Transport for London has published a report that outlines the vital role played by walking and cycling during the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic had a significant impact on people’s travel habits during 2020, as people worked from home or followed Government advice to stay at home or minimise use of public transport.
TfL’s Travel in London report uses data gathered from travel surveys to calculate the number of trips made on each mode of transport in London. While the total number of trips made in 2020 decreased dramatically as a result of the pandemic, the number of journeys cycled increased by 6.4%, a remarkable change in the context of lower general activity and major reductions to workplace commuting.
This meant that over the year, the proportion of journeys cycled accounted for 3.4% of all journeys, up from 2.3% in 2019 – a 48% increase in the proportion of journeys made by bike.
During the pandemic, cycling mode shares for London residents fluctuated, reflecting seasonality, but were still on average around twice as high (5.3%) as they were before the pandemic (2.7% in 2019/20).
There was also a significant increase in the number of trips walked in London in 2020, with the proportion of journeys made on foot by Londoners increasing from 21% of all journeys to 30% – a 43% increase.
Responses from people taking part in TfL’s report suggest that many of these changes in travel are likely to persist as London recovers from the pandemic.
30% of people said that they are likely to walk more after the pandemic, compared to 10% who believed they will walk less. Meanwhile, 15% of people stated that they would cycle more after the pandemic.
The report also highlights the vital role played by Santander Cycles throughout the pandemic, with the scheme seeing record numbers of casual users throughout the pandemic and particularly as Londoners returned to offices in the centre of the capital.
September, October and November last year were all record months for the scheme, with September and October both seeing more than one million hires over the month.
Since the period covered by the report, bus and tube figures up to November 2021 show that public transport usage has continued to grow as COVID restrictions have been eased.
Compared to before the pandemic, the Tube network on weekdays has recently seen more than 60% of journeys, but this has reached as high as 80% at weekends, while ridership on buses was regularly at 75% of pre-pandemic levels.
Overall, TfL figures up to November 2021 indicate that use of London’s public transport network was at around 70% of pre-pandemic levels and that millions of Londoners were returning to the transport network, showing they have confidence that it is safe, clean and reliable.
Find out more about Transport for London at www.tfl.gov.uk