Could motorbikes be the answer to avoid public transport?

During Lockdown Auto Trader ran a significant piece of consumer research – three separate surveys gathering the opinions of 3,000 people. 48% of UK public transport users said they would be less likely to use it post-lockdown and this was an even bigger concern for younger commuters, with 66% of 18-24 year olds claiming they’d be less likely to use it.

We then ran some further consumer research specifically to understand attitudes among those looking at bikes. 22% of people browsing Auto Trader Bikes said that their decision to buy a bike had been driven by government advice to avoid public transport.

Both sets of research really highlighted this concept of “transport distancing” – people no longer wanting to use a busy train or bus, and these attitudes are likely to last way beyond restrictions being lifted.

We’re therefore determined to champion bikes as an alternative to public transport, whether that be existing bikers looking for a more economical commuter bike, or new riders looking for a scooter or a moped.

The growth in audience we have seen on Auto Trader Bikes may well suggest that these shifts are already taking place. For the whole of May, users were 19% ahead and ad views were 25% ahead of those in May 2019 and the numbers get even more positive as we move into June following the re-opening of dealerships in England and Northern Ireland.

This increase in visitors to the site also seems to be translating into leads, and in April and May we delivered 58,000 email and phone leads to bike retailers whilst we weren’t charging. Since the 1st June, we’ve seen over 100,000 saved bike adverts indicating a really strong pipeline to come, and we’ve also started to see walk-in indicators pick up. Website, map and direction clicks have grown by 89% since the week following lockdown.

Over recent weeks, the increased demand we have seen has been picked up by national online and offline press titles highlighting people looking for alternatives to public transport. This press coverage has a potential reach of 149 million and we have followed it up with on-site content to support people looking for a commuter bike and email and paid search activity to ensure we’re reaching any new buyers in the market.

It seems other industries are seeing similar trends. On this week’s bike webinar, James Burrows MD of Ride To, whose leading platform provides training, help and advice for new motorcyclists, spoke about the new rider demand they are currently seeing.

“So far in June we have seen website visits to the platform grow by 2.5 times that of June 2019 and we’re also seeing the profile of new riders changing. We’ve seen twice as many commuter riders since January this year, and 40% increase in delivery riders.”

These positive numbers will hopefully mean the strength of the bike market continues not just through the traditional peak season but beyond as the buyer profile shifts and the market potentially expands.