Cycling in Scotland 2005

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

1. To provide up-to-date information on cycling use and attitudes towards cycling in Scotland, the Scottish Executive commissioned a survey of a representative sample of adults in 2005. This survey updates and provides comparisons with information contained in earlier surveys of cycling conducted in 1997 and 2001.

2. As in the previous surveys, a series of questions were inserted on the Scottish Opinion Survey ( SOS), the monthly consumer omnibus survey operated by TNS. The questions were inserted in the April and August waves of the survey, as was the case in previous years, so that responses were directly comparable. All interviews were conducted in-home.

3. Across the 2 survey waves in 2005, a total of 2,067 adult respondents were included within the sample. From this sample of respondents, a total of 697 adult cyclists and 827 child cyclists were identified in households - including respondents and other adult and child members of the respondents' households. Some information on these other cyclists within the household was collected as part of the interview with the respondents, irrespective of whether or not he or she was a cyclist.

Main results

Bicycle ownership

4. The proportion of households where at least one person owns a bicycle appears to have remained relatively consistent over the past eight years, with 50% of respondents in 2005 living in households where someone owns a bicycle. Ownership of a bicycle(s) was most likely in households with members under the age of 35 and those in the AB social classes (both 62%). Four-fifths of households with dependent children owned a bicycle (82%) compared to 35% of those without dependent children, with an average of 2.20 and 0.55 bicycle owners respectively per household.

5. The main reasons for not owning a bicycle related to age and physical health, with 25% of respondents in households where no bicycles were owned stating that they were 'too old', while a further 15% mentioned a health problem or disability. Other significant reasons included: 'not interested/too lazy' (18%), 'have a car' (11%), 'roads are too busy/not safe' (6%) and 'too busy/no time' (5%).

Profile of cyclists

6. In comparison with previous years, the following features are highlighted:

  • a higher proportion of those who cycled are male, a proportion which rose to 60% in 2005 from 55% in both the 2001 and 1997 surveys;
  • 55% of those who cycled were aged 18 or under, a similar proportion to that recorded in 1997 (53%) but higher than the figure recorded in 2001 (48%);
  • respondents aged 14 and under continue to represent a significant proportion of those who cycle, with 46% of cyclists in 2005 in this age group compared to 39% in 2001 and 43% in 1997.
  • Frequency of cycling

7. In the previous 7 days, 7% of respondents had cycled for more than a quarter of a mile to go somewhere such as work, shopping, to visit friends, for pleasure or to keep fit, a figure which varied very little between the April and August waves and is identical to that recorded in 2001.

8. 29% of respondents stated that they had used a bicycle for any purpose. 8% used a bicycle at least once a week, while 1% cycled every day.

9. Amongst those who cycled at least once a month:

  • 27% had cycled at least once a month for less than 5 years (28% in 2001);
  • 21% had done so for 5-10 years (27% in 2001);
  • 22% had done so for 11-20 years (25% in 2001);
  • 23% had done so for more than 20 years (22% in 2001).

10. The overall average number of years during which these respondents had cycled at least once a month was 15.04, with the following variations in terms of age:

  • a mean of 10.1 years for those aged under 35 years (10.8 in 2001);
  • a mean of 17.3 years for those between the ages of 35 and 64 (16.2 in 2001);
  • a mean of 31.1 years for those aged 65 and over (36.5 in 2001).

11. Compared to 2001, cycling frequency amongst adults would appear to have increased, returning to a level similar to those recorded in 1997. In 2005, 14% of adults cycled more than 3 times a week (11% in 2001 and 16% in 1997), while a further 23% did so 1-3 times per week (20% in 2001 and 25% in 1997). There have been no significant variations in the frequency of cycling among children between the surveys.

