| Topic: | Cyclists and support for local shops | |
| Posted by: | Charlotte Kasner | |
| Date/Time: | 25/03/19 17:13:00 |
| I have just been reading a TfL travel survey (undertaken coincidentally by a Chiswick company) that was conducted across 14 high streets from central London (Oxford Street) to the suburbs (Hounslow). It makes very interesting reading, but in particular, it states that: "Cyclists made up the highest proportion of respondents who shopped online at 71%" The majority of respondents across all centres used the bus. Buses were the only mode used by all respondents, regardless of their most common mode of travel. Cycling was by far the least used mode (rally statistically an outlier) and people visiting town centres who walked or cycled lived "very close" to the centre, so town cycling is therefore not likely to make anyone much fitter and walking was an option in all such cases. None of the cyclists interviewed cycled when the weather was poor, when they had heavy bags to carry or were travelling with children. Oddly, no one was asked about travel in groups other than this. The cycling demographics of the 14 centres studied were the same as nationally: white, affluent, middle aged males, none of whom relied on cycling as their main mode of travel, unlike a large proportion of bus users. TfL Town Centres 2013 study http://content.tfl.gov.uk/town-centres-report-13.pdf |