A key industry figure has slammed the Government and councils over their ‘failure’ to maintain the surge in cycling levels seen during the first year of the pandemic.
Department for Transport (DfT) statistics show that cycling numbers have fallen back to almost pre-pandemic levels after having increased during the lockdowns.
The AA said the National Travel Survey revealed that the Government and councils ‘wasted an opportunity’ in 2020 to encourage and change travel behaviour and get more people to cycle.
The phased relaxation of lockdown restrictions in 2021 appears to have largely failed to stimulate a bounce-back in trips and distance covered by travellers.
The motoring organisation pointed out that the average distance cycled shot up 62% in 2020, but by 2021 the average was up only 2% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Similarly while the number of trips was up 26% in 2020, it fell by 27% in 2021, ending up is 7% lower than 2019.
Source: Department for Transport
The AA’s president Edmund King said: ‘The reversal of lockdown trends that saw a surge in active travel in 2020, such as cycling, points to the Government and councils’ failure to seize the opportunity to ingrain and promote more of those changed behaviours into the way the UK travels.
‘The statistics also show that while the path out of lockdown was a cause of great celebration, the pandemic continued to cast a long shadow over UK travel throughout much of 2021. In particular, the one lockdown trend that has endured has been working from home, and still probably accounts for the 5%-10% reduction in weekday car travel that exists today.’
The NTS showed that while average trips made by people living in England remained at a similar level in 2021 compared to 2020, they remain one fifth (21%) lower than in 2019.
The number of trips taken by some travel modes recovered in 2021, compared to 2020. There were increases in trip rates amongst car passengers and all public transport modes in 2021, but decreases in other private and active transport modes such as cycling. Car driver average trips remained similar to 2020.
Across public transport modes, trips increased by 19% compared to 2020, but were still 45% lower than average trips in 2019.
Walking trips in 2021 were similar to the 2020 average, but down 6% compared to 2019.
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