Economic crisis and cycling

[Zagek]

Well,

I've been cycling for some time now and only live in the wonderful town of Scunthorpe, near Lincoln and normally I only see the odd cyclist, and generally none in winter but throughout this month and February there now seems to be atleast one on every road I go on!

Does anyone think people are trying to save money on fuel and cycle to work?

Now I know the weather has faired up a little since winter (it's spring now, right?) but I never normally see cyclists no matter what time of year or weather!

 

[fossyant]

Loads more now the weather has got better, although as a hardened commuter, I don't ride in ice...but still see the same nutters nipping along whilst I was in the car.....

 

[Zagek]

hehe, unfortunately I'm one of those nutters in the ice! Me and my partner only have 1 car and I told her to never take me to work!

But yeah, I suppose I'm looking into it too much and it is just because of the weather.

 

[beanzontoast]

I suspect that after their house, the car is the next 'essential' that people are most reluctant to give up on and will continue to find the money to run by economising elsewhere - especially if the alternative as perceived by them is less comfortable, more exposed to the weather, is less practical for anything over 10 miles, carries less luggage, can* take longer, can't realistically be shared (how many people do you see commuting by tandem?) and requires greater physical effort. And I say this as a commuting cyclist.

There's a core of folk who cycle because they prefer it. There's another group who do it because they don't have a car and can't afford public transport. I don't see any evidence of less vehicular traffic / more cyclists at present.

*not always

 

[Downward]

Well unless you get rid of your car will cycling actually save you money. Lets face it once you buy a bike then it's just buy buy buy buy !

 

[johnr]

Scunthorpe, near Lincoln.... I think not! I make occasional forays your way... I'm the one gasping for breath and looking very red.

I've noticed a definite increase in cycling numbers - not massive, but significant - and now it's getting warmer, there'll be more. We're negotiating for extra bike racks at work.

 

[dodgy]

Scunthorpe near Lincoln sounds a bit like Birkenhead near Chester

 

[skrx]

Scunthorpe, near Lincoln.... I think not!

"Near Hull" would seem more accurate? But they're all just "up north!" .

I'm seeing more cyclists (and many more bikes in the rack) but since I only started in January I can't compare it to the normal spring increase. I did go into a bike shop on Monday, just before it closed:

Shop keeper 1: "damn, I'm not looking forward to sitting on that bus for an hour again"
Shop keeper 2: "It takes an hour?"
Shop keeper 1: "Yeah, plus a 20 minute walk at the other end"
Me: "You should cycle! "
Shop keeper 1: "What, in this weather? You must be crazy."

I was a bit surprised to be told I was crazy for cycling in a bike shop! It was a sunny day anyway, maybe a little too windy but no big deal.

 

[HelenD123]

Zagek - don't you see people cycling to the steelworks? Or am I 20 years out of date? I used to see quite a few around with British Steel hi vis vests.

 

[Aperitif]

Zagek - don't you see people cycling to the steelworks? Or am I 20 years out of date? I used to see quite a few around with British Steel hi vis vests.

I thought they were made out of nylon...

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

Last year, I noticed it got suddenly busier in terms of bikes round about April .. not sure if that was weather or high fuel prices or a bit of both. Then it went quiet again in the Autumn.

I've not really seen an increase in the number of bikes on my commutes this year, as yet .. still just the regulars.

 

[Davywalnuts]

After 3 years of cycling the same commuting route and not having a single cyclist along it, except the 2 regulars the other way, last month I had the susprise of a student pushing his heart out to pass me! This I did not allow, but I was not willing to RLJ to feed my ego so I let him slip, but only just and I did give out evils! Since then, there has been more scalps what am loving!

So I would agree that it seem's there's more of an uptake in commuting going on for sure! About time too!

 

[Batch]

I suspect that after their house, the car is the next 'essential' that people are most reluctant to give up on and will continue to find the money to run by economising elsewhere - especially if the alternative as perceived by them is less comfortable, more exposed to the weather, is less practical for anything over 10 miles, carries less luggage, can* take longer, can't realistically be shared (how many people do you see commuting by tandem?) and requires greater physical effort. And I say this as a commuting cyclist.

There's a core of folk who cycle because they prefer it. There's another group who do it because they don't have a car and can't afford public transport. I don't see any evidence of less vehicular traffic / more cyclists at present.

*not always

I occasionally see a couple on a tandem around NW6 and it never fails to put a smile on my face

 

[Flying Dodo]

I think a few extra commuters were on the road when fuel was £1.20/litre. However it would need a big increase in motoring costs to force many more people to switch to bikes in the long term.

 

[goo_mason]

I've never seen so many cyclists on the roads and paths as I did on the way home last night. There's a definite increase in cycling around these parts.