Harwell Bicycle Users Group
Email survey of cycle use
November/December 2000
Background
Harwell BUG conducted an email survey in November and December 2000. The aim was to collect information on the behaviour and views of existing cycle commuters, so only those who had cycled to work in the last year were asked to complete the survey. The questionnaire was distributed by email to the HarBUG email list, which currently has 94 members. The questionnaire was also forwarded to other cyclists not on the HarBUG list and was also posted on the RAL and AEAT staff bulletin boards. There were 91 responses to the survey.
Clearly the survey will have excluded any cyclists not on email and will not have reached all of the cyclists that do. This makes it impossible to scale the results up to estimate the total numbers of commuter cyclists on all the sites. It does however enable us to guess at the minimum numbers of cyclists and the sample is large enough to provide a reasonable breakdown of where they are coming from and by which routes.
Results
All the responses have been put into
a spreadsheet for analysis, including most comments. A summary of the main
conclusions is given below.
1. How often people cycle in the winter
The respondents were asked "In the last month, on how many days did you cycle to work?" The aim of this question was to assess how often people cycled to work in the winter. It should be noted that the weather in November and December 2000 had been particularly off-putting for cyclists, with abnormally high rainfall and high winds.
Despite the weather, 59 said they had cycled to work once in the last month, 47 on at least 5 days (i.e more than once a week) and 25 cycled on more than 15 days. For comparison, 29 respondents separately stated that they usually cycled to work every day.
From the total number of trips made by all respondents in one month, it can be estimated that the 91 cyclists participating in the survey, more than 30 are cycling to or from work on any given day in the winter.
2. How often people cycle in the summer
The respondents were also asked :" Last summer, on how many days per month did you cycle?" This is intended to assess maximum cycling levels when the weather is at its best.
All 91 respondents cycled at least once per month in the summer, 84 on at least 5 days per month and 50 cycled on more than 15 days per month.
From the total number of trips made by all respondents in one month, it can be estimated that the 91 cyclists participating in the survey, more than 60 are cycling to or from work on any given day in the summer. This suggests that the respondents are twice as likely to cycle in the summer as in the winter.
3. Journey length
Respondents were asked to state their journey time. The average journey time was 35 minutes, though 11 respondents (12%) cycled for an hour or more.
4. Site
Respondents were asked to state which
building and site they worked at. The main sites were:
| Site | Number of Cyclists |
| RAL | 48 |
| Harwell | 34 |
| NRPB | 5 |
| Nirex | 4 |
5. Journey origin and route
Respondents were asked to state where
they cycle from and to provide details of their route. The main origins
were:
| Journey origin | Number of cyclists |
| Didcot | 21 |
| Didcot Parkway station | 4 |
| Wantage | 10 |
| Grove | 6 |
| Abingdon | 13 |
| Oxford | 8 |
| Harwell Village | 8 |
| Other | 19 |
| Key Routes | Total Users | Different return route |
| Winnaway | 28 | 4 via Rowstock, 2 via Hagbourne Hill |
| Steventon, Rowstock | 23 | |
| Upton Line | 5 | 1 via Winnaway |
| Ginge and Aldfield farm | 9 | |
| Ginge and bridleway south of RAL | 5 | |
| NCN5 | 3 | 2 via Steventon |
6. Routes into site
Respondents were asked how they entered
the site, specifying which road, gate and whether any off-road paths are
used.
| Entrances to site |
Cyclists
|
|
| Curie Avenue |
22
|
|
| Fermi Avenue |
41
|
|
| (Stated they do use Fermi cycle path) |
11
|
|
| (Stated they don’t use Fermi cycle path) |
5
|
|
| Aldfield Farm |
14
|
|
| Bridleway south of RAL |
7
|
|
Some (16) respondents specifically stated whether they use the Fermi Avenue cycle path, however as the questionnaire did not ask this explicitly we can not be sure what the remaining 35 do).
7. What would make your journey safer?
Respondents were asked what improvements
would make their journey safer. A number of different responses were given,
which are summarised below. The full responses are listed in the spreadsheet.
| Summarised improvement | Number of respondents that mention it |
| Safe crossing places on A4185 outside site | 25 |
| Improved surfaces on off-road routes | 25 |
| Improved road surfaces | 11 |
| Cycle friendly roundabouts | 10 |
| Driver behaviour | 9 |
| Lighting | 10 |
| Improvements to Fermi Avenue cycle path | 5 |
| New off road routes | 9 |
| Speed limits, enforcement | 13 |
| Cycle lanes | 12 |
8. What would make your journey quicker or more convenient?
Respondents were asked what improvements
would make their journey quicker or more convenient. A number of different
responses were given, which are summarised below. The full responses are
listed in the spreadsheet.
| Summarised improvement | Number of respondents that mention it |
| Upgraded off-road routes | 32 |
| Fermi Avenue | 5 |
| Back gate into RAL | 7 |
| Crossing A4185 | 5 |
| Cycle lanes | 3 |
| Milton Interchange | 3 |
| More segregated cycle routes | 3 |
9. On site, please list any facilities
that would make it easier to cycle to work:
| Facilities | Mentioned by |
| Showers |
40
|
| Improved cycle parking/racks |
16
|
| Storage/lockers |
15
|
| On site roads/cycle paths |
5
|
10. Would you like to cycle to work
more often (assuming improvements could be made)?
| I already cycle in most days | 29 |
| Yes | 47 |
| No | 14 |
11. Other comments
33 of the respondents provided additional comments. These are not analysed in this report, but can be read on the spreadsheet.
Conclusions
For further information please contact Marcus Jones marcus.jones@aeat.co.uk 01235 433519