A quarter of Parliamentary staff plan to travel actively, survey finds

More than a quarter of UK Parliamentary staff plan to cycle, walk or jog to work, and two thirds to take public transport, while only three percent intend to drive, according to workplace survey data obtained by Cycling Industry News.

This year’s survey of 278 members of staff from both the Houses of Commons and Lords, showed a five percent increase in intended ‘active travel’, specifically cycling, walking, or jogging, on pre-pandemic levels, and a one per cent increase in driving. There was a substantial drop in public transport use as the main mode of travel, meanwhile, from 75% pre-COVID, to 66% post-COVID. One percent used motorcycles.

The data is considered interesting in the light of comments over the summer from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, that people “are dependent on their cars”, as he ordered a review of so-called “anti-motorist” measures that seek to make cycling and walking more accessible, like Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. Campaigners say Parliament’s substantial active travel figures suggest that ministers’ own colleagues, along with other UK residents, will leave their cars behind when such measures, and decent public transport links, are provided.

Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK’s head of campaigns, says: “Politicians are slightly using active travel as a political football and saying people are dependent on their cars. They are only dependent on their cars because there aren’t safe and convenient alternatives. Where there are alternatives, as there are in central London, where there are decent public transport systems and available alternatives for people, including safe cycling infrastructure people will us them. What this data shows is people aren’t car dependent; the car dependency politicians talk about, and the need for cars, is a function of the transport system we give them”.

One major safe cycle route in Central London, for example, known as Cycleway 3, has carried millions of cycling trips directly past the Houses of Parliament since it opened in 2016. According to the National Travel Survey (NTS), published at the end of August, 42% of all trips in the capital were made by active modes in 2022, and 15% of commutes were made by walking and cycling. London-wide cycling and walking commutes are possibly lower than Parliamentary survey data suggests, due to the concentration of public transport and cycling links within and to the city centre, along with measures to control motor traffic.

According to the House of Commons’ most recent annual report there were, on average, 6,322 staff employed in Parliament during the last financial year. Of those who responded to the ‘Green Travel Survey’ who said they would cycle, more than half planned to do so between one to three days, and 19 per cent said they would do so every day. 19 per cent used one of London’s cycle hire schemes. 14 per cent already owned an electric bike and 31% were considering buying one.

The survey was open to all staff in both Houses, with 31% of responses from In-House Services and Estates. Its purpose was to understand how staff travel, and their motivations for doing so, to help inform Parliament’s ‘Green Travel Plan’.

Ruth Cadbury MP, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Party Group for Cycling and Walking (APPGCW) said: ”In recent months we have seen an increase in rhetoric against schemes to encourage active travel from the Government. Not only are they out of step with wider trends, but also travel habits at the Parliamentary estate.

”It’s heartening to see that just 3% of respondents said they drove to work, with over a quarter cycling, walking or jogging. This number would likely be higher if cycle parking on the estate was improved, something our group has been looking at this year.

”Parliament could lead the way when it comes to active travel, and these figures indicate we are on the right track.”