Support for Dedicated Cycle Lanes

2nd June 2021

Wave 5 of the National Travel Attitudes Study finds 64% support for dedicated cycle lanes in respondents' local areas, even if it means less road space for cars (Chart 6 above).

The Wave 5 survey focuses on attitudes to cycling and ebikes.

38% of respondents were bike owners, or had regular use of a bike; 61% did not. It's interesting to know that, so survey responses can be looked at in the context of the majority of respondents being non-cyclists.

What Would Encourage People to Cycle?

Respondents were asked what would encourage them to cycle more. Off-road and segregated cycle paths was the top answer. Safer roads was the next most popular.

Those who wanted to see safer roads were asked a follow-up question about the most important aspects of safer roads.

98% would like drivers to be more considerate - but in the absence of public information campaigns, massively increased police enforcement, and a radical overhaul of the driving test, that is simply not going to happen.

Much the same applies to less traffic and slower driving speeds. Nothing is being done to achieve these goals, so it is just wishful thinking.

There is 66% support for roads where cars are banned or restricted for part of or all of the time. This is the only thing on the list that can actually happen, and it is therefore the only practical solution.

Secure parking or storage is very important to people, with support for provision at home, at work, at stations, and on street above 80%.

Respondents who indicated than nothing would encourage them to cycle were asked why they don't ride bikes. The results are in Chart 5.

'Cycling is not for people like me' was the most popular of the specific reasons, albeit with only 27% agreeing with that statement.

Confidence

There was a big difference in confidence by gender. Many more male respondents felt confident when cycling (74%) than female respondents (43%).

Ebikes

There's an interesting section on ebikes, which shows that most people haven't yet used or owned one.

97% of respondents neither own nor have regular use of an ebike, and 93% have never used an ebike.

35% are interested in riding an ebike, but that could rise a lot when people find out more about them and their potential.

Concerns include the fear of an ebike being stolen (54%) and that they are too expensive (52%).