‘Data Tool will help policy makers transform lives through active travel’

A new interactive data analysis and comparison tool from Sustrans will enable local and national authorities to make the most of reduced active travel budgets, writes Tim Burns

Councils and policy makers are still grappling with the DfT’s decision in March to slash active travel funding, which saw more than £200m of promised investment taken away.

This has resulted in planned active travel schemes being put on hold, with consequences for helping communities during the cost-of-living crisis, net zero, public health, and reviving a dwindling economy.

It looks like we will be entering a period of sustained funding cuts and tighter Treasury control. Data and evidence are therefore crucial. Local authorities and government departments will need to demonstrate the benefit of active travel and the outcomes of its investment.

If we are to bring about the change we want to see in communities, benefitting people in a meaningful way, then we will need good data.

Data sheds light on existing travel behaviours and the demand from the public for walking, wheeling and cycling. It reveals who can’t travel actively and why not, as well as identifying where it is unnecessary to deliver improvements, and where they are urgently needed.

All of which makes the launch of the Sustrans Walking and Cycling Index Data Tool very timely. The interactive data analysis and comparison tool is the breakthrough tool policy makers have been waiting for. It gives a level of access and critical insight into the 2019 and 2021 Walking and Cycling Index data that has never before been available.

What is the Walking and Cycling Index?

Sustrans’ mission is to make it easier to walk, wheel, and cycle for everyone. Since 2014, through the Sustrans ‘Walking and Cycling Index’, we have collected data from 18 UK and Irish cities, to understand why people do and don’t, can and can’t, walk, wheel and cycle where they live.

It is the largest survey on public behaviours and attitudes towards walking and cycling, and is a primary data source for the sector. 

Insights from the Index reveal enormous support for active travel infrastructure, and other actions that support walking, wheeling and cycling. This support is often greatest among groups who are more likely to be disadvantaged by society.

In 2021, the Index found people on low incomes wanted greater investment on walking (58%) and cycling (50%), than driving (36%).

Index data showed us that just 56% of disabled people and only 55% of residents on low incomes feel welcome when walking or wheeling in their neighbourhood. Only 52% believe it’s safe for children to walk in their local area.

The Index helped solidify understanding of active travel as integral to economic stimulation, by revealing the astonishing £36.5bn value to the UK economy in 2021.

This has just as much relevance when the data is focused locally. The Sustrans Index Data Tool provides both – local and UK aggregated data.

Why does ‘locally’ matter?

The Index highlights statistics on the benefits of walking, wheeling and cycling to specific cities and regions.

Last year it revealed that walking and cycling in the Liverpool City Region alone helped prevent 3,552 serious long-term health conditions and stimulated £925.9m in economic benefit for the region. The environmental benefits included 51,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions being saved, and up to 330,000 cars taken off the road every day.

It also reveals the attitudes and behaviours of specific communities within the Index cities, highlighting where investment in infrastructure should be applied, and which groups require support to walk, wheel and cycle.

It is this same data that the Sustrans Index Data Tool now makes accessible and interactive for policy makers across the UK. 

Who can use this, and for what?

Up until now, Sustrans has only published summaries of Index data through city and national reports. This tool will help policy makers understand trends, compare places and importantly shine a light on what disadvantaged communities think, including women, disabled people and people of colour.

This is an opportunity for those who can make change to grasp the Sustrans Index Data Tool now and do their own investigating, to search the available data and discover how and where action is needed in their cities and regions.

Sustrans Walking and Cycling Index data has been used by the UK Government, Transport Scotland, the Republic of Ireland Government, transport and town planners, cycling advisors, placemaking project managers and sustainability and carbon reduction leads from city and borough councils.

It is used to underpin transport strategy and plans, support and prioritise investment and to define and measure impacts and outcomes. It gives a voice to disadvantaged communities and helps to ensure investment leads to more inclusive outcomes.

How does it work?

The Data Tool holds interactive Index data across two dashboards - ‘Public Behaviours’ and ‘Attitudes’ - towards walking and cycling, and allows for comparison, segmenting, and analysis.

Within the tool, multiple filters can be applied, so data can be segmented by age, gender, disability, ethnic group, socio-economic group, city and member authority.

This functionality will profoundly improve how anyone can access the localised data relevant to cities and communities, making application in research and policy planning far easier.

In providing the essential, localised data to researchers and policy makers, the Data Tool helps clarify in which areas and groups active travel is in-demand (and too often a struggle to access), and also where no action is needed.

So, where does this lead us?

This Data Tool is a breakthrough for policy makers, who can use it to make the change that transforms lives through active travel.

It will be essential in the arsenal of local and national authorities wanting to apply considerably reduced budgets wisely, according to the needs of their communities.

This asset will also continue to evolve. New data, including benefits from walking, wheeling and cycling and specific city data, such as cycle path lengths and 20mph speed limits, will be added after the next Index report launch in March 2024.

Such data cuts through polarised debates that we see in the media and gives an independent and representative account on what people want to see in their neighbourhoods.

As such, the Sustrans Index Data Tool will be a vital resource for those working to deliver active travel support across the UK, and it is free to access for everyone today.

Tim Burns is head of policy at the walking and cycling charity Sustrans. He has over 20 years of experience working in the charity sector in travel, sustainable food, resource management and conservation. 

The Behaviour and Attitudes dashboards can be viewed here:

https://waci.surge.sh/03.0-behaviour/

https://waci.surge.sh/02.0-attitudes/