Despite a surge in media and political interest in the socio-economic and environmental values of cycling, not much is being done practically to make UK road systems more bike-friendly – particularly in towns. The transport system instead encourages us to stay in cars, creating greater levels of obesity.
In this post on the Guardian Local Government Network blog, John Whitelegg, an associate of SEI’s York Centre, asks why Britain has achieved so little in encouraging cyclists, and suggests policy measures to increase cycling levels.
Our miserable 2% overall cycling level, with its occasional manifestations of something better in places like Cambridge, York and Oxford, compares very badly indeed with the performance of a large number of mainland European cities, many of which already achieve 25% or more of all trips every day by bike.
If we really want to increase cycling levels we have to do a number of things that many of our high-profile cycling converts do not agree with, including a general system-wide default 20mph speed limit, a Swedish Vision Zero road safety policy, a huge increase in fully segregated, traffic-free cycle routes and a serious target of reaching levels of cycling that match those of Freiburg in Germany (27% of all trips every day).
Source: The Guardian, UK
John Whitelegg
Design and development by Soapbox.