The bare facts – the top to bottom of walking statistics
Walking, and high quality street environments, links to so many different policy areas it can be quite hard to separate out the information you’re looking for.
We’ve tried to make it as easy as possible by putting our key facts and stats into different categories, linked to below. If you have any other queries, please contact Anna Powell, Press Officer
Statistics for the new Living Streets Website
- General walking
- Walking and health
- Walking and the environment
- Road safety (including 20mph)
- Walk to school
General walking
Nearly a quarter of people (24%) walk for 20 minutes less than once a year, or never Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005
Twice as many women (15%) walk to work as men (7.3%) Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005
69% of commuting trips are made by car and only 11% are made on foot. Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005
On average, commuting trips by car take 24 minutes, by bus 40 minutes, rail 66 minutes and on foot 17 minutes. Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005
Over 1/5 of trips less than a mile are made by car Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005
A quarter of all shopping trips are made on foot Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005
On average, females make 15% more walking trips than males, making 261 trips a year compared with 228 for males. Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005
Walking and health
A third (33%) of adults say walking for more than 10 minutes is their only form of exercise in a typical month Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005
Walking for just 30 minutes a day during the working week means reaching the Government’s recommended level of daily activity needed to transform your health.
An estimated 70% of adults do not do enough exercise to benefit their health Institute of Sport and Recreation Management, 2006
Only 37% of men and 24% of women in the UK are sufficiently active to gain any health benefits Health Survey for Session 2003–04, Department of Health, 2004
Nearly a quarter of all adults in the UK are obese Department of Health, Health Profile of England, 2007
Walking one mile in 15 minutes burns about the same number of calories as running a mile in eight and a half minutes NHS, Walk your way to health, 207
Walking one mile (1.6km) can burn up at least 100kcal (420kJ) of energy and walking two miles (3.2km) a day, three times a week, can help reduce weight by one pound (0.5kg) every three weeks Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005
By 2050 almost 60% of the UK population could be obese with the economic cost reaching £49.9 billion at today’s prices Government Office of Science, Foresight Tackling Obesities: Future Choices, 2007,
95% of adults agree that walking is a good way to stay healthy Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, 2005
82% of adults agree that walking is a good way to loose weight Department of Health
Regular physical activity improves mood, helps relieve depression, and increases feelings of well-being. A survey carried out by the charity Mind found that 83% of people with mental health problems looked to physical activity to help lift their mood
Walking and the environment
The school run accounts for 18% of car trips by residents of urban areas during term time at 0845am Department for Transport National Travel Survey 2006
Cars consume most fuel and pollute more at the start of their journey when the engine is cold, therefore, walking for short journeys will reduce the amount of CO2 emissions by a disproportionate amount Institute for European and Environmental Policy 2007
The average commuter driving an average car, covering the average commute distance will produce almost one tonne of CO2 per person per year. With 25 million people in the UK commuting, that is the equivalent CO2 emissions that would fill almost 50 billion one litre water bottles every day, or enough to fill 89,000 typical three-bedroom homes, which is a city of some 200,000 inhabitants Workwise UK, 2007
If all commuters left the car at home one day a week this would save enough miles in a year to drive to the moon and back 35,000 times. This is the equivalent emissions reduction of taking over 1.7 million cars off the road and would reduce the UK's total CO2 emissions by almost 1 per cent. Energy Saving Trust
Road safety (including 20mph)
Britain has one of the worst road safety records in Europe for child pedestrians and almost 20% of casualties occur on the way to or from school Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, ‘School Assembly Plans Using Road Safety Themes’
People living in the 10% most deprived areas of England are almost one-and-a-half times as likely to be killed or injured on the roads as people living in the 10% least deprived areas. Department for Transport Road Casualties Great Britain: 2007
A pedestrian hit by a car at 40mph has only a 15% chance of surviving. At 30mph this chance increases to 55%. But at 20mph the chance of survival increases to 95%.
In 2008, 572 pedestrians were killed and 28,481 injured on our streets Department for Transport, Road Casualties Great Britain, 2007
20mph schemes in Europe and the UK have cut the number of adult pedestrians killed or seriously injured by 50% and child pedestrians by 61% Transport Research Laboratory, 2003, Review of 20mph zones in London Boroughs
The equivalent of 60 classrooms full of children were seriously injured or killed on our roads last year. There were 1784 child pedestrians killed or seriously injured in Great Britain last year. Based on the average of 30 children per classroom, the number of classrooms of children killed or seriously injured is 60.
In 2005, the National Centre for Social Research found that 74% of people wanted 20mph in residential areas, including 72% of drivers.
Driving at 20mph rather than 30mph reduces stopping distance by 134% and therefore reduces the risk of collision considerably. DfT, 2001, Calculation based on thinking and braking distances taken from Think! leaflet
In the UK, 20 mph zones have been found to drastically cut the number of pedestrians killed and seriously injured (KSI) on our streets. Pedestrian KSIs as a whole are reduced by 50%, and child pedestrian KSIs are reduced by 61%. Transport Research Laboratory, 2003, ‘Review of 20 mph zones in London Boroughs
Road deaths and injuries cost the NHS £470 million and the UK economy £18 billion every year. DfT, 2005, Highways Economics, Valuation of the Benefits of Prevention of Road Accidents and Casualties
The Commission for Integrated Transport’s 2001 study found that where cities have 20mph speed limits covering between 65% and 85% of the urban network, they are transformed “from being noisy, polluted places into vibrant, people-centred environments”. Commission for Integrated Transport, 2001, Study of European Best Practise in the delivery of integrated transport
Child pedestrians from our lowest socio-economic groups are currently a staggering 21 times more likely to die on our roads than those at the top.6 Department for Transport, Trends in Fatal Car-occupant Accidents: 2007
Walk to school
Among primary school children, 54% of girls travel to school on foot, compared with 49% of boys Department for Transport, National Travel Survey 2006
A higher percentage of boys go to school by car, with 44% travelling by this method compared with 38% of girls Department for Transport, National Travel Survey 2006
An 11-year-old starting secondary school is almost twice as likely as a 10-year-old at primary school to be killed or seriously injured in road collisions Department for Transport, Road Casualties, 2006
In 1971, 80% of seven and eight-year-olds travelled to school without an adult, in 2006 it was down to 12% of seven to 10-year-olds Department for Transport, 2006
Nearly 30% of children aged two to 15 were classed as overweight or obese in 2006 Department of Health, Obesity General Information
The average cost of the school run by car per primary school child is £367, which equates to £612 million for transporting all primary school children to school per year. Centre for Economics and Business Research (cebr), 2008, based on ONS, DfT, and AA figures
