Support for Active Travel Fund Schemes

22nd November 2020

Most people support Active Travel Fund schemes, but they underestimate the overall level of public support. That's according to research by YouGov for Cycling UK.

26% of respondents strongly supported the schemes, and 30% tended to support them. Meanwhile 10% strongly opposd them and 9% tended to oppose them. 19% had no opinion.

When asked to estimate public support for or opposition to the schemes, the result was much closer. Only 33% of respondents thought there was public support, while 29% thought there was public opposition.

'In recent months Cycling UK has seen multiple reports of people claiming there is widespread opposition to the building of new bike lanes, but this and other surveys show there's nothing widespread about it - just a small number of loud voices. This survey shows people clearly want safer, cleaner streets where they feel confident their children can play and exercise without threat of danger, but they overestimate public opposition to bike lanes massively.'
Duncan Dollimore, Head of Campaigns at Cycling UK

Respondents were also asked what contributed to congestion. They identified the following factors:

• The number of cars on the road (79%)
• The number of vans and lorries on the road (52%)
• Not enough roads (17%)
• Traffic lights (35%)
• Buses (24%)
• Cycle lanes (26%)
• People driving short local journeys (59%)
• Businesses in towns and cities (19%)
• Home delivery services (27%)