Cycling UK Video

22nd November 2020

Cycling UK have put together a very good video to counter the idea that bike lanes are unpopular, and to put forward the benefits of active travel infrastructure.

Rachel Aldred, Professor of Transport at the University of Westminster, explains that in the 1990s transport planners began to realise that if you create more space for driving you get more driving. Steve Melia of the University of the West of England (UWE) adds that expanding populations in cities can't be accommodated if everyone drives; there has to be provision for people to move around in other ways.

John Parkin, Professor of Transport Engineering at UWE, says that on Blackfriars Bridge in London the cycle lane moves 70% of the vehicles at rush hour. A 3.65m wide bike lane moves 3,000-5,000 cycles an hour, whereas the same width carriageway can move only 1,000 motor vehicles an hour - and those motor vehicles will create congestion at junctions.

Rachel Aldred says if you make it convenient and easy to walk and cycle, people will do it. Fiona Rajé of Manchester Metropolitan University refers to TfL evidence that people on bikes spend more money over a month - spending less on average each time, but making more visits.

Senior Cardiac Nurse Barbara Kobson says that cardiac disease is a major cause of death, and cycling can help reduce the risk. Joshua Vande Hey of the University of Leicester talks about air pollution, and says it results in 40,000 premature deaths a year. Being in a car doesn't protect you from the air pollution. Active travel can reduce pollution from transport.