Cycling in the United Kingdom has a long history, since the earliest days of the bicycle, and after a decline in the mid-20th century has been undergoing a resurgence in recent decades. [1] [2]
Cycling in the United Kingdom has a long history, since the earliest days of the bicycle, and after a decline in the mid-20th century has been undergoing a resurgence in recent decades. [1] [2]
John Kemp Starley, a 19th-century English inventor is often considered the inventor of the modern bicycle. He began producing the Rover Safety Bicycle in 1885.
In the late 19th century, the city of Coventry was the largest producer of bicycles in the world. [3]
The National Clarion Cycling Club, which has member sections across the country, was started in the 1890s and was instrumental in the promotion of the socialist movement as well as the growth in popularity of cycling.
The numbers of people commuting to work by bicycle increased by 17% to 760,000 in England and Wales between 2001 and 2011, [2] a total proportion of 2.9% of all commuters. [4]
At the governmental level, cycling is a responsibility of the Department for Transport. Cycling UK advocates in the areas of utility and recreational cyclists, as opposed to cycle sport which is governed by British Cycling.
Initiatives such as the Cycle to Work scheme are designed to encourage cycling as a mode of transport, particularly for its environmental benefits against automobile use.
The DfT administers the Bikeability national cycle training programme, which educates both children and adults in bike handling skills and vehicular cycling on public roads. [5]
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Active travel is devolved to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Parliament. The UK Parliament has overall responsibility for active travel policy in England, which is delegated to Active Travel England, an agency of the Department for Transport. [6]
In 2017, the Government published a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, which introduced Local Cycling and Walking Inferastructure Plans, which local authorities could produce to guide investment in active travel infrastructure. The Government set a deadline of November 2019 for local authorities to produce a plan. [6]
In 2020, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new funding for active travel infrastructure in England outside London. In July 2020, the Department for Trasnport published Gear Change: A bold vision for cycling and walking. The Government's stated aim is for England to be a "great walking and cycling nation" and for half of all journeys in towns and cities being walked or cycled by 2030. The plan accompanies £2 billion in additional funding over the following five years for cycling and walking announced in May 2020. The plan also introduced a new body and inspectorate known as Active Travel England. [6]
Alongside the plan, the Government produced a new guidance document for cycling infrastructure standards. [6]
In 2014, the Scottish Government published the Long-Term Vision for Active Travel in Scotland 2030. Subsequently, they published the National Walking Strategy and Cycling Action Plan for Scotland 2017-2020. In 2018, Scotland appointed an Active Nation Commissioner Lee Craigie, who is a national advocate for Active Travel. [6]
Active travel policy in Wales is governed by the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013 and the Active Travel Action Plan for Wales. The Welsh Government aims for walking and cycling to become the preferred ways of getting around over shorter distances. [6]
Standards for cycle infrastructure have gradually evolved over time to require better segregation and wider lanes for safety reasons. The most recent nationwide cycle design guidance for England is Local Transport Note 1/20, released in July 2020. It is not a requirement for cycle infrastructure to follow this, but most highway authorities have adopted it as their standards. Highways England have their own guidance for trunk road called CD 195 which was based on IAN 195/16 originally issued in October 2016. Much of LTN 1/20 is based upon CD 195. [7]
Transport Scotland issues cycle infrastructure design guidance for Scotland through the Cycling by Design document. In cooperation with Sustrans, an update was issued by Patrick Harvie, Minister for Active Travel, as a response to the growth of active travel infrastructure during the Covid-19 pandemic. [8]
On road cycle-lanes should only be used on roads with 20mph limit, although use of 30mph with little traffic is acceptable. Light segregation is recommended for any roads with limits below 30mph, while any road above 40mph should be fully segregated from motor traffic. Minimal widths of 1-way cycle tracks is between 2m and 2.5m depending on cycle usage. 2-way cycle tracks should be between 3m and 4m depending on cycle usage. On-road cycle lanes should be 2m wide. Widths can be narrower at isolated sections due to constrains such as trees or street furniture. Cycle tracks should be designed for a travel speed of 20mph, or 25mph on downhill gradients. [9]
The National Cycle Network, created by the charity Sustrans, is the UK's major network of signed routes for cycling. It uses dedicated bike paths as well as roads with minimal traffic, and covers 14,000 miles (23,000 kilometres), passing within 1 mi (2 km) of half of all homes. [10] Other cycling routes such as The National Byway, the Sea to Sea Cycle Route and local cycleways can be found across the country.