Reasons for using a bicycle

12. A number of significant variations appear between the 2005 and 2001 surveys, with the proportions for a number of the reasons returning to similar levels to those recorded in 1997. These include:

  • an increase in the proportion of respondents who gave cycling for 'leisure' purposes as their main reason (71% v 63% in 2001 and 72% in 1997);
  • the proportion mentioning 'keeping fit/healthy/exercise' as their main reason decreased to 14% in 2005 from 20% in 2001. 12% of respondents gave this as their main reason in 1997. However, the proportion of overall mentions of this reason are similar for both 2005 and 2001 (37% and 38% respectively);
  • the proportion making any mention of cycling to visit friends decreased from 19% in 2001 to 14% in 2005, which, again, was a similar proportion to that recorded in 1997 (13%).

13. In comparison with previous years, there has been no significant variation in the proportions of respondents using a bicycle to travel to work, school or college or for shopping. Similarly, there were no differences in the reasons for cycling between the April and August 2005 waves.

14. Cycling for 'leisure' is the most frequently mentioned reason for making a trip by bicycle, particularly by children, with 85% giving this as their main reason for using a bicycle compared to 54% of adult cyclists. Both of these figures have increased on the comparable figures recorded in 2001, returning to levels similar to those recorded in 1997 (55% and 83% respectively). Adult cyclists were more likely than children to cycle for exercise or to 'keep fit' (27% v 4%), which, despite being a lower figure than that recorded in 2001 (33%), remains higher than that recorded in the 1997 survey (23%).

15. Almost two-thirds of respondents stated that they never wore a helmet (65%), an equal proportion to that recorded in 2001 but lower than the proportion recorded in 1997 (75%). However, a fifth indicated that they wore a cycle helmet on every trip (22%), a proportion which has increased by 8 percentage points since surveying began (18% in 2001 and 14% in 1997).

Trip details

16. A series of questions were asked of those adults who had cycled in the previous 12 months about the last trip they had taken by bicycle.

17. The most frequently mentioned reasons for the last bicycle trip made corresponds with those mentioned as general motivations for cycling - 'leisure' (57%), 'keep fit/exercise' (17%) and commuting to work (8%). 7% used the bicycle to visit friends and 6% for 'shopping'.

18. Approximately a third of trips were between one and 2 hours in duration (33%), with a similar proportion on a journey of between 30 minutes and an hour (31%), with an overall mean journey time of 86 minutes. This compares to an average journey time of 62 minutes recorded in 2001.

19. In 2005, the proportion of respondents making journeys of one hour or more in duration was 57% compared to 29% in 2001 and 38% in 1997. The amount of time spent on a bicycle has increased since the 2001 survey, where 32% of respondents cycled for less than 30 minutes on their last trip compared to a fifth of those interviewed in 2005 (20%).

20. The overall mean distance travelled on the most recent bicycle trips taken was 5.9 miles, a slight increase on 2001's average of 5.2 miles but lower than that recorded in 1997 (7.1 miles). Slightly over half of adults who had cycled in the last 12 months travelled between 1 and 5 miles on their most recent bicycle trip (53%), a higher proportion than in both the 2001 and 1997 surveys (45% and 48% respectively).

21. As in previous years, a high proportion of bicycle journeys were undertaken on main roads (39%), although this figure is lower than those recorded in both 2001 (43%) and 1997 (41%). A fifth of journeys were undertaken on minor roads (21%), similar to 2001 (22%) but lower than in the 1997 survey (33%). A significantly higher proportion of respondents in the 2005 survey undertook bicycle trips off-road, 38% compared to 26% in both 1997 and 2001.

22. 48% of adults who cycled did so on their own, a similar proportion to that recorded in 2001 (47%) but slightly lower than in 1997 (51%). Approximately a third of respondents (34%) cycled with members of their family, compared to 27% in 2001 and 29% in 1997, while 17% of respondents cycled with friends (19% in both 1997 and 2001).

