Two thirds of Welsh youth support greater active travel spend

A recent YouGov poll has found that two thirds of young Welsh voters, aged 16-24, support the next Welsh Government pledge to commit a tenth of its transport budget to active travel, a key aim of Cycling UK’s Welsh election manifesto.

In a poll carried out by YouGov on behalf of Cycling UK, 1,194 people were asked whether they would support a pledge by the Welsh Government to spend at least 10% of the transport budget on active travel. Overall, 49% said they would support this commitment, while 15% would oppose it. Additionally, 27% said they would neither support nor oppose the pledge and 10% didn’t know.

The poll found that the percentage of those supporting the pledge decreased with increasing age of respondents, with 63% of those aged 16 to 24 supporting the pledge while just 8% oppose it. However, the support still outweighed the levels of opposition in each age group. Of those aged 65+, 41% were in favour while 18% were against.

Gwenda Owen, Cycling UK engagement officer for Wales said: “Overall, more than three times as many people surveyed support our target for spending on cycling and walking than oppose it. Among 16- to 24-year-olds it is almost eight times as many, and we hope that the next Welsh Government will listen to young people.”

Securing a pledge to commit one-tenth of transport spending to active travel is among the eleven asks for the next Welsh Government set out by Cycling UK in its manifesto for cycling, which was published in February.

Cycling UK has created an online action where members of the public can find out which of their MS candidates have made the pledge to support its aims, and write to those who haven’t.