Big jump in cycling as car use slows down

BIKE use has increased fivefold as a share of total transport on Scottish roads over the last year as car use has fallen, according to cycle Scotland’s latest vehicle monitoring figures.

The cycling organisation’s twice-yearly survey monitors all traffic, counting how many journeys were made by cars, taxis, vans, HGVs, buses, coaches and bikes.

Cameras were positioned in 97 locations across Scotland to count vehicles over a 48-hour period in May.

A single automatic bicycle counter, on the city’s Arbroath Road, recorded an increase of 230%, the organisation said.

Cycling Scotland’s study found that 3.44% of all journeys were made by bicycles, up from 0.67% in May 2019.

Car use showed the largest fall, down from 83.26% to 78.8%, while the share of taxi journeys (0.85%) is almost three times lower than last year (2.14%).

Van and HGV traffic accounted for a combined 15.17% of all journeys, up from 11.76%, with respective increases of 2.2% and 1.21%.

Cycling Scotland’s monitoring and development officer, Natalie Cozzolino, said: “It’s encouraging to see such a dramatic increase in modal share, albeit from a low base.

“Although this is a nationwide picture and there are variations by area, this rise in cycling’s modal share is in line with the increase we’ve seen in people cycling throughout lockdown, which has been sustained to date.”

According to additional monitoring from June, the average number of people cycling each day was up by 62.75% compared with the same month last year.

Ms Cozzolino added: “Less traffic is one of the reasons more people are cycling, and to sustain this change in travel habits long term it’s essential we increase our network of dedicated, separate, inclusive cycle lanes.

“Supporting access to bikes and places to store them is also key to enabling more people to choose travel by bike.”