Cycling has long been a popular and affordable way of traversing the city and commuting to work. But over the past decade or so there has been a very positive shift in mindset regarding the virtues of this mode of transport, especially with the onset of the Coronavirus crisis. But will this change in mood amount to any significant shift towards London becoming a cycling city in the mould of Amsterdam as both the Mayor and Prime Minister suggest they envision it becoming? If it wishes to do so, which criteria do decision makers need to consider the most important to observe in achieving these goals?
Let the following instalment of our Walulel blog help to answer these questions and more, and explain what benefits we could see if our WaInsight criteria are enacted by decision makers and the public.
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In 1934, Londoners were granted their first separated lane specifically dedicated to cycling. At 2.5 miles long and 2.5m wide, the pioneering pathway connected the west London thoroughfares of Hangar Lane and Greenford Road. Though some opposed the cycle lane on the grounds that it ran counter to a cyclist’s democratic right to the highway, even going so far as to send angry representatives to the Ministry of Transport, most found the lane a great positive.
By 1938 there was an impressive 120 miles of segregated cycle routes across the UK, a distance that dramatically increased over the years – our own WaInsight Cyclability metric data tells us that in 2019 there were some 135 miles of totally segregated lanes in London alone, and Open Cycle Map suggests there are many hundreds of miles of unsegregated local cycleways. The actual length of all bike paths, including those painted onto existing roads or roads recently shut off from car traffic, changes day on day as local borough authorities extend or alter their self-managed routes.
Other forms of infrastructure have also improved in recent history with cycle-hire schemes such as the Barclays/Santander bike, introduced in 2010. Colloquially known as the ‘Boris Bike’, the cycles now accommodate around 11,000,000 trips per year! In 2016, about 700,000 Londoners cycled per day, with many finding their journey quicker than public transport or driving. Campaigns such as ‘Go Dutch’ and ‘mini-Hollands’, looking to recreate the cycling environment common in the Netherlands, sought to further entrench a bike-centric mindset amongst the UK’s population.
Evidently the benefits of cycling and bike-friendly cities are widely known, and the positive impacts it has on physical and mental health of both riders and pedestrians, carbon emissions, congestion and money saving are being taken on board – things are certainly moving in the right direction if a bike-friendly London is what you’re after.
Though this process it not proving to be as fast as some would like. While there’s been a significant increase compared to the previous decades, growth has slowed down in recent years. As the built environment of London reaches back to infrastructure built for horse-drawn carriages hundreds of years ago, it can be difficult in some places to find space to create cycle routes when there is already barely enough room for pedestrians and motorists.
Many still find cycling in the capital a daunting prospect too despite understanding the obvious perks, and while 700,000 trips may seem like a lot, it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the millions that are undertaken daily, especially when cities like Colombia’s less populated capital Bogotá can absorb 800,000 rides over the same period.
But the Covid-19 crisis has given cycling and, as a knock on, cycling infrastructure, a significant boost, not only in the physical numbers of people taking to their bikes, but in the way decision makers and the public are thinking about cycling’s role in the urban ecology.
In May 2020 London saw a 119% increase in cycling trips on the same month the previous year, according to the now extremely popular cycling app Strava. Roads like Park Lane, usually heavy with car traffic, were host to over 300% more riders.
Those who have turned to cycling from public transport during the pandemic have done so for a number of reasons. The obvious being that it allows for easy social distancing compared to other forms of transport; the individual separated from others by the long footprint of the bike, while also being outdoors and avoiding the enclosed spaces of tubes and buses.
Others have suggested that it is due to a drop in the amount of motor vehicles on the roads. This is evidenced by the fact that as traffic has returned, in some places to 80% of pre-pandemic levels, numbers of cyclists have started to fall away, though not by much. This may also have something to do with traffic return somewhat coinciding with the fall in temperature. Yet even a small drop-off from the numbers only a few months back have got city leaders thinking of ways that could, if properly implemented, dramatically improve the experience of the UK’s cyclists and perhaps return biking levels to their Spring peak.
Temporary cycling lanes have popped up all across the country, spurred by Boris Johnson’s announcement that making public transport Covid-safe in the government’s push to return people to work, would lead to ‘a new golden age for cycling’. Sadiq Khan’s Streetspace programme also fast-tracked pathways, apparently sufficient enough to accommodate a ‘possible ten-fold increase’ in the distance cycled throughout the capital. These bold claims have yet to materialise but there are certainly positive moves.
