A Sports Marketing Surveys (SMS) tracker over the last 15 weeks focusing on commuting habits continues to show a gradual increase in the number of people cycling to work across the UK.

The results come from an investigation into commuting patterns that SMS has been operating since the 8^th June.

In transport terms, the biggest impact of Covid-19 has been on public transport, where a reduction in services has gone hand in hand with a slump in demand, with many of those who once commuted by train, tube or bus, either working from home or turning to private transport. In fact, car use among the commuting population peaked in the first week of the study in June, with almost two in every three people travelling to work via car. At the same time, public transport was at its nadir, with just under 10% of commuters travelling in this way.

Over the three months that have followed, there has been an identifiable change to these figures. At the latest count, in the week beginning 14^th September, public transport use was returning, with 15% travelling that way. The corollary to this was car use declining as a proportion of the whole, down 9 percentage points to 55%.

As for cycling, the figures show a relatively consistent number of around 7% of commuters now travelling by bike, up from under 5% at the start of the study. Completing the active transport picture, the number of those walking to work has also increased by a factor of nearly 50%.

There are a number of factors contributing to this shifting transport dynamic. Prior to the changes to government advice, many companies had begun to encourage workers to gradually return to their desks. To give an example of the scale of the shift, car use had risen by 7 percentage points overall, yet fallen as a share of the commuting population by 9 percentage points. In other words, those coming off furlough or returning to offices at the later stages of the pandemic were more likely to turn to alternatives including walking, cycling and public transport than those who returned to work earlier in the crisis.

Meanwhile, around the country, residents in cities and towns have recently witnessed some of the most radical changes to traffic management in the last 50 years. Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) have provided segregated, direct access to and through major city centres. As motor vehicle traffic increases it is anticipated that more and more people driving short distances will turn to cycling or walking instead, with all of the ancillary benefits to fitness, health and the environment that that entails.

As the advice to businesses now refocuses to working from home wherever possible, SMS will continue to monitor how the transport make up evolves.