Cities and large towns may have their own collection of cycle routes; for example, London's Transport for London has the Cycle Superhighways.
The governing organisations for cycle sport in the UK is British Cycling and Cycling Ireland.
The 21st century has seen a dramatic increase in the performance of British cyclists at the top levels of international cycling. Great Britain dominated the medal tables in cycling at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics, while riders such as Bradley Wiggins, Mark Cavendish and Chris Froome have recorded multiple wins in professional road races such as the Tour de France.
Major professional road races include the Tour of Britain, the Tour de Yorkshire, The Women's Tour and the London–Surrey Classic. On the track, the Revolution series events are most prominent. London hosted the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
The Tour de France included stages in Britain in 1974, 1994, 2007 and 2014.
There are five Olympic-size indoor velodromes in Britain: the Olympic Velodrome in Lee Valley VeloPark, Manchester Velodrome, the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Wales National Velodrome and Derby Arena.
The National Indoor BMX Arena is located at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester.
Well-known regular events amateur and leisure cyclists include RideLondon and the Dunwich Dynamo. More than 100,000 people took part in cyclosportives in 2014. [1]
Cyclists cannot use certain roads in the United Kingdom, most notably Motorways. [11] Further, some roads can be marked off-limits to cyclists by the presence of either a No Cycling sign (a bicycle in a red circle), or a No Vehicles sign (an empty red circle). In the latter case, cycles may be pushed. [12] Other than these restrictions, cyclists can use any public highway in the United Kingdom, such as A roads (including dual carriageways).
The use of dedicated cycle facilities is not compulsory, and use "depends on your experience and skills". [13] However, riding on the pavement is illegal.
Bicycles must furthermore be road-worthy, which in Great Britain means that the bicycle must have "two efficient braking systems" that operate independently on both wheels. This includes fixed-gear bicycles, where backwards pressure on the pedals acts as a brake, so only a front brake is required in this case. [13]
For riding in the hours of darkness between sunset and sunrise, cyclists must have at least a red rear light and a white front light, as well as a red rear reflector and four amber pedal reflectors (one at the back and one at the front on each pedal). [14]
Cycling with a passenger on the saddle, also known as giving a backie, was made illegal by section 24 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. [15]
Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other type of cycle. It encompasses the use of human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world for purposes including transport, recreation, exercise, and competitive sport.
Bicycle-friendly policies and practices help some people feel more comfortable about traveling by bicycle with other traffic. The level of bicycle-friendliness of an environment can be influenced by many factors including town planning and cycling infrastructure decisions. A stigma towards people who ride bicycles and fear of cycling is a social construct that needs to be fully understood when promoting a bicycle friendly culture.
Utility cycling encompasses any cycling done simply as a means of transport rather than as a sport or leisure activity. It is the original and most common type of cycling in the world. Cycling mobility is one of the various types of private transport and a major part of individual mobility.
Sustrans is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network.
Cycling UK is a trading name of the Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC), which is a charitable membership organisation supporting cyclists and promoting bicycle use. Cycling UK is registered at Companies House as "Cyclists’ Touring Club", and is covered by company law. It works at a national and local level to lobby for cyclists' needs and wants, provides services to members, and organises local groups for local activism and those interested in recreational cycling. The original Cyclists' Touring Club began in the nineteenth century with a focus on amateur road cycling but these days has a much broader sphere of interest encompassing everyday transport, commuting and many forms of recreational cycling. Prior to April 2016, the organisation operated under the brand "CTC, the national cycling charity". As of February 2020, the organisation's president is the newsreader Jon Snow.
Bike lanes (US) or cycle lanes (UK) are types of bikeways (cycleways) with lanes on the roadway for cyclists only. In the United Kingdom, an on-road cycle-lane can be firmly restricted to cycles or advisory. In the United States, a designated bicycle lane or class II bikeway (Caltrans) is always marked by a solid white stripe on the pavement and is for 'preferential use' by bicyclists. There is also a class III bicycle route, which has roadside signs suggesting a route for cyclists, and urging sharing the road. A class IV separated bike way (Caltrans) is a bike lane that is physically separate from motor traffic and restricted to bicyclists only.
