Cycle data
Request ID: FOI-1678-2021
Date published: 17 December 2020
You asked
25.11.20 clarification:
I have been looking at the 2019 cycle trends report (http://content.tfl.gov.uk/cycling-trends-update.pdf) about the cycle volumes in central and inner London and about the impact that recently delivered cycle routes have had on cycle flows.
I would like to request the original data behind this report, as well as the most up to date data you have for 2020. I was also wondering whether the data quantifies whether cyclists making ‘new trips’ along these routes were stimulated by the new infrastructure, transfers from other modes, or abstraction from parallel routes?
In line with the above report, I am therefore requesting the following datasets:
- Cycling volumes in central and inner London per quarter in 2019 and 2020:
o average km cycled in a day per km of road network
o average daily km cycled in a day (6am-10pm) – thousands
- 2019 and 2020 total bidirectional cycle flows per day (6am-10pm) to the nearest hundred, on the following cycleways:
o Cycle Superhighway 3 East-West – section a (Lancaster Gate to Birdcage Walk)
o Cycleway 27 (Bloomsbury to Walthamstow)
o Cycle Superhighway 6 North-South – section b (Stonecutter Street to King’s Cross)
o Cycleway 12 (Kilburn to Gladstone Park)
o Quietway 5 – section b (Oval to Clapham)
o Cycleway 16 – section b (Wanstead Flats to Barkingside)
o Cycleway 20 Green Lanes (A105) (Mini-Holland Enfield)
o Cycleway 31 The Cut (Mini-Holland Kingston)
This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I would like to request the following information based from information in the London Travel Demand Survey 2008-2011 on your website:
- The number of bicycle trips made within each borough by month from 2017-2020
- The distanced travelled by bicycle within each borough and at what time of day from 2017-2020
- The average rate of bicycle trips per person and the reason for the trip from 2017-2020
- The frequency of pedal cycling per week, by age group, within each borough from 2017-2020
- The number of bicycle accidents and severity of accident, by borough from 2017-2020
- If possible, the most popular roads that are used by pedal cyclists in each borough from 2017-2020
We answered
TfL Ref 1678-2021
Thank you for your clarified request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 25 November 2020 asking for cycling data in London.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. Your questions and our replies are as follows:
- Cycling volumes in central and inner London per quarter in 2019 and 2020:
o average km cycled in a day per km of road network
o average daily km cycled in a day (6am-10pm) – thousands
Our Inner London counts are annual, not quarterly. The 2019 results for both metrics you’ve requested above are available in our recently published Travel in London report 13 which can be found here: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/travel-in-london-report-13.pdf. See page 74.
In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.
2020 results are not available yet because due to the Spring lockdown the inner London cycle counts (usually done in Spring) were deferred to the Autumn and are still being validated. They will be published on our website next year, most likely after April 2021.
Therefore in accordance with the FOI Act, TfL is not obliged to supply you with the information you have requested as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information, under Section 22 of the Act. In this instance the exemption has been applied as the information you have requested is intended for future publication.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test, which requires us to assess whether the public interest in applying the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure. In this instance, it is considered that the public interest favours the publication of this information, in context and according to a pre-determined schedule, rather than in response to your request, to ensure the information is provided accurately and in an accessible manner.
Central London counts are quarterly, but in 2020 they took place only in the first (January-March) and third (July-September) calendar quarters. The second (April-June) and final (October–December) quarters have both been cancelled as a result of the lockdown. Results for the quarters we hold the data for are presented below.
|
Financial quarter
|
Months
|
Year
|
Average cycled km per km
|
Average cycled km
|
|
Q4 2018/19
|
Jan-Mar
|
2019
|
1,171
|
477,994
|
|
Q1 2019/20
|
Apr-Jun
|
1,382
|
563,922
|
|
Q2 2019/20
|
Jul-Sep
|
1,461
|
596,276
|
|
Q3 2019/20
|
Oct-Dec
|
1,234
|
503,522
|
|
Q4 2019/20
|
Jan-Mar
|
2020
|
1,251
|
510,666
|
|
Q1 2020/21
|
Apr-Jun
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
Q2 2020/21
|
Jul-Sep
|
1,110
|
453,019
|
|
Q3 2020/21
|
Oct-Dec
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
Note: Based on 6am-10pm cycle counts from a panel of 210 count locations representative of central London (defined as the area within the Congestion Charge zone)
- 2019 and 2020 total bidirectional cycle flows per day (6am-10pm) to the nearest hundred, on the following cycleways:
o Cycleway 3 (between Lancaster Gate and Birdcage Walk)
o Cycleway 27 (Bloomsbury to Walthamstow)
o Cycleway 6 (between Stonecutter Street and King’s Cross)
o Cycleway 12 (Kilburn to Gladstone Park)
o Quietway 5 (Cycleway 5) – section b (Oval to Clapham)
o Cycleway 16 – section b (Wanstead Flats to Barkingside)
o Cycleway 20 Green Lanes (A105) (Enfield)
o Cycleway 31 The Cut
In 2020, the counts on Cycleways had to be cancelled, so no data is or will be available from this year. However, the 2019 counts were completed as planned. These are annual counts but do not necessarily take place all years on all routes. As a general rule, there are counts once before construction and three times after construction of the scheme, but there are exceptions. The 2019 data where we hold it can be located at https://cycling.data.tfl.gov.uk/, under ‘CycleCountsProgramme’. Please refer to file ‘X – Count sites list’ to identify the unique IDs of the sites for each of the requested routes by using the provided Easting and Northing coordinates. Therefore in accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.
The impact of current circumstances on TfL’s resources means we are not able to answer FOI requests readily and we ask that you please do not make a request to us at present.
Answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. In any event, please note that our response time will be affected by the current situation.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Sara Thomas
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
Back to top
