Children’s cycling spans everyday travel, recreation, school journeys and safety. The figures below focus mainly on UK children aged 6–15 in May 2024, with separate United States, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Australia or Canada evidence where the geography and population are stated.
Key Children’s Cycling Statistics
The most quotable figures are:
- 444 million annual cycling trips were estimated for UK children aged 6–15 in the 2024 report’s annualized estimate.
- 14% of children’s trips were cycling trips in the UK survey week in May 2024 among children aged 6–15.
- 28% of boys and 17% of girls cycled at least five times in the previous week in the UK May 2024 survey.
- 28% of children aged 6–7 and 28% aged 14–15 cycled at least five times in the previous week in the UK May 2024 survey.
- 175.0 million annual trips, or 39% of the total, were for the park, playground or fun in the UK annualized estimate.
- 119.3 million annual trips, or 27% of the total, were cycling trips to or from school for UK children aged 6–15.
- 41% of children’s trips were walking, wheeling or scooting, 14% cycling, 12% public transport and 33% car or van in the UK May 2024 survey week.
- 10% of primary-school trips and 11% of secondary-school trips were cycling trips in the UK May 2024 survey week.
- 80% of UK children aged 6–15 supported cycle training for all children in May 2024.
- 81% supported more traffic-free paths and quiet routes for walking and cycling in the UK May 2024 survey.
- 78% supported cycle paths separated from cars in the UK May 2024 survey.
- 596,972 bicycle-related traumatic-brain-injury emergency-department visits were estimated in the United States during 2009–2018 across all ages.
- The bicycle-related TBI emergency-department rate for US children aged 17 or younger fell 48.7% during 2009–2018.
- US children aged 10–14 had a TBI emergency-department rate of 44.6 per 100,000 during 2009–2018, compared with 15.3 for ages 0–4.
- 63.8% of Wisconsin pedal-cycle injury visits among children under 6 involved a primary head or neck diagnosis during 2002–2004.
- Brain injury was recorded in 28.1% of unhelmeted versus 13.8% of helmeted head-injury cases in the Olmsted County study during 2002–2011.
- 20 School Streets served more than 7,000 children and carers in a Birmingham case study in 2024.
Contents
- Key Children’s Cycling Statistics
- Children’s Cycling Statistics: Participation, Frequency and Annual Cycling Trips
- Children’s Cycling Data by Purpose, Age, Gender and Background
- Children’s Cycling Statistics for School Travel and Everyday Mobility
- Children’s Cycling Safety Statistics: Injuries, Head Trauma and Trends
- Children’s Bicycle Helmet Statistics and Injury Prevention Evidence
- Children’s Cycling Infrastructure Statistics and What Children Want
Children’s Cycling Statistics: Participation, Frequency and Annual Cycling Trips
The Sustrans Children’s Walking and Cycling Index – UK report 2024 is based on an independent YouGov survey of 1,089 UK children aged 6–15 conducted in May 2024. Its percentages are survey measures, while its annual trip totals are annualized estimates rather than directly counted national trips.
- The UK child population aged 6–15 was 8,149,302 in the 2023 mid-year estimate.
- Children made an estimated 444 million cycling trips per year in the report’s 2024 annualized estimate.
- Cycling represented 14% of all trips made by children in the previous week.
- 17% of girls and 28% of boys cycled at least five times in the previous week.
- 18% of disabled children and 22% of non-disabled children cycled at least five times in the previous week.
- 21% of children in socioeconomic group ABC1 and 28% in C2DE cycled at least five times in the previous week.
The age pattern was uneven rather than a simple upward or downward progression.
| Age group | Cycled at least five times in previous week | Geography and period |
|---|---|---|
| 6–7 | 28% | UK, May 2024 survey week |
| 8–9 | 14% | UK, May 2024 survey week |
| 10–11 | 24% | UK, May 2024 survey week |
| 12–13 | 20% | UK, May 2024 survey week |
| 14–15 | 28% | UK, May 2024 survey week |
Source: Children’s Walking and Cycling Index – UK report 2024. These are proportions cycling at least five times, not all cycling participation.
