic that more people are choosing to walk, wheel or ride for everyday trips. Just a few minutes of activity every day can make a huge difference to people’s physical and mental health and, of course, it’s free transport, so it’s saving them money too. Active Travel England is supporting this increasing appetite for walking, wheeling and cycling by working alongside councils to deliver high-quality routes and crossings to high streets, schools and workplaces.”