Bicycle transportation planning and engineering are the disciplines related to transportation engineering and transportation planning concerning bicycles as a mode of transport and the concomitant study, design and implementation of cycling infrastructure. It includes the study and design of dedicated transport facilities for cyclists as well as mixed-mode environments and how both of these examples can be made to work safely. In jurisdictions such as the United States it is often practiced in conjunction with planning for pedestrians as a part of active transportation planning.
Bicycle safety is the use of road traffic safety practices to reduce risk associated with cycling. Risk can be defined as the number of incidents occurring for a given amount of cycling. Some of this subject matter is hotly debated: for example, which types of cycling environment or cycling infrastructure is safest for cyclists. The merits of obeying the traffic laws and using bicycle lighting at night are less controversial. Wearing a bicycle helmet may reduce the chance of head injury in the event of a crash.
A bicycle boulevard, sometimes referred to as a neighborhood greenway, neighborway, neighborhood bikeway or neighborhood byway is a type of bikeway composed of a low-speed street which has been "optimized" for bicycle traffic. Bicycle boulevards discourage cut-through motor-vehicle traffic but allow local motor-vehicle traffic. They are designed to give priority to bicyclists as through-going traffic. They are intended as a low-cost, politically popular way to create a connected network of streets with good bicyclist comfort and/or safety.
A cycle track, separated bike lane or protected bike lane is an exclusive bikeway that has elements of a separated path and on-road bike lane. A cycle track is located within or next to the roadway, but is made distinct from both the sidewalk and general purpose roadway by vertical barriers or elevation differences.
Cycling in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia takes place for recreation, commuting and as a sport. Sydney has a hilly topography and so may require a slightly higher level of fitness from cyclists than flatter cities such as Melbourne and Canberra. Sydney depends heavily on motor vehicles where traffic and public transport operate at capacity. This means that cyclist are often competing with motorists for limited space on busier roads, and for limited government resources for expenditure on road infrastructure. In its favour, Sydney has a generally mild climate and there are active cycling groups.
Active mobility, soft mobility, active travel, active transport or active transportation is the transport of people or goods, through non-motorized means, based around human physical activity. The best-known forms of active mobility are walking and cycling, though other modes include running, rowing, skateboarding, kick scooters and roller skates. Due to its prevalence, cycling is sometimes considered separately from the other forms of active mobility.
Cycling in Australia is a common form of transport, recreation and sport.
Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except where cyclists are barred such as many freeways/motorways. It includes amenities such as bike racks for parking, shelters, service centers and specialized traffic signs and signals. The more cycling infrastructure, the more people get about by bicycle.
The history of cycling infrastructure starts from shortly after the bike boom of the 1880s when the first short stretches of dedicated bicycle infrastructure were built, through to the rise of the automobile from the mid-20th century onwards and the concomitant decline of cycling as a means of transport, to cycling's comeback from the 1970s onwards.
A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is "designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists". Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A shared-use path typically has a surface that is asphalt, concrete or firmly packed crushed aggregate. Shared-use paths differ from cycle tracks and cycle paths in that shared-use paths are designed to include pedestrians even if the primary anticipated users are cyclists.
Cycling for transport and leisure enjoys popularity in Greater Manchester and the city also plays a major role in British cycle racing. The Bee Network was launched in 2018. The University of Manchester is home to the Manchester Cycling Lab.
Controversies have surrounded dedicated cycling routes in cities. Some critics of bikeways argue that the focus should instead be placed on educating cyclists in road safety, and others that safety is better served by using the road space for parking. There is debate over whether cycle tracks are an effective factor to encourage cycling or whether other factors are at play.
Cycling is a popular mode of transport and recreational sport in the Philippines.
Cycling in Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is a popular means of transportation, sporting and recreational pass time. Commuting in the city is supported by an extensive network of urban cycleways and on-street bicycle lanes. As a city established in the 20th century, Canberra's development was heavily influenced by the automobile for much of its history. The popularity of cycling in the city has increased dramatically in the 21st century with growing awareness of environmental issues, government policy supporting active transport and investment in cycling infrastructure. This has led to the development of a strong cycling culture.
