Publication of Walking, Cycling and Public Transport in Northern Ireland 2017/18

Date published: 13 September 2018

The Walking, Cycling and Public Transport in Northern Ireland 2017/2018 report is now available. This report, produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), presents findings from the 2017/2018 Continuous Household Survey (CHS) and this is the first year that this question set was included in the CHS.

DRD statistics publication

The publication is available on the ASRB website at:

Key Points

Walking

  • 64% of respondents said they were satisfied with the current situation for walking and walkers in their local area at present.
  • The main reason why people weren’t satisfied were ‘Poor lighting at night’ (51%), ‘Traffic goes too fast’ (49%), ‘Poor footpath conditions (43%) and ‘Not enough footpaths’ (43%).
  • 54% of respondents said they would be likely to walk short distances of up to 2 miles/3kms.
  • The main reasons why people were discouraged from walking were 'Bad weather' (35%), 'Lack of footpaths' (23%), 'Takes too long – the car is quicker' (22%) and 'Cars driving too quickly' (22%).

Cycling

  • 55% of respondents said they were satisfied with the current situation for cycling and cyclists in their local area.
  • The main reason why people weren’t satisfied were 'No cycle lanes' (69%), 'Too much traffic' (42%) and 'Traffic goes too fast' (41%).
  • 17% of respondents said they would be likely to cycle any journeys of up to 3 miles/5kms.
  • The main reasons why people were discouraged from cycling were 'Don't own/have access to a bicycle' (54%), 'Too much traffic/too dangerous' ' (27%) and 'Motorists driving without consideration of cyclists' (21%).

Public Transport

  • 72% of respondents said they were satisfied with the current public transport situation and facilities in their local area.
  • The main reason why people weren’t satisfied were 'Not enough services' (77%), 'No direct services to where I want to go' (43%) and 'Times of buses/trains not suitable' (38%).
  • 47% of respondents said they would be likely to use public transport for journeys of up to 6 miles/10kms.
  • The main reasons why people were discouraged from using public transport were 'Takes too long – the car is quicker' (36%), 'Frequency of buses/trains, i.e. times of buses/trains not suitable' (27%) and 'Price of fares' (19%).

Notes to editors: 

Background

  1. The information presented in this publication derives from the 2017/2018 Continuous Household Survey (CHS) in relation to Walking, Cycling and Public Transport. The CHS is considered to be a representative sample of the north of Ireland population at household level.
  2. It contains information on the proportion of people aged 16 and over who are satisfied with the walking, cycling and public transport provision in their local area, the reasons for their level of satisfaction, and their willingness to walk journeys of up to 2 miles (3km), cycle journeys of up to 3 miles (5km) and take public transport for journeys up to 6 miles (10km).The Department will use the information presented in this publication to inform and understand the story behind current baselines and to assist in any future policy discussion and development. This was the first year that this question set was included in the CHS.

A total of 2,787 adults aged 16 and over were surveyed in 2017/2018 and 2,787 provided a response to the initial question. 

Official Statistics

  1. This is an Official Statistics publication and therefore follows the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.  You can find further information about the Code of Practice at: Statistics Authority.

Further Information

For further information please contact:

Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch
Department for Infrastructure
Clarence Court                                                          
10-18 Adelaide Street
Belfast BT2 8GB
  1. All media queries should be directed to the Department for Infrastructure Press Office on 028 9054 0007 or email: press.office@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk. Out of hours please contact the duty press officer on 028 9037 8110.
  2. Follow the Department on Twitter @deptinfra and on Facebook @DepartmentforInfrastructure

 

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