CYCLING IN THE SLOW LANE

PEOPLE IN THE UK CYCLE FAR LESS THAN THOSE IN OTHER COUNTRIES - AND HERE’S WHY

By CHARLIE FILMER-COURT

THE UK remains significantly behind the rest of the Europe when it comes to getting people cycling.

Although more than a billion journeys were made by bicycle across England and Wales last year, an EU Commission study found that just 4% of people in the UK cycle daily, ranking it joint 24th for cycling (alongside Spain and Luxembourg) of the 28 EU member states.

Only Cyprus (2%) and Malta (1%) saw lower proportions of daily cyclists.

By contrast, 43% of people cycle every day in the Netherlands - the highest proportion in the EU.

The study also found that nearly seven in every 10 UK citizens never ride a bike.

However, a 2017 survey by the sustainable transport charity Sustrans suggests this is not because people don’t want to cycle.

The data, collected from seven major UK cities, showed that more than half of people would like to start riding their bike more often, while almost 70% felt that the quality of living in their city would be improved if more people cycled.

Safety is a large worry for those considering cycling more regularly.

Fewer than a third (30%) of respondents said they considered cycling in the UK to be safe.

And when compared to a number of other European countries, the statistics suggest that they’re right.

Figures show that cyclists in the UK are more than twice as likely to be killed as those in the Netherlands, and almost twice as likely as those in Denmark.

One reason to explain the high number of cyclists in the Netherlands as well as the low mortality rate - is the emphasis placed on cycling infrastructure.

More than a quarter of the country’s entire road network has been physically segregated from motor traffic to function as cycle paths.

Three-quarters of respondents from the Sustrans survey said they would like to see more money spent on cycling infrastructure in the UK, with 78% supporting building more protected bike lanes.

Rosslyn Colderley, from Sustrans, said: “People on bikes are sharing the road space with people in cars, lorries and buses.

“There needs to be dedicated space for cycling and walking and we need to start restricting cars and car parking in some areas.”