The health benefit of the National Cycle Network was worth £442 million a year

The biggest annual increase in cycling saved the economy tens of millions of pounds and hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions, according to a report published today.

Cyclists made 40 million more journeys by bike on a national network of cycle routes, bucking a trend of falling traffic volumes on the roads, the study by Sustrans transport charity found.

Cyclists and pedestrians made 484 million journeys along the National Cycle Network — 13,600 miles of signed routes on traffic-free paths or quieter roads — last year. A third of cyclists said that they could have chosen to drive instead, which would have resulted in an additional 52 million car journeys on the roads.

The report, Cycling Revolution, calculated that the health benefit