Benefits of cycling and walking

Introduction

We all know the benefits of cycling and walking - which include:

• Improves general health, helps to lower both blood pressure and improves heart health, as well as improving mental health and wellbeing.
• Helps with weight and stress management.
• Improves fitness.
• In congested areas cyclists and pedestrians breathe in less fumes than drivers.
• Saves you money.
• Produces no pollution so good for the environment and tackling climate change.
• Often quicker to get around in towns and cities.
• Fewer cars on the road and more cyclists and pedestrians means safer roads.
• Have fewer days being ill each year.

So whether you cycle or walk for your whole journey, or simply part of it, you know you will be healthier as a result!
 

Essential evidence - the benefits of cycling and walking

Key evidence from peer-reviewed literature is being used to strengthen the case for current policies and practice - not least the work of the Cycling City Project.

The evidence available is:

1. Safety in numbers (pdf, 102 KB).
2. Segmentation in behaviour change (pdf, 61 KB).
3. Evidence hierarchy. (pdf, 83 KB)
4. Cycling and all cause mortality. (pdf, 49 KB)
5. Impact of highway traffic capacity reductions. (pdf, 61 KB)
6. Walking to health. (pdf, 63 KB)
7. Weight gain and car use. (pdf, 66 KB)
8. Physical activity - the best buy in public health. (pdf, 97 KB)
9. Bus use and deregulation. (pdf, 75 KB)
10. Cycle commuting. (pdf, 17 KB)
11. Walkable communities. (pdf, 18 KB)
12. Life change events and physical activity participation. (pdf, 20 KB)
13. Cycling reduces absenteeism at the workplace. (pdf, 21 KB)
14. A healthy school journey. (pdf, 19 KB)
15. Vision Zero. (pdf, 17 KB)
16. Objective monitoring, children's travel and physical fitness (pdf, 13 KB).
17. Using pedometers to increase physical activity and improve health (pdf, 10 KB).
18. The role of habit in travel behaviour. (pdf, 25 KB)
19. Unintended health impacts of road transport policies and interventions (pdf, 18 KB).
20. Health Impact Assessment (HIA). (pdf, 20 KB)
21. Obtaining a driving licence and interventions to influence the decision (pdf, 17 KB).
22. Inverse Care Law. (pdf, 18 KB)
23. Mass Community Cycling Events (pdf, 19 KB).
24. Economic Benefits of Cycling. (pdf, 28 KB)
25. Cycling Safety - Lessons from The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany (pdf, 16 KB).
26. Effect of crime and neighbourhood on physical activity. (pdf, 14 KB)
27. Air Pollution. (msword, 41 KB)
28. Public transport and physical activity (pdf, 14 KB).
29. Illness arising from road transport. (pdf, 115 KB)
30. Cost benefit analysis of walking and cycle track networks (pdf, 19 KB).
31. Walk in to Work Out. (pdf, 20 KB)
32. NICE Guidance. (msword, 104 KB)
33. Assessment of the Active for Life Campaign (pdf, 11 KB).
34. Evidence led policy or the art of the possible? (pdf, 18 KB)
35. Urban Environment. (pdf, 53 KB)
36. Children's independent mobility (pdf, 9 KB).
37. Impact of retirement on physical activity (pdf, 9 KB).
38. Women and commuter cycling. (pdf, 17 KB)
39. Social Patterning. (pdf, 9 KB)
40. Effect of driving cessation on the elderly (pdf, 30 KB).
41. The importance of “walkable” green spaces. (pdf, 31 KB)
42. A convenient truth: Climate change mitigation from transport is good for health (pdf, 34 KB).
43. Child physical activity and effect on body weight. (pdf, 31 KB)
44. Electrically assisted Cycling. (pdf, 30 KB)
45. Effective interventions to increase cycle use (pdf, 30 KB).
46. Use of non-motorised modes and life stages. (pdf, 31 KB)
47. Stairs instead of escalators. (pdf, 93 KB)
48. Attitude-based targeting of mobility types for mode shift (pdf, 33 KB).
49. Food deserts. (pdf, 30 KB)
50. Peak Oil. (pdf, 31 KB)
51. The Precautionary Principle (pdf, 32 KB).
52. Is speeding a "real" antisocial behaviour? (pdf, 13 KB)
53. Perceived barriers to public engagement with climate change (msword, 0.6 MB).
54. Health effects of a neighbourhood traffic calming scheme. (pdf, 30 KB)
55. Casualty and Road Danger Reduction. (pdf, 31 KB)
56. Children's physical activity and academic performance (pdf, 31 KB).
57. Community severance barrier effect. (pdf, 30 KB)
58. Car use weight gain and carbon. (pdf, 41 KB)
59. Global perspective on urban health. (pdf, 41 KB)
60. Childhood asthma and traffic pollution. (pdf, 30 KB)
61. Doorstep walks. (pdf, 31 KB)
62. ‘Nudge’: Normative social influences on behaviour change (pdf, 30 KB).
63. Dose response to physical activity. (pdf, 54 KB)
64. The common cold, physical activity and immune function (pdf, 30 KB).
65. Physical activity, walking, and the prevention of falls. (pdf, 31 KB)
66. Public Health White Paper. (pdf, 39 KB)
67. Speed of drivers in presence of child pedestrians (pdf, 33 KB).
68. Spend on high streets according to travel mode. (pdf, 95 KB)
69. Non-cyclists - how to engage them. (pdf, 35 KB)
70. Exercise at work and self-reported performance (pdf, 30 KB).
71. Policy transfer and learning in the field of transport. (pdf, 24 KB)
72. Health risks and benefits of a bicycle sharing scheme. (pdf, 23 KB)
73. Representation of cycling in newspapers (pdf, 30 KB)
74. Can parents affect the likelihood of young drivers having accidents? (pdf, 30 KB)
75. Accident: No such thing? (pdf, 31 KB) 
76. Benefits of shift from car to active travel (pdf, 32 KB)
77. Is your local area a good place for young people to grow up? (pdf, 32 KB)
78. Neighbourhoods and mental wellbeing (pdf, 55 KB)
79. The paradox of the effective speed concept (pdf, 31 KB)   

What works in terms of increasing the number of people cycling

The successful bid to Cycling England outlined three strands to increase cycle numbers:

• Infrastructure.
• Smarter Choices (behaviour change).
• Bikeability (cycle training).

A fourth element has since been identified as "community engagement".

A rapid desk-top review of interventions which increase the number of people cycling has been carried out which:

• highlights the range of interventions shown to work
• provides expert opinion where there is a limited evidence base and 
• identifies what may be the most effective interventions given very limited infrastructure to date and cultural climate.

Download the desk-top review (pdf, 156 KB)