Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has published its latest Active Travel Annual Report. According to the research, people in Greater Manchester are walking and cycling more than ever, with over 700 million active travel trips recorded in 2025.

The total number of active travel trips in Greater Manchester – which has increased year on year since 2021 – currently accounts for around one-third (33%) of all trips by residents.

Some of reasons attributed to the increase is improvements to active travel infrastructure. For example, improved access to cycles through the Starling Bank Bike fleet helped drive a 30% increase in the number of bike rides made from January to October 2025.

The report also points to significant progress made towards the ambition of creating 100 permanent ‘School Streets’ by 2028: child-friendly environments which use traffic calming measures and signage to restrict access to vehicles on the street outside schools at drop-off and pick-up times.

And while the report reveals people’s overall feeling of encouragement to walk or cycle has dipped slightly from last year’s peak, long term trends remain positive. This is reflected by the proportion of people who agreed Greater Manchester’s transport network encouraged walking and cycling rising steadily from 31% to 43% between 2018-2021, peaking at 50% in 2024, before falling slightly to 47% in 2025.

In addition, with an ambition to ensure 50% of all journeys in Greater Manchester are made via walking, cycling and public transport by 2050, the report highlights the significant levels of future investment secured for improvements to footpaths, junctions, crossings and cycle facilities, across Greater Manchester.

Greater Manchester’s Active Travel Commissioner, Dame Sarah Storey, said:  “It’s great to see the progress being reported in the 2025 Active Travel Annual report. The goal is to enable a greater choice for people in how they make their journeys, with walking and cycling being the glue that binds all the modes of the Bee Network together.

“This is demonstrated by the fact 90% of people are walking as part of their public transport journeys, but walking is also important to the Mayoral commitment on School Streets, and progress has been made during 2025 on the ambition of having 100 permanent School Streets by 2028.

“The report highlights specific areas of focus for the upcoming year and takes stock of whether plans from previous years need to be adjusted. There is still a great deal of work needed, especially on the perceptions of safety and satisfaction of journeys, but the underlying message is that where segregated infrastructure is built for cycling, and streets are designed around the needs of pedestrians, then the numbers of people choosing to travel actively increases.”

Richard Nickson, Active Travel Network Director at TfGM, said: “Providing high-quality active travel infrastructure has been at the core of our Bee Network vision from the beginning, and with strong increases in walking and cycling on completed Bee Network routes, the way forward for Greater Manchester is clear.

“At TfGM we will continue to work closely with our Active Travel Commissioner, the Greater Manchester Mayor and the 10 local authorities to ensure we’re doing everything we can to enable people to travel actively as part of their day-to-day journeys.”

You can read the full 2025 Active Travel Report here.