London Mayor Keen to Promote Cycling, Aims to Match Dutch and Danish Capitals.
London Mayor Boris Johnson (Boris Johnson) has a rather flamboyant personality; for a long time, he has been known for his love of cycling—he ignores traffic rules, disregards other cyclists and tabloid photographers, and remains committed to the cycling cause. Despite Boris’s great efforts, cyclists remain a minority in London. According to 2011 statistics, although cycling has been on the rise over the past 10 years, only 2.5% of people in London currently choose to cycle to work. Boris believes this number is far from enough. He stated, “Cycling should become a famous sight on the streets of London, and its popularity should reach the level of Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, or Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands.” So why does cycling thrive in some cities but not in others?
Boris’s ambitious goal will not be easily achieved: in Amsterdam, 57% of residents use bicycles daily, and cycling accounts for 38% of the city’s traffic flow. In Copenhagen, 52% of people cycle to work or school every day. However, some regions in the UK have also achieved great success in promoting cycling. In Cambridge, 30% of residents cycle to work daily; in Hackney, in East London, about 15% of people cycle to work each day. But how many people cycle in a place depends first and foremost on what kind of people live there—more than anything else, which might bother Boris. In the UK, since cyclists are generally wealthy young people, increasing the number of such individuals is the key issue. Cambridge is a wealthy university town, teeming with young students; Hackney is an upscale area in London, typically home to stylish young web designers and graphic designers. So it’s no surprise that both places have many cyclists. The same applies to Portland, Oregon, perhaps the most successful U.S. city in promoting cycling. In contrast, in Amsterdam and Copenhagen, most cyclists are women; yet in both cities, almost everyone uses bicycles to some extent, regardless of age or income.
So the problem Boris faces may not be how to get people to love cycling, but how to make those who are reluctant to cycle—such as women and the elderly—fall in love with it. The first issue to address is safety. The Netherlands and Denmark not only have well-developed infrastructure, but their sheer number of cyclists also means higher safety levels. According to traffic laws in both countries, if a cyclist is involved in an accident with someone using another mode of transport, the law almost always favors the cyclist. This may make drivers more cautious on the road. In the UK, two-thirds of women believe road safety is inadequate, so they do not choose to cycle. Safer roads would encourage more people to use bicycles. But safety is not the only factor. Milton Keynes and Stevenage are two newly built towns in the UK, both with impeccable cycle paths—also called “greenways”—which separate cyclists and pedestrians from motor vehicles. Yet very few people cycle in these towns: people prefer to drive fast on motorways. To get people to choose bikes, you need not only to make them feel safe but also to make other modes of transport seem less comfortable than cycling. In fact, one reason Hackney has more cyclists than other London boroughs is that its public transport system is worse than in other parts of the city.
Therefore, if Boris’s cycling revolution is to succeed, he may have to hope that the high cost and inconvenience of other modes of transport in London will push more people to choose bikes. Over time, this could foster a cycling culture: if a friend or colleague of yours chooses to cycle to work, you may also be influenced to consider it. In Amsterdam and Copenhagen, even after the sharp drop in car prices after World War II, the cycling culture never disappeared, perhaps because traffic was congested and roads were narrow. London’s traffic is more congested, and its population is soon expected to reach 10 million, so a cycling culture is also likely to catch on.