Commonplace data stories: Active Travel

Are you looking to make data-driven decisions when creating your next digital engagement? At Commonplace, we have over ¾ of a million data points from over 2000 local consultations to help you do just that.

As part of our ongoing data stories, we’re giving you an introduction to the information we’ve gathered about our Active Travel Projects. So whether you’re looking to increase cycling and walking in your area, find out local views on active travel or implement a Low Traffic Neighbourhood, we’re here to help you out.

Commonplace’s Active Travel Data

We’ve been creating active travel engagements since 2020 and since then, our platform has received over 330,000 visitors and over 64,000 contributions on these projects, giving us a wide range of views on this subject. For this introduction, we’ve picked out three of the most interesting trends we’ve spied:

• Since we started running active travel projects, we've seen a shift in people's attitudes toward sustainable modes of transport. Cyclists and public transport users are more confident than ever, and we've seen a rise in the number of people willing to consider non-car options. However, the share of car users among our respondents has increased over time, highlighting the need for continued advocacy for active travel projects.
• We also saw that where people live in relation to a project had a big impact. Perhaps most intriguing is that among car users, residents are more supportive of traffic calming measures than those commuting through. This may demonstrate that for residents who are car users, there is a balance of upsides and downsides. It may take a bit longer to get around by car, but there are also benefits in improved air quality, reduced noise and greater safety.
• Age is also a huge factor.  For example, in our research about LTNs, under-25s are most positive about them, irrespective of their main mode of transport. Older people are the only group mentioning ‘public consultation’ as a factor - this correlates with relatively low civic engagement by young people.(Find out more in our upcoming report on the subject!)

And that’s just to start! Our platform enables communities to participate in decision-making processes, and we ensure that all groups are heard. We've had some fantastic Active Travel projects on our platform, including:

• https://walthamforest.commonplace.is/
• https://nationalcyclenetwork.commonplace.is/
• https://rushmoorlcwip.commonplace.is/map/rushmoor-proposed-cycle-newtwork
• And more! We're always looking for new ways to help communities create more sustainable, active spaces.

If you’d like to find out more about our active travel insights, our Commonplace data stories continue next week with a deep dive all about cycling! From public views to new cycle paths created because of public insight, you won't want to miss out…

If you're ready to make a difference in your community, book a demo with us today. We'll show you how easy it can be to create successful Active Travel projects and get everyone involved. And keep an eye out for our upcoming research paper all about public opinion on Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs). We've got some never-before-seen data that's sure to make an impact!