Investment in active travel is popular: most people want more options for walking, wheeling and cycling

Providing better options and opportunities to travel actively are key to improving our nation’s health and wellbeing. They’re also a great way to reduce emissions and clean our air. A true win-win.

And there’s great news for people seeking to improve active travel options: policies that make it easier for people to walk, wheel and cycle are extremely popular.

We asked about active travel in our latest Britain Talks Climate research. How often do people choose it? How do they feel about giving it more priority? And what do they associate with active travel compared to public transport and travelling by car? Here’s what we found.

For most of us, travelling actively is a normal part of day-to-day life. Sixty percent do it every day or every other day. A further 19% do so once a week. We don’t know how far people travel actively, for what purposes, nor whether this is instead of – or as well as – travelling by car. But it’s a good place to start.

While many rely on cars to get around, almost two thirds of us support investment in public transport and active travel, even if it means taking road space away from cars. This suggests that car use is seen for many as a necessity, not a lifestyle choice: we’d prefer to use our cars less if we had a better alternative.

Almost a third of people in Wales say they never or rarely travel actively. In London it’s only 12%.

As well as being more densely populated, London has invested in active travel and public transport. Having better options and opportunities, via the infrastructure that surrounds us, makes a huge difference.

We know that for many people having a car brings freedom, especially for those in more rural areas. So it’s unsurprising that many people say they associate car travel with freedom.

But active travel comes in a strong second, with one third of people most associating it with freedom.

People in Britain are far more likely to associate car travel with feeling safe than active travel (52% compared with 19%). While statistically, we’re most likely to be involved in a collision when in a car, it’s understandable that we tend to feel less safe while walking, wheeling or cycling.

There is a very positive story to tell when improving people’s options for walking, wheeling and cycling. Active travel can help make our country – and our planet – healthier. And it’s genuinely popular: most people are keen to have more options to travel more actively.

But there’s a crucial watch-out. Active travel needs to be safe, and feel safe, for more of us, more of the time. For more people to feel able to embrace the wellbeing boost that active travel brings, it has to be a safe option and feel like one.

This paper was written by Emma James and Nicky Hawkins. The research was conducted by Climate Outreach and More in Common as part of Britain Talks Climate 2024.