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London cyclists at Hyde Park Corner (copyright Britishcycling.org_.uk).jpgSurvey: Dangerous roads deter one in four from commuting by bike
Research from sports goods retailer Decathlon has confirmed what we have seen before in any number of surveys – that the perception that the UK’s roads are too dangerous to cycle on deters many from getting in the saddle for their commute.
The France-based retailer, which has been present in the UK for two decades and now trades from more than 40 stores nationwide, surveyed over 7,600 adults for its Decathlon Activity Index.
The research found that just 7 per cent of respondents cycle to work, with 26 per cent saying that they feel the roads are too dangerous to commute on by bicycle.
Some 21 per cent went further, agreeing that they are too scared to commute by bike, with an identical percentage claiming that the distance between their home and place of employment means cycling is not an option.
The retailer’s UK marketing director, Philippe Rebelo, acknowledged that while cities such as London and Manchester are spending money on safe infrastructure for cyclists, at a national level the percentage of people cycling to work remains low.
He said: “It is clear to see that not many of us actually choose to commute to our workplace with a bicycle. This is despite the government increasing the spend on cycling, with improvements for cycle to work schemes and even overhauls of roads in cities to accommodate cyclists.”
Besides the perception of danger, other barriers to cycling to work highlighted in the research included not owning a bike at all – something that 17 per cent of respondents admitted – while 7 per cent confessed that they do not actually like cycling.
Rebelo said: “There are many advantages of cycling to work that people seem to be missing out on - commuting to work via a bicycle is a great way to form a healthier lifestyle, it is cheaper and is better than other options.
“Even better, those without a bike can get one via the government’s bike to work scheme – and there are a number of bikes that can be rented in UK cities too. It is extremely inexpensive in the long run as you only need a bike, lights and a helmet and you’re off.”
In September, Edouard Philippe, the prime minister of Decathlon’s home country unveiled a plan to treble the numbers of everyday cyclists there, saying: “France is a great cycling nation … but in France, cycling is still a sport.”
It’s curious, then, that in a survey highlighting commuting, Rebelo’s closing comments emphasised the sporting side of cycling.
“We want to help the UK fall back in love with sports – we believe that sports should be accessible for all – cycling included,” he said.
“It is after all one of the sports that the UK is best known for competing in thanks to home grown talent like Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins and Laura Kenny.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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21 comments
Why don't more people commute by bike in the UK?
It's WAY more convenient to use the car (than cycle), esp in winter, and everyone's 'cash rich, time poor';
Cycling is seen as a sport, rather than a mode of transport;
Getting a car these days is a doddle (just lease one);
Road infrastructure hasn't kept pace with traffic volume; more congestion and 'anger';
Cost of motoring has gone down over the past few years, and cars are more powerful;
Modern cars are much bigger than 20+ years ago and roads haven't changed;
Unless you're an experienced cyclist, the roads are bloody scary at commuting times;
Govt won't 'take on' motorists and force people out of their cars;
Public transport is too expensive; everyone drives which deters cycling.
Bit of a case study. My wife cycles to work 50% of the time; drives on days when she needs the car or the weather is v foul. Massive reduction in work parking capacity with everyone coming in earlier to 'bag' the limited spaces; her cycling % has shot up. Some employees shift work, so I enquired what they did ref the reduced parking. Her response, they all come in earlier to get a parking space and sit in their cars staring at their mobiles until the shift starts (wtf!!). You'll only get people out of their cars when you prise it out of their cold dead hands.
The Dutch discovered this about 40 years ago. The Ministry of Transport HQ had the parking cut in half, and lots of people threatened to leave, but they didn't and rode bikes instead. I think they then cut it again, and apart from disabled spaces, auctioned the remaining spaces.
I got pointlessly close-passed last night by someone - the queue of traffic not 50m ahead was pretty obviously going to stop him anyway.
When asked why he'd bothered, all I got, mainly from the passenger, was abuse that I wasn't on the shared use pavement that "has been put there specially for you at great expense" - he couldn't seem to understand that I was ALREADY on shared use infrastructure and that hammering along at ~25mph in the dark on a bit of infrastructure shared with joggers and pedestrians really wasn't a good idea.
The bit of road where he passed me was a short break between sections of marked on-road cycle track where it fizzles out to make room for right-turn refuges for the cars!
