UK National Travel Survey data show that walking and cycling trips decreased by about 15% between 1996 and 2005 (Department for Transport (DfT), 2006, Chart 2.2a). The National Cycling Strategy aimed to quadruple cycling between 1996 and 2012, but this target was dropped in the 2004 Future of Transport white paper (DfT, 2004), while Traffic Advisory Leaflet 2/00 outlines a framework for local walking strategies without prescribing targets. The need to promote walking and cycling has also been recognised by devolved administrations within the UK, for example in the Welsh Assembly Government’s Walking and Cycling Strategy (2002) and Transport for London’s Walking (2003) and Cycling (2004) Action Plans.
To date, however, there is little evidence that these initiatives have been effective in promoting walking or cycling on a national scale, although there have been successes at the local scale, for example, in Hull, London and York (DfT, 2005).
