Transport Crucible

Cycling is widely accepted as the most ‘sustainable’ mechanised mode – because it is powered by human muscle and puff. In theory, we would all be better off if far more transport was by bicycle than it currently is. The CTC, Cycling England and SUSTRANS will tell you all you need to know about why. Their vogue theory has it that this is especially true in developed nations like the UK where bicycles currently only accommodate a meagre national average of 2% of all trips. In turn, our transport and travel planners tell us that a big rise in bicycle use would cut traffic congestion, reduce pollution and improve our physical health.
In practice, the majority of people in places where bicycle use is far higher have much lower standards of physical, economic and social health than we would find acceptable. Their ‘choice’ to use bicycles is driven more by low incomes than ideology. In practice, urban congestion and pollution is significantly worse where bicycle use is significantly greater than in the UK – and casualty rates are also far higher in such locations. At the crux of this conundrum is the omission of economic factors from considering what is sustainable in practice. Irrespective of the potential advantages of significantly increasing reliance on cycling, such modal shift can only happen if more people have more time than they currently do for transporting themselves and the goods they need. Hills are the other crucial factor in the real sustainability of cycling. An upward incline is of no consequence to most motor modes – but it is if you are pedalling to make yourself go. The weather in Amsterdam may not be much better than Edinburgh – but the absence of hills to climb is – and in practice this matters more to most people than vogue theorists recognise.
Nevertheless, rafts of measures to ‘encourage’ more cycling have been spread throughout the UK’s road network and with increasing vigour over the last two decades. Primary mechanisms for promoting cycling include the spread of cycle lanes and traffic signalling to prioritise their use – and allowing them to use bus priority lanes. In practice this has not made any significant change to nationwide travel behaviour – the percentage of trips by bicycle has remained the same for more than two decades. However, this emphasis has cut the capacity of roads to accommodate movement by the mechanised modes that facilitate most.