BRISTOL confirmed its claim to be Britain’s most popular city for cyclists when placing 15th worldwide in a 90-city Global Bicycles Cities Index - carried out by German insurance company Coya - reports Cycling UK.
Edinburgh was rated next best British city, placed
54th worldwide, while London was rated third best in the UK, 62nd overall. Dublin in Ireland was
placed 60th in the overall table.No prizes for guessing which city topped the survey,
Yes, Utrecht in Holland, that Utopian cycling city to many eyes here in the UK.
Next best was Munster in Germany, 2nd. Antwerp, Belgium, placed 3rd, Copenhagen, Denmark was ranked 4th, Amsterdam in Holland 5rd and Malmo, Sweden, 6th.
(photo by Elina Sazonova)
According to Coya, Utrecht comes out top for several reasons. For a
start, over half of the city’s residents regularly use a cycle. There are low
accident rates and few bike thefts.
The authorities created a bike-friendly city with a network of
covered and open air cycle paths linking many areas, with purpose built bridges, subways and roundabouts designed for cyclists.
Utrecht also boasts the world’s largest cycle park which by next year
will be extended to include 33,000 bike parking spaces.
Utrecht, to many of us in Britain, represents cycling Utopia.
What’s Bristol got going for it?
Well, in 2008, Bristol was named Britain’s first Cycling City stealing
the thunder from Cambridge, Edinburgh and London who all like to think they are
top dogs for cyclists in the UK, where investment in cycling nationally remains piss poor.
Currently the government claims to be spending £7 per head of population (England) which is quite a jump from what it was a few years ago when it was about £2 per head and falling. Even so it remains far below what the Dutch invest in cycling which is now £25 per head.
As I recall it, funding would have to be at least £10 per head in the UK before we would see an appreciable increase in the number cycling utility trips made. It's not just about building cycle lanes, it's about making roads and specifically junctions everywhere safer to use.
Currently the government claims to be spending £7 per head of population (England) which is quite a jump from what it was a few years ago when it was about £2 per head and falling. Even so it remains far below what the Dutch invest in cycling which is now £25 per head.
As I recall it, funding would have to be at least £10 per head in the UK before we would see an appreciable increase in the number cycling utility trips made. It's not just about building cycle lanes, it's about making roads and specifically junctions everywhere safer to use.
In the absence of any decent
government funding to make the roads safer for cycling - estimated to run to
£billions but still mere peanuts in annual transport budget – it is left to those
cities with the political gumption to do what they can with moderate sums offered by the government.
In this way Bristol received £19m a few years
ago and £7 million more recently, enabling them to put down cycle lanes on many
streets, including Dutch-style segregated lanes.
It is most appropriate Bristol should be leading
the way. It is thanks to the former local pressure group Cyclebag that the 12-mile Bristol to Bath cycling and walking route along a disused railway was built in the 1970s.
This led to the creation of Sustrans
(the Sustainable Transport charity based in Bristol) famous for creating the 16,000 mile national cycling and walking route.
This led to the creation of Sustrans
(the Sustainable Transport charity based in Bristol) famous for creating the 16,000 mile national cycling and walking route.
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