True: many people forget that the roads are the original "shared-use" infrastructure
They are probably lying. Real reason is laziness.
I bl00dy love riding my bike
*Anecdata alert*
I've had an ongoing shoulder 'issue' for months now (all sorts of injections and x-rays, now waiting for an ultrasound), plus a knee 'issue' for the last couple of months (the knee seems to have cleared up on its own, but the shoulder is still really painful).
When it all started, I started getting the bus to work instead of riding (driving to work was never an option).
I've started adding up the bus fares, and am aware I've put on weight, so intend to start riding again "no matter what".
But, I've been surprised at myself, to be honest: the mental effort to actually go and et the bike out of the shed, take it out the front of the house, come back and lock everything up, then go out the front of the house and ride off... Versus grabbing a bag and walking out the front door... It was never a problem or an issue, but - god! - it really is, now
I imagine it'll get easier once the routine starts to stick again, but at the moment the routine isn't properly there.
I suppose my point is, its often not laziness per se, but the lack of a routine makes it really hard.
The research shows that habit is incredibly powerful in transport decisions, and it is very difficult to get people to change once the habit is formed. Targetting people who have just moved or have a new job is more effective than getting people with long term habits to change. But I suppose you could call habit a form of laziness and reluctance to try something new.
I'm with you there. I picked up a pretty serious injury playing rugby, then have filled the garage with building stuff for the refurb we've done - really heavy shit in the way of the bikes. It's all added up to hardly any riding over much of the past year.
Doesn't excuse it, because I know that I could have put my bike(s) somewhere I could get to them with a bit of planning. But if people who do actually cycle can find it tough to get back into the routine, car slaves are unlikely to stumble across it.
So I'm in favour of not even making an argument about alternative modes of transport. Just make it nigh-on-impossible to drive your car stupidly small distances unless you have some sort of disability, and let them figure the alternatives out for themselves. The problem with that is that, since the population is made up of car slaves, people who make decisions in local and central government are of the car slave mentality, or don't want to kill their votes, so they're not going to restrict parking or put the cost of short journeys up... So the argument probably does still have to be made, and won.
(on the ultrasound - I've had one for a shoulder/neck injury before, and an ultrasound might be of limited use. It should pick up a rotator cuff injury or tears around there, but anything wider (into your neck or shoulder blades) and there tends to be too much going on to make sense through ultrasound. I still haven't sorted my neck problem - probably need an MRI next time it flares up).
OT:
Rotator cuff injury is their current working hypothesis, I think.
Painful: good luck with it.
The roads aren’t dangerous. It’s the motorists on the roads who are dangerous. And they present a danger to cyclists much more than they present a danger to themselves, which is why the roads are perceived to be unsafe.
Certain roads are dangerous by design, tram tracks in Edinburgh for example.
Nit-picking. How many of the 4,071 cyclists KSI in 2017 were caused by tram tracks or 'dangerous' roads?
It should be obvious that more than 99% of the time it's behaviour of other road users - DRIVERS - that is the problem.
It has been reported here before that considerably more than 20% are dissuaded from cycling. A selection of what a quick search turns up at road.cc
We don't need more surveys to tell us what we already know, what our families and friends already know, what our neighbours and colleagues already know. So who is this survey for? And what is going to bring about change?
Figures of nearly 200 over 7 years, may be less than 1% of KSI stats, but is not nit-picking. For less than 9 miles of track.
For local people I'm sure i i's a very real issue but in the context of a discussion about the causes of a nationwide reluctance to use bicycles for getting about it is surely missing the point.
I do wonder about those people who just know it's too dangerous, without ever having done it, what is their driving like around cyclists?
As the article points out, this is hardly news, but what is news is what our government is doing about it; nothing effective. Lots of hot air and promises, but actual investment in utility cycling is pretty much nil, and the budget comes to mind; £30bn on roads and £650m for the alternatives, all the alternatives. £650m might be enough if it was an annual amount to be spent on cycling alone, but the majority will go on public transport, and I'm not sure of the timescale but I'm pretty sure that this is a one off figure for many years.
"You only need a bike, lights and a helmet" Well, one out of three is something, I suppose...
It doesn't meet the Meatloaf standard.
I think needing lights is fair, if you’ve any plans to ride at night, in spite of certain posters’ objections.
That interpretation would make Meatloaf's 66.67% threshold.