IN THE biggest survey ever conducted on attitudes to cycling in the UK, over 75% of people surveyed in Greater Manchester wanted local and central Government to invest in more in cycling in their area.
The message from the public couldn’t be clearer: people want to cycle but we need to make it feel safe for them
The independent research was commissioned by the charity Sustrans and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) as part of the Bike Life report, which tracked the travel habits and opinions of seven leading cities across Britain.
Researchers conducted random telephone interviews with 11000 people in Greater Manchester, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Newcastle.
The 4500 questioned in Greater Manchester wanted an average cycling spend of £25 annually per head which, despite being £1 less than the national average, would nevertheless be a considerable leap from current levels of investment in England; with around £4 per person, out of £300 per person spent on transport.
Nearly eight out of ten people who cycle in Manchester said cycle safety needs to be better. Only 55% of people feel secure enough riding a bike in the day, compared to 90% who feel safe walking or 85% driving a car.
Around 72% of those living in Greater Manchester think that increasing the number of journeys by bike would improve residents’ health and the environment, whilst 67% believe that more cycling would make their area a better place to live. While 48% of people in Greater Manchester have at least one adult bicycle at home, only 3% use it for regular travel.
Sustrans promotes cycling across the UKRosslyn Colderley, North West Regional Director for Sustrans, said: “The message from the public couldn’t be clearer: people want to cycle but we need to make it feel safe for them. People want the government to spend more, and say that they would cycle more if it were safer.
Now government must close this gap between current spending and public demand. Physical inactivity, congestion and declining air quality cost our economy billions. Government must act to secure a greater share of current transport investment for cycling and walking. The Spending Review in November and the local elections next May are perfect opportunities to do just that. Government must ensure the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy is ambitious and guarantees long-term funding for active travel”.
Transport for Greater Manchester will invest more than £40m by 2018 in cycling infrastructure, including high quality segregated cycleways and cycle facilities at workplaces, schools, social housing sites and stations.
Councillor Jim McMahon, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) Transport Lead, said: “It’s clear from the Bike Life survey results that people in Greater Manchester support the vision to make cycling an attractive, convenient and safe travel choice for everyone, regardless of age or ability. The Survey gives an extremely valuable insight into the attitudes of residents towards cycling across the region and at a district level, allowing progress to be measured towards making Greater Manchester a great place for people to get around by bike.
“There is much more work to do, and further Government investment would of course be welcome. The survey results will help shape future plans to make Greater Manchester one of the best places to cycle in the UK and to reach the target of 10% of all trips being made by bike by 2025”.
The report is inspired by the Copenhagen Bicycle Account, which helped make Denmark’s capital one of the world’s most bike-friendly cities. Copenhagen uses these biennial surveys as part of its planning process to identify areas where cycle lanes are most in demand. It is hoped that the same can be achieved with the Bike Life Survey.Copenhagen has produced the reports since 1996, which helped planners remove barriers to cycling. As a result, 45% of journeys to work, school, college and university are now made by bike. The city was recently voted as the happiest in the world and a third of its residents feel safe enough to travel by bicycle for everyday journeys.
Sustrans believes that UK cities have the potential to do the same. The charity worked with local councils to gather views from the public about cycling in the cities and find out what would encourage more people to try two-wheeled travel. Thanks to financial backing from The Freshfield Foundation, the report on habits and opinions in each of the seven cities has now been released to inform future investment into cycling in the cities, and will be followed up with a second report in 2017.
See the full report at www.sustrans.org.uk/bikelife
