https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚶‍♀️" title="Woman walking" aria-label="Emoji: Woman walking">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚴‍♂️" title="Man biking" aria-label="Emoji: Man biking">THREAD: There& #39;s much to like about the Government& #39;s expected push on walking and cycling to work in response to public transport capacity being much reduced by #covid19.

But how realistic is it?

POINT 1: Nearly 2/3rds of commuters in England & Wales live within realistic walking or cycling distance to work.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚴‍♂️" title="Man biking" aria-label="Emoji: Man biking"> 9.3m - 43% of commuters - live within 5km of work (walking distance)

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚴‍♂️" title="Man biking" aria-label="Emoji: Man biking"> 13.9m - 64% - live within 10 km (cycling distance).
That& #39;s a lot of people.

POINT 2: But switching to cycling or walking *outside* of cities won& #39;t make a lot of difference to congestion.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚗" title="Automobile" aria-label="Emoji: Automobile"> Outside of urban areas in England & Wales, 5% of commuters use public transport.

Post lockdown there& #39;ll be very little extra pressure on the network here.

POINT 3: And even in many cities not many people use public transport either.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌇" title="Sunset over buildings" aria-label="Emoji: Sunset over buildings"> In 27 cities, fewer than 1 in 10 use public transport.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚗" title="Automobile" aria-label="Emoji: Automobile"> In Telford it& #39;s 5%.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚋" title="Tram car" aria-label="Emoji: Tram car"> In London it& #39;s 45%

See here: #graph=table&city=show-all&indicator=commuting-by-bus-train-or-metro">https://www.centreforcities.org/data-tool/ #graph=table&city=show-all&indicator=commuting-by-bus-train-or-metro\\single\\2011&tableOrder=tableOrder\\1,0">https://www.centreforcities.org/data-tool...

POINT 4: In those cities where more than 1 in 10 use public transport:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚶‍♀️" title="Woman walking" aria-label="Emoji: Woman walking"> 5.5 million live in walking distance
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚴‍♂️" title="Man biking" aria-label="Emoji: Man biking">8.5 million in cycling distance.

This is the more realistic pool of people the Government is talking about.

POINT 5: Of the 8.5m potential walkers or cyclists, 37% live in London, and 68% live in London or large cities.

So the Government& #39;s push is principally one aimed at London, and to a lesser extent large cities such as Manchester.

POINT 6: Of course, this is a potential number. Some will walk or cycle already. And while some will switch to feet or 2 wheels, many will not.

So while I hope people will switch, for congestion & environmental reasons, realistically it& #39;s not going to be that many.

ENDS

@GraemePaton this may be of interest