Lockdown has helped create a of cyclists – but the challenge is

Since lockdown began, cities across the country have seen a phenomenal rise in the number of cyclists on the streets and improvements in air quality. But as lockdown restrictions continue to ease, are our cities planning far enough ahead to keep people on

Colin Murray has never seen his Dundee cycling shop so busy.

Nicholson’s Cycles has never not known steady business but since Covid-19 arrived bicycles have almost wheeled themselves out the door of the Forfar Road shop due to unprecedented demand.

“From day one bike sales have just gone through the roof,” he said.

“We’ve no mountain bikes, no hybrids, very little road bikes. It’s a nice problem to have in a business sense but the suppliers have literally obliterated all their stocks across the country.”

The data backs up the sentiment: Three months after the nation’s nonessential workers set up at home, car journeys across Scotland have fallen by 800% while bus firms have slashed their timetables due to low demand.

With roads so invitingly quiet, the pavement-pounders and pedal-pushers have come out to play.

Average levels of cycling have risen by 80% across Scotland, and walking by around 50%, according to data published by Transport Scotland, surpassing even pre-lockdown levels of physical activity.

Car journeys have fallen by 250 to 300% compared to early March, while bus travel is down nearly 700%.

Alongside the nicer weather throughout April and May, Colin believes quieter roads have played a key role in getting people out and about.

“It’s not kids bikes we’re selling, either. It’s all adult bikes, 95% of the time, I would say.

“People are commenting on the quieter roads, saying they’re great. There are some roads in Dundee you wouldn’t have gone down before for love nor money.”

Cycling counters installed on key Tayside routes by Cycling Scotland have recorded a noticeable dip in weekly activity at the start of March as cases were reported and record-breaking levels of pedestrians and cyclists from the end of the month onwards.

Air quality has also improved on the streets of the city, some of which are among Scotland’s most polluted.

In the city centre’s Seagate, the level of nitrogen dioxide pollutant in the air has fallen from a daily average of 65.7 microgrammes per cubic metre on March 5 to 3.2 on May 10 – a fall of 95%.

On Lochee Road, which regularly breaches European safety limits for NO2 exposure, levels of the gas have fallen from a peak of 77.8 mgm-3 in February to 3.6 mgm-3 in May – a similar 95% fall.

However, as lockdown measures are eased and Scotland moves from Phase One into Phase Two – allowing limited car travel – there are concerns that an opportunity to reshape local transport is being lost, with negative consequences for public health.

In April, sustainable transport charity Sustrans and the Scottish Government announced the creation of the Spaces for People fund to give councils cash to create additional space for socially distanced walking and cycling.

Advocates for sustainable transport say councils could use the eight-figure pot to lay the foundations of the future of transport in our cities.

In Perth and Kinross, which has secured £1.1 million, traffic lights are being changed to automatically detect pedestrians waiting to cross, and temporary cycle lanes are being created, in recognition of reduced car use.

Aberdeen has been given £1.76m to pedestrianise 300 metres of Union Street and ban private cars from it altogether, while Edinburgh and Glasgow have each secured six-figure sums to give more space to walkers and cyclists.

However, in Dundee – where less than half of the city has access to a car – just £470,000 has been secured to temporarily close Union Street to motorised traffic as well as streets in Broughty Ferry, one of the city’s most affluent areas.

Dundee City Council says it has prioritised areas which already have high levels of bike ownership but the Dundee Cycling Forum – created by the council to be the voice of cyclists in the city – has launched a petition calling on the authority to take greater advantage of the Spaces for People fund.

In its detailed proposal, which has 1,000 signatures to date, the forum calls for the council to create a “temporary, city-wide cycling network” which does not leave out areas of the city with low levels of bike use. The council says it is waiting until its current projects are finished before applying for more funding.

To locals like Colin Murray, the

“Councils have a prime opportunity to get this right and do something big to keep people cycling.

COLIN MURRAY

lockdown is a chance to reshape how Dundee gets about.

“Councils here and everywhere have a prime opportunity to get this right and do something big to keep people cycling.

“One of the biggest factors we hear about from people is the safety aspect – they don’t feel safe and there’s no safe lanes or pathways for them to use.

“I really hope councils do take the funding available on board.

“There are loads of cities down south – Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, London – where the local authorities are just getting on with it and cutting out areas where there’s no traffic for cycling. I really hope something like that happens.”

● For more on this issue in coming days, visit thecourier.co.uk where there is also a survey canvassing opinions on cycling where you live.