A YouGov poll of 1,143 workers, undertaken for Ribble Cycles, explored attitudes to cycling and what puts commuters off jumping on their bike for the journey to work.
Despite the list of benefits associated with cycling, like reduced travel costs, improved fitness levels and a low environmental impact, a huge 87% of those polled do not cycle to work.
Cycling rates were lowest among the 18 to 24-year-old age group, with just 2% of this group currently cycling to work. Men are more than twice as likely as women to cycle to work, at 13% and 5% respectively.
Following a winter of flooding and strong gales, weather conditions were a key reason against cycling to work for one in five of non-cyclists polled, while lack of cycle lanes was a reason for 16% of these respondents.
Distance to work was the top reason for not cycling to work, with 42% claiming they live too far away to cycle to work.
For a quarter of respondents who don’t cycle to work, a lack of confidence in their cycling abilities was a key reason (25%). Women were more than twice as likely to lack this confidence than men, at 34% and 15% respectively.
A relatively high percentage of respondents (26%) said they were worried about having a collision while on their bike, with Londoners most concerned about collisions (39%).
Of those surveyed who do cycle to work, 83% stated that cycling helps them to improve their health and fitness and 61% claimed it reduces their transport costs.
