Cycling is not just a mode of transport, it’s a lifestyle in an age of rising concerns over health, pollution and congestion. Many towns and cities worldwide are rethinking their approach to urban mobility, with visionary councils now looking at providing more walking and cycle paths over using funding for roads. Read more on the benefits of bicycling.
However, don’t do what one ‘green council’ did, and remove a vertical ‘living wall’ that was home to birds, in order to build a cycle path. Bird homes are more important than cycle paths.
Safe Cycling in the City is a useful book for cyclists in in urban areas. It covers choosing the best bikes and clothes, and also covers road safety, braking, gears, and using extra power provided by electric bikes.
Benefits of Bicycle-Friendly Communities
Bicycle-friendly communities are not towns with a few coloured lanes that ‘disappear’ every 100 yards or so, or communities that encourage racing cyclists. Real bicycle-friendly communities are what happens in countries like Denmark and The Netherlands.
Where cycling is so built-in to the planning process, that nearly everyone commutes to work by bike, and countries like The Netherlands have more bikes than people! In fact, most bikes here are just plain safe boring bikes (the only issue is a huge incidence of bike theft).
As well as being a relaxing way to travel, regular cycling keeps people healthy, and it obviously saves money after purchase of a bike, as there is no petrol to buy (a bike tool kit is a one-time purchase and much cheaper).
More people the ride bikes, means less road traffic accidents (with good planning and people taking road safety courses). It also leads to quieter communities, less polluted towns and also less potholes to repair.
It also long-term would save money for say the NHS, as there would be far less obesity and diseases caused by lack of exercise. It’s also good for mental health, as people riding bikes in relaxing conditions actually makes you feel better, than in a road rage traffic jam. Cycling actually releases feel-good endorphins, driving cars does not.
Cycling Towns Support Local Shops
Beryl Hire offers rentable cargo bikes nationwide, along with e-bikes, e-scooters and manual brakes. The latter are very well-designed with adjustable saddles (to people under 5ft to well over 6ft) and brake lights that come on when you start pedalling, and remain on for 2 minutes after you stop (cyclists can also buy these online for personal use).
The most cycling-friendly city in England is Norwich (like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, it’s flat and a fairly dry climate). As a result, it enjoys a thriving culture of independent shops. Transport charity Sustrans has free downloadable guides on its website for town planners, including how to design safe cycling in cities.
Danish town planning architect Jan Gehl once wrote that anyone who knows what he or she is doing, needs to ‘look at a town from foot level’. If you drive through streets, you miss things. But if you walk or cycle, you’re more likely to stop off at a local shop to browse or a local cafe for a cup of tea. People on bikes tend to explore their communities more.
The same goes for tourism. If people visit and hire bikes over cars, again they are more likely to support local shops and businesses, which bring far more money into the community.
Designing Cycle-Friendly Communities
It’s not just a case of adding a few lock-up bikes to rent. It’s far more than that. A good cyclist-friendly community should make people feel safe and eager to get and obout on their bicycles.
Safety is the main reason why people don’t cycle. If we all knew that cycling was safe, we would all cycle more. Cycle lanes not only prevent accidents, but also are more convenient. Experts say the best bike lanes are ones that are protected by barriers.
Providing secure parking is also key. This means that people can park outside small shops and cafes, or at work or even near parks, without stress or expense.
Bike lockers are also good, as are showers and changing stations, to encourage people to bike to work. England has pretty rough weather in winter, so it’s important to ensure cyclists have somewhere to get changed, to arrive to work warm and dry.
Another biggie is ensuring that cyclists can easily access public transport. Making sure that bikes can safely and easily be carried on buses (foldable) and trains is key, as is safe storage.
Finally, ensure councils and schools have good free or low-cost bike safety education programs. If we want towns and cities full of cyclists, we have to ensure they all know how to ride a bike, and the rules of the road.
The City Fix reports that over 40,000 cyclists die worldwide in road accidents, which is why it’s so important for cities to follow their steps to safer cycling cities:
- Build bike lanes in car-free zones. This is where England goes wrong. We have a few coloured bike lanes right next door to thundering lorries and buses, yet abroad bi-directional bike lanes (not safe next to cars) are built for exclusive use of bikes, not near vehicles. In the Slovenian city of Ljubljana, this has dropped carbon dioxide and noise levels substantially.
- Create bicycle boulevards. These are streets that give bikes more priority over cars, using methods to discourage cars (low speed limits, pavement markings). This has happened in the US city of Portland, where cyclists are always considered in town planning (it has 70 miles of bicycle boulevards).
- Use pop-up temporary bike lanes. If you have streets with lots of vehicles, it’s important to protect them with well-marked dedicated space, not just ‘a different colour path with a cycle lane sign). Using free-standing barriers is one way, but as noted above, these should only be one-way to reduce accidents. Berlin created 15.5 miles of pop-up lanes in a short time using bollards and signs. Ideally there should be a buffer zone between lanes (ideally for two cyclists to ride side-by-side).
- Use heavy-duty physical segregation. If you’re riding your bike next to a car, a quick swerve can knock you off. Progressive cities use bumpers, bollards, barriers and curbs so this doesn’t happen. These are made from heavy-duty plastic or flexible rubber, to avoid steel or concrete, which could injure.
Successful Bike Communities Worldwide
It’s no secret that people in The Netherlands are keen cyclists. But it’s not just Amsterdam. People in this flat country (which helps!) have over 400km of bike lanes to enjoy. The main city always plans for bikes over cars – there are dedicated bike-friendly bridges, parking hubs and even dedicated traffic lights.
Building the Cycling City is a birthday book for your town planner, by an American couple who lived and studied public transport in Ther Netherlands for years. Learn how to create affordable planning, so most people want to ride bikes. It profiles five Dutch cities and interviews the experts.
The city of Ghent (100,000) does not ‘ban driving’ but before 11am and after 6pm, streets are open to public transport, refuse collectors, doctors and taxis (plus electric and cargo bikes). But during the day, it’s people and ambulances/fire engines/police cars only. This city now has 20% less air pollution than other cities, hardly any traffic jams on outer roads, fewer accidents and ‘the noisy opposition’ quietened down long ago!
Copenhagen is another very bike-friendly city. Again, Denmark is flat so this helps. But again, town planners here do way more than in England. Including elevated bike highways and interconnected cycle paths, so you can easily cycle from town to town, without meeting road traffic. The city even clears snow from bike lanes (before roads), showing how dedicated it is, to people who ride bikes.
Both The Netherlands and Denmark have a ‘cargo bike’ culture where parents tend to use them to go shopping, placing children in the back. In Copehagen, the main street of Strøget is totally car-free and most people get around by bike (often due to very high fuel prices for cars). Denmark has even created a network of cycle super-highways, which offers safe routes for distances over 5km.
Portland is a green city in the US state of Oregon. It has Trimet (the best public transit system on earth, with one ticket letting people ride the bus, train and tram – all bicycle-friendly). The planning is so good, that residents can easily cycle out to enjoy nature, in the nearby Pacific Northwest.
