What happened to the 'golden age' of cycling in the UK?
Adam Beckett
Editor of Cycling Weekly, Adam brings his weekly opinion on what's happening at the top echelons of our sport. This article is part of The Leadout, a newsletter series from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To receive this in your inbox, subscribe here. As always, email [email protected] – if you would like to add anything or suggest a topic.
At the height of the Covid pandemic, in May 2020, Boris Johnson stood up in the House of Commons and promised to usher in a “new golden age for cycling”. The then Prime Minister then launched a “cycling and walking revolution” in July, with a £2 billion investment earmarked for thousands of miles of cycle paths, cycling lessons for children and adults and projects to strengthen the highway code to protect children. cyclists and pedestrians.
Four years later, it is difficult to know what has really changed. Last week, the Department for Transport's (DfT) National Travel Survey revealed that the average number of cycle trips per person per year did not increase from 2019 to 2023, and that kilometers per person and per year had also stagnated, falling from 54 in 2019 to 53 years for the year ending June 2023.
The golden age never arrived. During the pandemic, councils provided emergency cycle lanes, roads were quiet and people cycled to avoid crowds on public transport and benefit from lighter traffic.
Today, even though data shows they could be slightly quieter, the roads seem busier than ever. Cars are bigger (widening on average by an inch every two years) and the roads themselves are in worse shape than ever. It's no wonder people didn't automatically gravitate towards two wheels.
The time was right to reorganize roads and lifestyles – and understand the health, economic and environmental benefits of active travel – but we have returned to a private car-centric way of life, due to a government too focused on active travel. on the drivers.
Improvements have been seen in some cities, such as London, by actually promoting active travel and cycling infrastructure. These cities should serve as an example to others; but for many of us in this country, active travel seems like an afterthought.
Improvements have been made to the Highway Code to make it more useful to cyclists and walkers, but in my personal experience there have been very few concrete changes. Drivers are no longer considerate and overtaking seems tight rigor on certain roads. This is not the promised revolution.
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Last summer, legal action was launched against the UK government, following plans to cut active travel funding. Transport Secretary Mark Harper revealed in March 2023 that there would be a 50% cut in funding for cycling and walking in England, demonstrating the Conservative government's lack of interest in active travel.
Cycling infrastructure is still seen as something that can just be painted on a road, but we need something stronger than that. Cyclists are forced to share road space with everyone else, and are then mistreated, simply because they have the temerity to precariously occupy a tiny portion of this shared space.
It's no surprise that cycling as a mode of transportation isn't growing exponentially, as it could have. In March I visited Amsterdam and saw first-hand how incredible the future of cycling could be, but it seems so far from reality for us in Britain.
Cycling is positive on many different levels, I'm sure this is nothing new to readers of Weekly cycling, but it is not only good for our individual health, both physical and mental. This is good for our public health, and therefore the NHS. It's good for the environment, good for our bank balance, and it can be a lot of fun.
It is devastating that we have missed the opportunity of this 'golden age' of cycling in the UK. Perhaps with a change of government, this opportunity could soon appear again. We just need to do everything we can to ensure they take it. Keep cycling, campaign for that bike lane on a busy local road, go to cycling clubs, don't be afraid to take up space on the road and vote for candidates who support a future that includes active travel. The opportunities are there.
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