It’s time provision for cyclists on our roads moved up a gear

Bike sales are down a quarter on pre-pandemic levels and, after an initial flurry, sales of electric bikes are stalling too.

Experts warn the UK is at risk of being left behind Europe in terms of cycling growth. They say more needs to be done to improve infrastructure and secure parking to boost our interest in cycling.

Councils across Scotland are making genuine efforts to make our cities more bike-friendly, but I can’t help thinking it’s too little too late. Workmen have been busy building a tiny section of bike path up the road from

me over the past few weeks, but it’s not connected to any other cycle lanes and bikes would have to pull out into the traffic after just a couple of seconds. It looks like a token gesture.

I don’t mean to keep banging on about how things are done so much better in Europe, but just look what they achieved in Amsterdam.

In the 1950s and 60s residents of Dutch cities became so appalled at the growing number of people, including hundreds of children, being killed in traffic accidents that they literally took to the streets to protest and demand change.

People were arrested during noisy demonstrations, and eventually the politicians listened. Now a quarter of all journeys in the Netherlands are by bike, compared to 2% in the UK. I’m not suggesting an angry revolution is what needed here, but I’m not sure polite protest is making much difference.