Data methodology

How the data was captured and analysed in our Walking and Cycling Index.

A group of young adults walk down the pavement in a busy urban area of Tyneside

Where do the data in the 2025 Walking and Cycling Index reports come from?

The 23 Walking and Cycling Index reports for 2025 were produced by Walk Wheel Cycle Trust with the support and cooperation of the authorities named on the front cover of each report.

The cities, metropolitan areas and combined authorities in the UK and Ireland for 2025 are:

  • Aberdeen

  • Belfast

  • Bristol

  • Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

  • Cardiff

  • Cork Metropolitan Area

  • Dublin Metropolitan Area

  • Dundee

  • Dunfermline

  • Edinburgh

  • Galway Metropolitan Area

  • Glasgow

  • Greater Cambridge

  • Greater Manchester

  • Inverness

  • Leicester

  • Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area

  • Liverpool City Region

  • North East Combined Authority

  • Perth

  • Southampton City Region

  • Stirling

  • Waterford Metropolitan Area

Data was collated in 2025. Most data applies to 2025.

In a minority of cases, data is drawn from previous years, where 2025 figures were not available. All reports were published in March 2026.

The data contained in the reports are drawn from a set of common data reviewed and agreed upon by Walk Wheel Cycle Trust and partner authorities and collected for each of the different areas.

There are four categories of data:

Settings data

These are objective measures of the current environment for walking, wheeling and cycling. They include:

Data supplied by the partner authorities

  • Supply-side measures of what is available to help someone walk, wheel or cycle in the city. These include, but are not limited to, cycle route lengths, 20mph limits (or 30km/h limits in the Republic of Ireland), cycle parking and measures such as the percentage of junction arms without a pedestrian phase

  • Measures of some deterrents such as traffic casualties and cycle theft

  • Measures taken from online geographic sources. These analyses include the percentage of households within 800m of everyday amenities, pavement widths alongside roads, pedestrianised streets and neighbourhood housing density. Much of this data is open source. Some is derived from Open Street Map. Open Street Map data has been filtered using the “fclass” attribute which gives a description of the features’ classification type.

Behaviour data

  • Demand-side measures of residents’ travel behaviours, the types of people who are walking, wheeling and cycling, how often, how far and to which types of destination.

  • This data is collected in the independent representative survey in each city. Behaviour data were collected for all survey participants, not just for those who walk, wheel or cycle.

Attitudes data

  • Attitudes and perceptions of the public towards walking and wheeling, cycling and transport more generally.

  • This includes types of interventions/facilities/equipment that would encourage respondents to walk, wheel and cycle more; perceptions of existing walking and cycling infrastructure and how to improve them; views on safety and on levels of government spending on different transport modes.

  • This data is collected in the independent representative survey in each area. Perception data were collected for all survey participants, not just for those who walk, wheel or cycle.

Impact data

Health, economic and environmental benefits from walking, wheeling and cycling, including modelled economic benefits, premature deaths prevented, impacts for the NHS (HSE in the Republic of Ireland) and reductions in pollutants where people walk, wheel, or cycle instead of using cars.

This data is calculated by Walk Wheel Cycle Trust’s Strategy, Impact and Evidence team from a combination of the behavioural data and the best available evidence.

More details on where the data comes from

Our Walking and Cycling Index 2025 Data sources and methodologies document contains a table which shows the data sources and methodologies behind each data point in each report.

The document's Appendix has further details on the representative survey delivered in each area and the questionnaire, which can be used to see the exact question wording for data in the reports.

There also is supporting information in the document Appendix, including further details on the representative survey delivered in each area and the questionnaire, which can be used to see the exact question wording for data in the reports.

Download the Walking and Cycling Index 2025 Data sources and methodologies document.