In a surprising shift from the years previous, these changes have found broad agreement amongst the public. The Centre for London found that 64% of the population supported the increasing of cycle provisions during the pandemic, and 57% wanted to keep these changes permanently.
More than ever then, the ‘cyclability’ of one’s current or prospective locality is becoming a major concern for city dwellers.
Walulel provides this key information to all those who need it. Our metric determines cyclability as an aggregate of the qualities that we have determined constitute an enjoyable, safe and convenient experience: topography, road connectivity, the provision of dedicated cycle infrastructure, the level of road traffic and the type of the cycling path, (i.e. such as a cycle superhighway as compared to a dual carriageway).
Using these fixed criteria we have the ability to pinpoint both areas that are well-equipped in their cycling infrastructure – suitable for those who are already keen cyclists – and areas that need to improve their provision if they are to become popular with cyclists at a time where the ability to take to one’s bike is a priority.
Though as we (hopefully) move towards the final phase of the pandemic, there will be much more to maintaining an enticing environment for cyclists than just social distancing and wider lanes, and therefore taking on board our criteria will be insightful for all Londoners.
While 46% of those polled for the Centre for London say they will be more inclined to walk or cycle even post-Covid, public transport use will increase as fears over social distancing become less of a concern and general desire to move around town increases, but cars will probably remain a popular alternative if infrastructure remains in place to accommodate them on a mass scale. Many poorer areas are also positioned alongside busy thoroughfares and so traffic levels are higher making cycling less appealing. As the Streetspace programme mentions, restrictions on car traffic in certain areas is an imperative for maintaining the public’s interest in cycling.
Many also think that cycling just isn’t for them. Rather it has an association with ‘admirable Lycra-wearers’ and ‘enviable east Londoners on their fixed-gear bikes’, in the words of the Mayor of London’s 2013 Vision for Cycling in London. This is in part due to the fact that it’s the wealthier areas of the city that tend to receive extensions in their bicycle infrastructure, even when they are better equipped than many around them.
The cost of bikes can also be off-putting, with cycle-to-work schemes generally accessible only to those in white collar professions. Many choose not to purchase one in fear that it will be stolen, a crime that is only perpetuated because of the lack of affordable and accessible cycles. Knowing the areas where bike provision, and as such cycling infrastructure, is low can also lead to positive change in crime prevention.
In the end, localities that cannot easily access traffic-free lanes or cycles themselves can become isolated, and a wedge driven between them and their neighbours who can.
Understanding this information and applying it at all levels from the personal cyclist through the renter, the shop owner, all the way to government decision makers, is ultimately important to all who operate within the city space. This is not just because of the obvious health and environmental benefits, but also because cycling can be far more transformative for urban areas than many initially think.
Knowing how well-suited an area is for cyclists is beneficial to a commercial inhabitant for example, as a strong body of evidence proves that cyclists visit local shops more regularly, spending more than users of most other modes of transport. Therefore, for a shop owner reliant on passing traffic, being located in a cyclable area is likely to elicit improved local consumer spending levels.
Cyclists have the benefit of being able to stop pretty much anywhere they please, as opposed to motorists who have to find a parking spot. This means they are more likely to invest both financially and emotionally in local communities. Research shows that per square metre, cycle parking delivers 5 times higher retail spend than the same area of car parking. Furthermore, a compact town optimised for walking and cycling can have a ‘retail density’ (spend per square metre) 2.5 times higher than a typical urban centre.
Cycling safely and without worry from outside factors can help people truly appreciate their environment, observing the built world around them and discovering areas that are missed from the top deck of a bus, dark tube tunnels or the back of a cab. Urban problems can be ignored from these sheltered positions but when cities are made accessible for bikes, cyclists and other street-level travellers receive a key insight into how things function and what would make the local environment more liveable.
So, it is not only the cyclist that is advantaged by such provisions, but everyone. In the end, being able to accurately tell where and how cities and their residents can benefit from cycling infrastructure is an exercise in understanding the needs of the city as a whole.
Visit our website for more info!
Images
A historical cycle lane in Twickenham, south west London, Carlton Reid
Walthamstow’s Mini-Holland Cycleway, Evening Standard
Walulel’s WaInsight Cyclability Heatmap, showing a map of the best- and worst-connected areas for cycling infrastructure in London