For cycling to or from school, 73% reported zero trips in the previous week, 15% reported 1–4, 5% reported 5–9 and 1% reported 10–14; 6% answered “don’t know.” For cycling to the park, playground or for fun, the corresponding figures were 59%, 32%, 4% and 0%, with 5% answering “don’t know.”
For cycling to see friends, family or other places, 62% reported zero trips, 29% reported 1–4, 3% reported 5–9 and 0% reported 10–14, while 7% answered “don’t know.” These frequency bands are purpose-specific and use the report’s definitions.
Children’s Cycling Data by Purpose, Age, Gender and Background
The annualized UK estimate divides children’s cycling into three broad purposes. The categories are useful for understanding where cycling occurs, but they should not be treated as directly observed trip counts.
| Purpose | Annualized trips | Share of annualized total |
|---|---|---|
| Park, playground or fun | 175.0 million | 39% |
| To or from school | 119.3 million | 27% |
| Friends, family or places such as shops, cafés or doctors | 149.7 million | 34% |
Source: Children’s Walking and Cycling Index – UK report 2024. The totals are annualized survey estimates and the purpose groupings are report-specific.
Background measures also varied:
- 31% of children from ethnic minority groups and 20% of white children cycled at least five times in the previous week in the May 2024 UK survey.
- 66% of girls and 72% of boys thought their local area was a good place to cycle in May 2024; this is a perception measure, not an infrastructure or collision rate.
- 8% of girls and 17% of boys saw themselves as someone who often cycles in May 2024, a self-identification measure distinct from trip frequency.
- 61% agreed that their neighbourhood had everything they needed, compared with 63% for ABC1 and 57% for C2DE children.
Children’s Cycling Statistics for School Travel and Everyday Mobility
Cycling was one part of a wider travel mix in the UK May 2024 survey week. Across all trips among children aged 6–15, walking, wheeling or scooting accounted for 41%, cycling 14%, public transport 12% and car or van 33%.
School-level mode shares differed by age group:
| School-trip population | Walking/wheeling/scooting | Cycling | Public transport | Car or van |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary-school children | 43% | 10% | 7% | 40% |
| Secondary-school children | 43% | 11% | 19% | 27% |
Source: Children’s Walking and Cycling Index – UK report 2024. These are shares of trips in the previous week, not journeys per child.
Among primary-school children, 36% travelled by walking, wheeling or scooting at least five times in the previous week, 6% cycled that often, 29% used a car or van that often and 3% used public transport that often.
Gender-specific secondary-school mode shares show a similar cycling gap: girls’ shares were 43% walking, wheeling or scooting, 9% cycling, 20% public transport and 28% car or van; boys’ shares were 41%, 13%, 18% and 27%, respectively.
Support for practical measures was high in the same survey. 80% supported cycle training for all children, while 5% opposed it; 66% supported closing streets outside schools to cars at drop-off and pick-up, while 11% opposed it.
Children’s Cycling Safety Statistics: Injuries, Head Trauma and Trends
The CDC estimated 596,972 bicycle-related traumatic-brain-injury emergency-department visits in the United States during 2009–2018 across all ages. The national TBI ED-visit rate fell 27.7%, from 18.8 to 13.6 per 100,000 population between 2009 and 2018.
Among US children aged 17 or younger, the bicycle-related TBI ED-visit rate decreased 48.7% during 2009–2018 and averaged 32.7 per 100,000 population. The CDC cautioned that changing cycling prevalence and care-seeking may contribute, and the figures do not measure cycling exposure.
| US population or age group | Bicycle-related TBI ED rate, 2009–2018 |
|---|---|
| Ages 10–14 | 44.6 per 100,000 |
| Ages 0–4 | 15.3 per 100,000 |
| Males, all ages | 28.8 per 100,000 |
| Females, all ages | 9.2 per 100,000 |
Source: CDC, Emergency Department Visits for Bicycle-Related Traumatic Brain Injuries Among Children and Adults — United States, 2009–2018. These are population rates, not rider-specific risks.
