Written by: Gijs van der Poel
Dear the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
These last few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of visiting your lovely country. While hiking Hadrian’s Wall and visiting the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh I had an overwhelming share of nature, culture and general friendliness. As a Sustainability Professional I couldn’t help but keep an eye out for electric cars, charging stations, car sharing schemes and cycling paths, despite this being my time off. I couldn’t help myself! I found well- used charging stations in Newcastle, electric cars galore in Edinburgh but sadly no car sharing as yet. However, what struck me the most were the attempts to increase the visibility of cyclists in your cities.
Sharing my life with a born and raised Brit I have had my fair share of strong tea with milk, pasties/ mince pies, lukewarm beer and jealousy of how wide and well-maintained the cycling paths are in The Netherlands. What I can tell from the news and personal experience is that promoting cycling has taken off in Britain as it should. Many cities deal with the effects of congestion, air pollution and obesity - cycling can help dealing with these issues. With your recent victories in the Tour de France and The Olympics there is no hiding any more that the British culture somehow isn’t fit for cycling. We both know that you have all the fundamentals to become a cycling country.
In order to do so, proper cycling infrastructure is essential and I get the feeling that you’re not taking it as seriously as you could. As long as you paint parts of your roads red, blue or with cycling symbols you think you’re achieving your goal, no matter how disconnected. But sadly, it’s not that easy and in all fairness it’s sometimes hilarious (link) and sometimes even more hilarious (link).
Now, I’m not saying that everybody should be building cycling highways like London, even though I do support it heavily, but there are plenty of other opportunities. Talking to the locals during my trips has further convinced me. I’m fully aware that it’s a delicate time to give advice from “the continent” but there are a few easy steps that I feel can help you a great deal:
- You always start with the Why! You need to start explaining to whomever wants to listen why you should stimulate cycling. If congestion, air quality and/or obesity are considered serious challenges then cycling is a very cost efficient way to tackle them. Proper cycling infrastructure is key to achieve that. Not just miles of paint but a proper network.
- Focus! You can only spend your money once and you want to make sure it’s done in the right place. Where do potential cyclists live and how/where and when do they move themselves? If you invest in the right neighbourhoods you get more cyclists for your money.
- Look beyond the asphalt! Cycling infrastructure is an essential piece of the puzzle but it is an expensive exercise. Don’t be afraid to invest in other ‘soft’ measures as well to make sure the infrastructure is also properly used. When I was young I needed to get my cycling diploma in school and why not provide cycling classes to those who can’t (link).
I fully understand that writing a blog about how you can achieve better results isn’t changing much. When researching I realised how hard it was to find a proper map of the cycling highways in London so I decided to make one. Good communication is of the essence as well. If you want to make a difference regarding cycling in the UK, don’t hesitate to contact me and let’s see how we can be of service!
Click arrow at top left corner to show legend. Click here to show bigger map (opens in new screen).