The Future

[dellzeqq]

The poll is simplicity itself. You'll appreciate that I'm completely optimistic about London, but not so convinced that we're making a big breakthrough across the country

 

[srw]

Anecdote from Buckinghamshire: when we first moved here 10 years ago it was fairly rare to cyclists other than on the commuter trawl into the station and up to the GE Healthcare plant. It's now fairly common, both on the back roads at the weekends and, interestingly, on some of the usual commuting roads.

 

[marinyork]

According to my council's monitoring sites cycling has more or less doubled in the last ten years and just below 2%. Unfortunately I couldn't find out whether this was commuter share or overall share. If it is commuter share it's nothing whatsoever to write home about, whereas if it is modal share then it actually puts us (slightly) above or around other cities that have had praise lavished on them.

Annecdotal evidence, I think cycling here is up in 2010 and it's been a good year. I thought I saw more cyclists in the spring, more at the end of October when it started to dip in temperature and there are a reasonable number out and about now. I don't tend to bother paying much attention to the well defined 'commuter' corridors round here as you always did see a fair number of cyclists. I tend not to view things as 'cycling cities' or not, I think the label is misleading because the places I've lived if you do an analysis of where people live it comes down to cycling streets and cycling neighbourhoods and sparse elsewhere.

I think it'll continue to rise, just not to the sort of boom in London and elsewhere.

 

[Flying Dodo]

Another anecdote from me. I've been cycle commuting on a daily basis for 7 years now and on the stretch of the A1081 in/out of Luton have noticed more commuters each year, with a definite larger spike in numbers this year.

With fuel going up 4½ p per litre from 4th January, coupled with further increases as oil continues to rise in price, together with a general squeeze on people's incomes, this will continue to increase the gradual increase in the normal use of a bike as a means of transport. It's not going to be a sudden, massive leap in use, just a slow, steady thing.

 

[pshore]

Well, it can't get much worse can it ? Car ownership pretty much at saturation. Crap cycle facilities. Lots of obese people. We must be near the bottom and be on the way up.


Cycling was definitely more popular for commuting in the summer compared to previous years in general, mostly older people having a go rather than the younguns. What did it was a jump in fuel prices and bad headlines telling people how expensive fuel is. When the price creeps up a bit at a time, nobody panics and nobody notices.

When we see a jump in fuel prices or a hike in interest rates (followed by reposessions), that will be the time folks will be seriously considering where their hard earned pennies go.

Here, £5.40 for a 14 mile return bus journey into Cambridge - at that price it's no competition for the car. The bike is the way forward, people just need a push to get them started.

 

[marinyork]

With fuel going up 4½ p per litre from 4th January, coupled with further increases as oil continues to rise in price, together with a general squeeze on people's incomes, this will continue to increase the gradual increase in the normal use of a bike as a means of transport. It's not going to be a sudden, massive leap in use, just a slow, steady thing.

Not found out what the price rises will be on the buses yet which is fairly close. My guess is they'll be absolutely huge.

 

[summerdays]

I've only returned to cycling about 4 or 5 years ago - but over this time I have seen a big increase in the number of bikes on the road, and of friends taking up cycling. The more bikes that bikes are seen on the road, the more normal it becomes. I see everything from the lycra clad, to the flowery decorated baskets and children on bikes on the roads on their own without adults - hopefully they are the future.

 

[sheddy]

i'd like to say yes, but with the demise of Cycling England and with cutbacks in LA funding I fear not

 

[byegad]

Petrol and other road fuels are getting more expensive. There is a reported trend for people to take up informal activities over formal sports. Certainly I see more riders year on year both commuting and for leisure.

I'm optimistic for cycling in all of its forms.

 

[snorri]

There is definitely an increasing number of people loading bikes in cars and driving somewhere to cycle .

 

[summerdays]

There is definitely an increasing number of people loading bikes in cars and driving somewhere to cycle .

But do you not think that that is a start? ... its how I started ... going somewhere and hiring bikes to ride on a traffic free trail.

 

[Dan B]

I'm somewhere between "yes in London" and "yes everywhere", though the latter depends first on the London-centric media adjusting to the idea that cycling is perfectly normal and then on their successfully foisting these values on the rest of the country. So it will at best take a while and at worst start a backlash (think "countryside alliance") from rural folk who don't like being imposed on

 

[BSRU]

Swindon is a very car friendly town, mainly due to the main local private employer being Honda and the council not wanting to upset them.
Cycling has increased but in my opinion due to high petrol/diesel prices, cycling infrastructure is very poor and many car drivers seem unaware how to pass a bicycle on the road safely, for both parties.

 

[Klaus]

Have definitely seen an increase in bikes on the road even in a hilly area like High Wycombe. Unfortunately the provisioning of facilities is abysmal. Also, the question is how sustainable is the increase. When petrol gets more affordable again will bikes be retired to the garden shed?

 

[Wobblers]

In the five years since I dug the old bike out of the garage I've noticed a definite increase in the number of cyclists in Glasgow and Birmingham - the places I've got most experience of cycling in. This isn't confined to the leisure cyclists but more significantly utility cyclists and commuters. It seems that the fuel prices are pushing people to try alternative means of transport and at least some of them are finding cycling a viable alternative.