In Wisconsin, 2,046 pedal-cycle injury ED visits were recorded among children younger than 6 during 2002–2004, a rate of 16.7 per 10,000 population annually. The coding included passengers, tricycles and pedal cars, making this broader than conventional bicycle riding.
Head or neck injury was the primary diagnosis in 63.8% of those visits, traumatic brain injury in 3.6%, and boys accounted for 69.6% compared with 30.4% for girls. There were 48 hospitalizations, including 17 for head and neck injuries, and no deaths in this Wisconsin population and period.
Source: CDC, Pedal-Cycle Injuries Among Children Aged <6 Years — Wisconsin, 2002–2004.
A population-based Olmsted County, Minnesota study of ages 5–18 during 2002–2011 found age-adjusted bicycle injury incidence of 278 per 100,000 person-years for females and 589 for males. Head-injury incidence was 104 for females and 255 for males, while brain-injury incidence was 20 and 50, respectively.
Children’s Bicycle Helmet Statistics and Injury Prevention Evidence
Helmet evidence needs careful interpretation because the Olmsted County figures come from medical-record documentation, not a randomized comparison. Of 1,189 bicycle-related injuries, 15.5% documented helmet use, 32.2% documented no helmet and 52.3% had no helmet documentation.
Among 500 patients with head injuries, 17.4% were documented helmeted, 44.8% unhelmeted and 37.8% had no documentation. Among patients without head injuries, the figures were 14.1%, 23.1% and 62.8%, respectively.
The study also reported that unhelmeted head-injury patients underwent head imaging at 32.1%, compared with 11.5% among helmeted patients. Brain injury was recorded in 28.1% of unhelmeted patients versus 13.8% of helmeted patients, but the observational design, incomplete documentation and possible confounding limit causal interpretation.
The UK government’s rapid evidence assessment summarized heterogeneous legislation and intervention studies rather than one pooled causal estimate:
- An evidence review reported a 7.5% decrease in cyclist head-injury admissions during the 18 months after Australian helmet legislation; the reported significance was p<0.005, and the cited passage was not child-specific.
- A Canadian study summarized in the assessment found a 7.8-percentage-point reduction in bicycle-collision injuries among male children under 15, with an odds ratio of 0.68; it reported no significant effect for female children under 15.
- A Canadian interrupted-time-series study with 66,716 observations detected no effect of mandatory under-18 helmet legislation on cycling-related head-injury hospital admissions; no detected effect is not proof of no effect.
Sources: Pediatric bicycle-related head injuries: a population-based study in a county without a helmet law and Cycling and walking safety: a rapid evidence assessment of the latest research evidence.
Children’s Cycling Infrastructure Statistics and What Children Want
The UK survey measured children’s preferences alongside travel behavior. 81% supported more traffic-free paths and quiet routes, 78% supported cycle paths along roads separated from cars, and 77% supported reducing cycle prices; the corresponding opposition figures were 3%, 4% and 2%.
Primary-school children were especially supportive of separated and traffic-free infrastructure: 77% supported more cycle paths separated from cars, with 4% opposed, while 82% supported more traffic-free paths and quiet routes, with 2% opposed. Among secondary-school children, 65% supported closing streets outside schools to cars and 12% opposed.
In Birmingham, 20 School Streets served more than 7,000 children and carers at school arrival and departure times in a 2024 case study. This is a case-study reach figure, not an evaluation of cycling participation or injury change.
The Bikeability programme aimed to train 80% of eligible Year 5 and 6 pupils to Level 2 by 2025 in England. That figure is a policy target, not a reported attainment result.
Source: Children’s Walking and Cycling Index – UK report 2024. Survey support measures attitudes, while the Birmingham and Bikeability figures have their separate case-study and forecast limitations.