Annual Cycling Monitoring Report 2025

  1. Introduction
  2. National summary
  3. National statistics
  4. Local Authority summary
  5. Local Authority statistics
  6. Data sources

National summary

Frequency of cycling journeys

In 2024, 5.4% of people said they have cycled for leisure in the previous seven days and 4.5% for transport. 

Cycling to work and school

In 2024, 4.1% of people cycled to work at least regularly. In 2024, 5.6% of primary school pupils and 1.2% of secondary school pupils cycled to school.

Cycling as main mode of travel

In 2024, cycling was the main mode of travel for 1.3% of journeys people reported they made the previous day.

Total amount of cycling

383 million kilometres were cycled on all roads by pedal cycles in 2024. 

Access to bikes

In 2024, 33.6% of households in Scotland had access to one or more bikes for private use and 41% were aware of cycle hire schemes. 

Households with no access to private car

In 2024, 27.4% of households in Scotland did not have access to a car for private use. 

Reasons for cycling to work

In 2024, 66% of people said that ‘good exercise/fresh air’ is a reason they cycle to work. 'Too far to cycle' continued to be the most common reason given for not cycling to work in 2024.

Cycling - under 2 miles and 5 miles

In 2024, 1.3% of journeys under 2 miles and 1.4% of journeys under 5 miles were made by bike. 

Distance travelled across all types of transport

In 2024, 54.1%  journeys recorded the previous day across all types of transport were under 5km.