On 3 June, the UN celebrates World Bicycle Day, marking the impact the humble bicycle has had on society globally. To mark the occasion, we asked some of the keen cyclists in the DARe team for their thoughts on the barriers and opportunities in encouraging more active travel in the UK.
Dr Alistair Ford, Dr Matt Burke, Prof James Woodcock, and Dr Azhar Mohammed
From the ‘Draisine’ in 1817, the ‘Velocipede’ in 1860, and the famous ‘Penny Farthing’ in 1870, to the latest road, race, endurance, and electric models, the modern bicycle has wheeled a long way since its early beginnings. “The advent of the bicycle in the late 19th century transformed societies the world over”. Now, around 7 million people in the UK cycle more than once a week.
Active travel (walking, wheeling, and cycling) has an important role to play in shaping a decarbonised, adaptable, and resilient UK transport system, and every year World Bicycle Day draws attention to the benefits of using a bicycle – not just to the user, but to wider society. A simple, affordable, environmentally friendly, and reliable mode of transport, the bicycle contributes to reduced emissions, less congestion, and social accessibility. Wider co-benefits of increased cycling uptake also include better health and wellbeing outcomes, improved air quality, and reduced inequality.
However, there are still significant infrastructure, policy, behaviour, and socio-economic barriers that discourage more people from walking, wheeling, or cycling in the UK.
Dr Alistair Ford, Co-Investigator for the DARe Hub, said: “World Bicycle Day celebrates the joy of a simple yet incredibly powerful invention. The bicycle (or tricycle, quadracycle, or other adapted cycle for those with different abilities), is a revolutionary idea that enables people to travel quickly, make use of space in urban areas efficiently, and uses very little energy. A person on a bike is one of the most energy efficient forms of travel in the animal kingdom. These things are important when cycling is added to the mix of solutions for decarbonising transport, particularly in urban areas.
Switching journeys from private cars to cycling has the potential to rapidly reduce carbon emissions from transport whilst also improving health and saving people lots of money – something that is particularly important when costs of fuel are high. DARe’s agent-based modelling has shown that a combination of changes to the built environment and fiscal incentives can shift cycling mode share in an urban area like Tyne and Wear in North East England to as high as 26%.”
Dr Matt Burke, DARe post-doctoral research associate, has always been a keen cyclist: “People are encouraged to cycle as it provides many benefits, ranging from improved public health to emissions reductions. So, why is it that cycling volumes are so low in most of the UK? Most research points towards safety; people want routes segregated from vehicle traffic, and I agree. In my 20’s, I enjoyed commuting on my bike apart from where I had to share with city traffic. Now in my mid-30’s, it is the fear of my young children cycling or scooting off the pavement into traffic that worries me the most, a feeling that will resonate with all parents. What is the solution? We need be more ambitious and develop fully segregated and complete cycle networks that remove safety fears for people of all ages and abilities. I believe we will then see a significant modal shift.”
Professor James Woodcock, DARe Co-Investigator, expressed how important it is that communities are involved in planning processes, to help address barriers and concerns: “That cycling is good for people is the settled part, and it can be said quickly: regular cyclists live longer and get less heart disease and cancer, with activity built back into days that had it designed out, and it is the cheapest way there is to move a body across a city – no fuel and no fare, whilst a car may take hundreds of pounds out of a stretched household. However, what cycling runs into is not doubt about the benefit but a fear about what the benefit may signal. When low-traffic neighbourhoods are attacked as schemes for the comfortable few, the argument is not really about bollards. It is a local expression of broader grievances ranging across political, social, and economic frustrations, against the background of the climate crisis. To those who are struggling, a new cycle lane can read as a sign that they are not going to be allowed to afford a car. Or it can read that the calm, clean street is being readied for people richer than them, and that they will be priced out. A bicycle has no fixed class meaning. It takes on the rider and the setting, which is how the same lane can hold both fears at once.
That fear does, however, track something real: improve a neighbourhood and you can make it unaffordable to the people who waited longest for it. The usual answer is that schemes should be designed with communities, that the gains can be shared if only the process is good enough. When trying to encourage greater uptake of active travel, there is more we need to hear, and more we need to talk about, when we talk about the bicycle.”
“Another important question about cycling is resilience. We’ve seen during extreme weather events like heavy rainfall that cycling continues to be a mode that operates, even when flooding conditions occur. We know, however, that people respond differently during extreme heat or heavy rainfall, making different choices about how they travel and which mode they use. Urban planners and transport engineers must ensure that our active travel networks, including cycling infrastructure, are planned with extreme weather in mind, enabling all the benefits of cycling to continue to be enjoyed during future extreme weather under climate change.” ~ Dr Alistair Ford
Dr Azhar Mohammed’s research on DARe explores climate scenarios and providing more detailed and locally relevant data for decision makers. “I enjoy commuting on a bike, however when it rains or during windy days I refrain from biking – I once skidded on the road and injured myself whilst cycling one morning following some minor snow fall. To help urban planners and decision makers better design cycling and active travel infrastructure, it is important to identify the conditions that may amplify accident risks, provide and utilise better environmental and climate data, and identify accident risk zones.”
Interdisciplinary research sits at the heart of DARe’s mission to support better decision-making on transport decarbonisation, adaptation, and resilience. By combining advanced modelling, climate data, and an understanding of social and behavioural factors, DARe is developing resources to help policymakers and planners design transport systems that are adaptable to future climate challenges. Whether exploring how infrastructure can shift travel behaviour, or how extreme weather may shape how and when people cycle, our work demonstrates that enabling active travel is not just about infrastructure alone, but about creating systems that work for people, communities, and the climate together.
Read more about our collaborative workshop with Sustrans (now the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust), exploring the use of active travel data to improve the planning and management of walking and cycling networks to help decarbonise transport.
"A person on a bike is one of the most energy efficient forms of travel in the animal kingdom."