The number of working UK residents who cycle to work increased by 90,000 between 2001 and 2011, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The largest increase was in the number of London residents who cycle to work, which more than doubled in the period between 2001 and 2011.
The ONS’ 2011 Census analysis, cycling to work, which analysed the period between 2001 and 2011, found, in that 10-year period, there was a 144% increase in cycling to work among residents of inner London and a 45% increase among residents of outer London.
In 2011, 741,000 working residents aged 16 to 74 cycled to work in England and Wales, an increase on 90,000 who did so in 2001.
Besides London, other cities that have seen substantial increases in cycling to work include Brighton (up by 109%), Bristol (up by 94%), Manchester (up by 83%), Newcastle (up by 81%) and Sheffield (up by 80%).
The research also found:
- People were most likely to cycle to work if they lived in urban areas in 2011.
- Men were more likely to cycle to work than women in 2011.
- Residents of Merthyr Tydfil were least likely to cycle to work, with just three out of every 1,000 residents cycling to work in 2011.
- Cambridge residents most likely to cycle to work, where 290 out of every 1,000 working residents cycled to work in 2011.
While the net effect for England and Wales overall was that the number of working residents cycling to work increased by 90,000 in 2011 compared with 2001, there was also a large increase in the number of working residents in England and Wales over the same period, so the share of working residents who cycled to work remained virtually unchanged at 2.8%.
