Considerate Cycling 41: Why Are Some Cities Cycling Or Walking More Than Others?

Blog 39 graphed the provisional cycling figures for Bristol as a member of the the “core cities” group of comparable cites outside London. I also included data for neighbours in what was once called Avon. Now that confirmed figures have been published (see here) I have abstracted a table and graph that includes Cambridge and uses this year’s updated figures. For most places the data are derived from a reliable sample of 500 residents. I have added walking to give a broader picture of active travel.

Percentages of selected Local Authority residents reporting that they cycle or walk at least once a month 2010-2011

Local Authority	Walk %	Cycle %	Walk or Cycle%
Cambridge	94	58	96
South Gloucestershire	92	20	93
Bristol, City of	92	24	92
Newcastle upon Tyne	91	12	92
Bath and North East Somerset	91	18	91
Leeds	91	11	91
Nottingham	91	13	91
Sheffield	89	10	90
North Somerset	88	15	89
Liverpool	89	11	89
Birmingham	88	11	89
Manchester	84	13	87

I have been reading (and fascinated by) the recently published “Promoting Walking and Cycling” by Colin Pooley and others and I would  be very interested to hear from anyone who has observations about the cultural, geographical and infrastructural variations that might be associated with the wide range of walking and (especially) cycling levels across this group of urban areas.  One clear truth is that English cities are not all doomed to the same low levels. One obvious question is whether sheer campaigning effort can  generate the big changes in the patterns that the natural and built environments seem to be crying out for.