Every £5,000 spent on bike lanes yields just one new cyclist

EVERY £5,000 invested in building new cycle lanes results in only one extra commuter taking their bike to work, a new study has suggested.

The Department for Transport has pledged to spend £2 billion on cycle lanes across the country over the next five years in an attempt to encourage people to ditch their cars. It is hoped that the radical programme will help cut pollution in towns and cities, while also encouraging people to get fit.

But critics claim the plans are causing chaos for motorists who are being caught up in gridlock, while many cycle lanes remain empty.

Now an academic study has attempted to quantify how successful the schemes have been in encouraging people to get on their bikes.

Researchers from the Economics and Human Biology journal estimated it was costing the Government £6,153 for each new cyclist in inner London and £4,174 in other areas. The study estimated that if current government spending on cycle schemes continued for the next 10 years there would only be a 1 per cent increase in the number of people cycling to work.

Researchers looked at census figures on cycling from 2001 and 2011 and linked them to sums invested in cycling infrastructure during the intervening period. The report also examined the cycle-lane building programme which had been welcomed by those who had taken up cycling during lockdown. Britain has one of the lowest rates in Europe of commuters cycling to work, with just 3 per cent opting for two wheels.