23. A quarter (25%) claimed that nothing would encourage them to cycle any more frequently than at present. Amongst those who did offer suggestions, the main ones were as follows:

  • more or improved cycle lanes - 20% in 2005 (16% in 2001; 24% in 1997);
  • good weather - 20% in 2005 (15% in 2001; 14% in 1997);
  • more time -10% in 2005 (12% in 2001; 10% in 1997);
  • lighter traffic - 5% in 2005 (6% in 2001; 4% in 1997);
  • being fitter or healthier - 4% in 2005 (4% in 2001; 5% in 1997);
  • having a (better) bicycle - 3% in 2005 (4% in 2001; 3% in 1997).

24. Adults who had cycled in the previous 12 months were then presented with a list of possible initiatives that could encourage people to cycle more regularly. The provision of dedicated cycle lanes or paths, both on and off-road, remained the most popular choice of initiative that would encourage people to cycle more, with 61% of respondents mentioning this as their first choice in 2005. 33% of respondents chose 'safer cycle routes to schools' as one of their top three, while a third either included 'information on cycle routes' and/or 'secure cycle parking facilities' in their top 3 (both 32%).

Benefits of cycling

25. The proportion of respondents stating that cycling 'makes you fitter' has risen by nine percentage points since 1997, with six in ten respondents mentioning this as a benefit in 2005 (60%). A higher proportion stated that it 'improves your health' (58%) than in previous years (46% in 2005 and 39% in 1997).

26. Two-fifths indicated that it was a good way to exercise (42%), while approximately a fifth mentioned benefits for the environment (21%) and reduced travel costs (18%).

Barriers to cycling

27. Amongst respondents with a cyclist(s) in the household, the most frequently mentioned barriers to cycling were poor weather (36%) and concerns about sharing the road with motorists. The volume, behaviour and speed of other vehicles on the road were also key barriers to cycling for those with no cyclists in the household but in most cases, less so than amongst households with a cyclist(s).

28. 59% of all respondents stated that they owned a car, an equal proportion as did so in 2001, with a further 14% indicating that they had access to a car (11% in 2001). Just over a quarter of respondents stated that they did not own or have access to a car (27%), with over half of those in the DE social classes without access to a car.

Influencing factors

29. Within the population there are a number of factors which appear to have a particular influence on whether there is a bicycle(s) within the household. Respondents over the age of 65 were significantly less likely to be in households with a bicycle owner(s) than younger respondents, as were those in adult-only households. 35% of those in the DE social classes were in households with a bicycle owner(s) compared to 62% of ABs.

30. Ownership or regular access to a car can also be seen to have an influence on bicycle ownership. Over half of those who owned or had access to a car (56%) lived in a household where a bicycle(s) was owned compared to 33% of those without access to a car. This variation is likely to reflect the higher average level of disposable income amongst those with a car in their household.

31. However, adults without access to a car were more likely to use a bicycle to commute to work - 15% did so compared to 7% of car owners and 9% of those with regular access to a car.

Conclusions

32. The proportion of households where at least one bicycle is owned has remained at around 50% since 1997;

33. There has also been little variation in the average number of people within households who own a bicycle(s) - 1.08 in 2005 compared to 1.05 in 2001 and 1.10 in 1997;

34. Cycling frequency amongst adults appears to have increased between 2001 and 2005 to levels similar to those recorded in 1997, with no significant variation in frequency amongst children;

35. The average duration of cycling trips increased in 2005, with 57% cycling for over an hour compared to 29% in 2001. The average distance travelled, however, remains similar in 2005 to that recorded in the previous survey (5.9 v 5.2 miles);

36. Possibly explaining the increased duration of trips since 2001, during 2005 a significantly higher proportion of bicycle trips were taken off-road (38% compared to 26%).

37. The proportion of respondents cycling for 'leisure' purposes has increased, while a decrease was recorded in the proportion cycling to 'keep fit' in 2005;

38. The weather and concerns over sharing the road with motorists remain prevalent barriers to cycling amongst those who currently cycle and those who do not;

39. Use of a cycle helmet remained equal with the level recorded in 2001 (35%), which is higher than that recorded in 1997 (25%).

Page updated: Tuesday, January 17, 2006