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9. Walking and cycling: adults (16+)
9.1 The interviewer asks the randomly-chosen adult on how many of the previous seven days did he/she make a trip of more than a quarter of a mile by foot (a) to go somewhere such as work, shopping or to see friends ( i.e. used walking as a means of transport); and (b) just for the pleasure of walking, or to keep fit or walk a dog. A similar question is asked about cycling. These questions have been asked of a randomly-chosen half of the sample from the start of 2005. They continue to be analysed on an annual basis as they cover the whole of the sub-sample, so have more responses than questions which apply only to particular sub-groups. However, Chart J was produced using data for two years combined, in order to have a more reliable basis for each 5-year age group.
9.2 Walking in the past seven days
9.2.1 The left-hand side of Table 16 shows that, in 2006, 53% of adults said that, in the previous seven days, they had made a trip of more than a quarter of a mile by foot to go somewhere. There was very little variation between the sexes. The percentage who had walked to go somewhere tended to fall with age, from 69% of people aged 16-19 to about half of 40-69 year olds and 27% of those aged 80 or over. The percentage was highest for adults in further or higher education (71%). It was lowest for those who were permanently sick or disabled (37%), and for those living in rural areas (38-39%). Those who drove every day were less likely to have walked to go somewhere in the previous seven days (45%) than those who did not drive every day (56-60%).
9.2.2 Table J suggests that the percentage who had used walking as a means of transport in the previous seven days rose from 51.8% in 1999 to 54.6% in 2001, then declined to 53.2% in 2006. Much of this apparent variation could be due to sampling variability: each of these figures has "95% confidence limits" of about +/- 1.0 percentage-points (1999 to 2004) or +/- 1.4 %-points (2005 and 2006 - the range is wider for the later years because their samples were smaller).
9.2.3 The right-hand side of Table 16, and the upper part of Chart J, provide information about walking for pleasure or to keep fit (including walking a dog). 47% of adults said that they had made a trip of more than a quarter of a mile by foot for this purpose in the previous seven days: 49% of men and 45% of women. Chart J shows that the difference between the sexes was greatest for ages 70+, when the figures for men were much higher than those for women.
Chart J: Walking and cycling for pleasure or to keep fit (on one or more of the previous seven days - data for two years)
9.2.4 The percentage reporting that they had walked for pleasure or to keep fit was highest for self-employed people (55%) and lowest for permanently sick or disabled adults (29%). 56-57% of those in managerial and professional occupations had walked for pleasure or to keep fit, compared with 44% of those in semi-routine occupations. There were also differences between areas: 60% of adults in "remote" rural areas had walked for pleasure or to keep fit in the past seven days, compared with 39% of adults in large urban areas. Walking for pleasure or to keep fit also varied with frequency of driving. Among adults who hold full driving licences it varied from over half of those who drove at least once a week to only 41% for those who never drove.
9.2.5 Table J shows that the percentage of adults who said that they had walked for pleasure or to keep fit on one or more of the previous seven days has risen from 39.7% in 1999 to 46.6% in 2006. However, some of the apparent year-to-year changes may be due to sampling variability ( e.g. the fall in 2002): each of these percentages has "95% confidence limits" of about +/- 1.0 percentage-point (1999-2004) and +/- 1.4 %-point (2005-2006).
9.3 Cycling in the past seven days
9.3.1 Table 17 shows the equivalent results for cycling. In 2006, only 3% of adults said that they had cycled as a means of transport in the previous seven days: 5% of men and 1% of women. The percentage was highest for 16-39 year olds (5%), then fell as age increased, to 1% or fewer of those aged 60 or over. There was some variation with current situation, with 6% of people who were in higher or further education saying that they had cycled as a means of transport in the previous seven days compared with 0-1% of people who were looking after home/family, permanently retired from work or permanently sick or disabled.
9.3.2 4% of adults said that they had cycled for pleasure or to keep fit in the previous seven days: 6% of men and 3% of women. The lower part of Chart J shows that the percentage for men was higher than that for women for almost all age-groups. There was variation with socio-economic classification: 7% of those in higher managerial and professional occupations cycled for pleasure or to keep fit compared with 3% in semi-routine occupations. However, such differences must be interpreted cautiously when the sub-groups concerned had only a few hundred sample cases. There were also differences with annual net household income: only 2-3% of adults in a household with less than £20,000 annual net income cycled for pleasure or to keep fit, versus 6-7% for adults in households with an annual net income of over £25,000.
9.3.3 Table K shows there has been no clear change in the percentage of adults reporting cycling as a means of transport, or for pleasure or to keep fit, between 1999 and 2006: the apparent year-to-year changes in the figures may be due to sampling variability.
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