A new release from the Department for Transport highlights a slight decrease in the percentage of people cycling in England. Which local authorities are top for cycling prevalence?

A new release from the Department for Transport (DfT) shows the percentage of England's population who cycle at least once a month has dropped from 15.3% to 14.7% in the year to October 2013.

The DfT report states:

Although the change is small, the size of the sample means that we can be confident that this decrease exists in the whole of the English population

The local area walking and cycling in England report, which presents data on cycling and walking among adults in England, uses statistics based on the results from the Active People survey, an annual telephone survey run by Sport England.



A larger proportion of people cycle recreationally than do for utility purposes (for example commuting, shopping or visiting friends) according to the report, whereas the proportions of people walking for pleasure and utility purposes do not differ significantly.

Combined the proportion of people who cycle recreationally and the proportion who cycle for utility purposes is more than those who cycle for all purposes because some people do both. However, a considerably greater proportion walk for both purposes than cycle for both purposes.

The chart below shows the prevalence of people walking and cycling. Click on the tab to see the data for 'at least once a week' and for 'at least five times a week'.

The areas that boast the highest percentage of cyclists for utility purposes are, predictably, the places considered to have better cycling infrastructure and with cycling communities such as Cambridge, Oxford and the Isles of Scilly.

The table below shows the top eight local authorities for those cycling for utility and for those cycling recreationally. It is worth noting that the survey records cycling in the authority where people reside, not where they cycle.

The proportion of male cyclists compared to female cyclists is considerably higher across all age groups - unlike walking, where both genders have similar numbers.

Download the data

• SOURCE: DfT

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