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Getting more children and young people cycling is crucial to ensure that future generations see cycling as a genuine transport option, says Phillip Darnton of Cycling England
 Earlier this year, Cycling England invited highway authorities to bid to receive a share of £47m to pioneer cycling initiatives in their area as part of our ‘Cycling City, Cycling Towns’ programme. No less than 74 out of a total of 140 applied – a hugely encouraging indication of the growing recognition of cycling as a realistic option for short urban trips.
Why this sudden momentum behind the humble bicycle? Certainly both central and local government are becoming increasingly aware that cycling has a unique role to play in meeting three of the most difficult challenges facing contemporary society: public health, road congestion and carbon emissions. Cycling is the only single activity that simultaneously improves health, reduces childhood obesity, tackles local road congestion and emits zero carbon emissions.
In 2007 Cycling England commissioned a report for the Department for Transport and the Treasury on the economic benefits of cycling, which indicated that investment in well-planned and integrated cycling schemes achieved a payback of between 3:1 and 4.5:1. In recognition of this return on investment, in January this year the government allocated an unprecedented £140million of funding to the promotion of cycling across England over the next three years. There has, quite simply, never been a better time for local authorities to think about getting more people cycling.
Overcoming barriers
Most people appreciate the benefits of regular cycling - intellectually at least - but translating good intentions into action and removing barriers to cycling is the key to changing behaviour. The same reasons for not cycling come up time and again – a lack of confidence in cycling on the roads, nowhere to shower on arrival at the office, scarce cycling parking, worries about safety, even the drizzly British climate. While local authorities can’t do anything about the weather, it is eminently possible to tackle some of the other barriers. And as increasing cycling levels helps local authorities meet their objectives on road safety, local travel planning, Healthy Schools, Every Child Matters and School Travel Plans, it is in their interests to do so.
The original six Cycling Demonstration Towns, set up in 2005, have seen significant results - with an average 20 per cent increase in cycling over the past year - due to a mix of hard measures, such as improving cycling infrastructure, and softer initiatives to promote cycling among the community.
Building on this success, Cycling England has established a further 11 Cycling Towns up and down the country. In addition, Bristol with South Gloucestershire has been chosen to be the UK’s first ever Cycling City.
Getting children cycling
Children and schools are a key focus of the Cycling Towns – as for many other local authorities across England. Getting more children and young people cycling is crucial to ensure that future generations see cycling as a genuine transport option. To do this we need to give them the skills and confidence to ride their bikes in today’s traffic conditions.
To achieve this, Cycling England has launched Bikeability, cycling proficiency for the 21st century. Half of all local authorities are now offering the training and Cycling England will be providing funding for half a million children to take part by 2012.
Cycling England offers support, advice and funding to local authorities that are looking to set up Bikeability schemes in their area, and those that have taken up the training attest to its benefits. In 2005, South Gloucestershire Council was providing its cycle training using a small team of volunteer instructors. Three years later, after adopting the Bikeability scheme, the Council has a team of 25 professional instructors who have trained nearly 1,500 children over the last year. The training contributes to the Road Safety Team’s safety, accessibility, travel, health and environment goals and Members at the Council have also been very supportive of the initiative.
To ensure their cycle training schemes translate into action, local authorities are increasingly looking at ways to make it easier for children to cycle to school. The Safe Routes to School programme, run by the sustainable transport charity Sustrans, connects schools and their communities to the National Cycle Network. Overwhelmingly, the results are showing that more children are using the paths to get to school, as well as using them for other kinds of journeys including commuting, shopping and other leisure trips. The Bike It scheme, also managed by Sustrans, aims to get more children cycling through the school gates: the scheme has seen a trebling of cycling levels at the schools in which it operates.
For more information
For further details, visit our website www.cyclingengland.org.uk
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