Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the National Travel Survey: 2021, published August 2022, what assessment he has made of implications for his policies of the decreasing level of active travel in 2021 relative to 2020; and what steps he is taking to encourage more (a) walking and (b) cycling trips in (i) London and (ii) the rest of the UK.

We look carefully at long-term travel statistics when planning future transport needs. Whilst it is important to examine the period of the pandemic when doing so, it is also important to bear in mind that, for most people, travel then was very different to that in normal times.

The Government continues to support active travel and has invested unprecedented sums in walking and cycling since the start of the pandemic. In London, this is a matter for the Mayor, and the Department’s recent funding settlement with Transport for London will enable it to continue to invest in improving London's streets by investing over £80 million per year in schemes to enable more walking and cycling.