What happened to the 'golden age' for cycling in the UK?

Adam Becket

News editor at Cycling Weekly, Adam brings his weekly opinion on the goings on at the upper echelons of our sport. This piece is part of The Leadout, a newsletter series from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. As ever, email adam.becket@futurenet.com - should you wish to add anything, or suggest a topic.

At the height of the Covid pandemic, in May 2020, Boris Johnson stood up in the House of Commons and promised to usher in a "new golden age for cycling". The then Prime Minister went on to launch a "cycling and walking revolution" that July, with a £2 billion investment to be spent on thousands of miles of cycle lanes, cycling lessons for children and adults and plans to strengthen the Highway Code to protect cyclists and pedestrians.

Four years on, and it is difficult to know what has really changed. Last week, the National Travel Survey from the Department for Transport (DfT) revealed that the average number of bicycle trips per person per year had not increased from 2019 to 2023, and the miles per person per year had stagnated too, falling from 54 in 2019 to 53 to the year ending June 2023.

The golden age never arrived. During the pandemic, councils put in emergency cycle lanes, roads were quiet, and people took to their bikes to avoid crowds on public transport, and to take advantage of lower traffic counts. 

Now, although the data shows they might be slightly quieter, the roads seem busier than ever. Cars are bigger (getting, on average, one centimetre wider every two years), and the roads themselves are in worse condition than ever. It’s no wonder people haven’t automatically taken to two wheels. 

The moment to reorganise roads and ways of life - and grasp the health, economic and environmental benefits of active travel - was there, but instead we have returned to a private car-centric way of living, due to a government which is far too focused on drivers.

There have been improvements within some cities, like London, really taking to active travel and cycling infrastructure. These cities should be used as an example for others; but for many of us in this country, active travel seems like an afterthought. 

Improvements to the Highway Code have taken place, to make it more useful for cyclists and walkers, but, from personal experience, there has been very little concrete change. Drivers are no more considerate and close passes seem de rigeur on certain roads. It has not been the revolution that was promised.

Last summer, a legal challenge was launched against the UK government, following plans to slash active travel funding. The transport secretary Mark Harper revealed in March 2023 that there would be a 50% reduction in money allocated to cycling and walking in England, proof of how little the Conservative government really cares about active travel.

Cycling infrastructure is still seen as something that can be just painted on a road, but we need something more solid than this. Cyclists are forced to share the road space with everyone else, and are then abused and just for having the temerity to be precariously occupying a tiny amount of that shared space.

It is no surprise cycling as a form or transport is not seeing exponential growth, as it could have done. In March, I visited Amsterdam and saw first hand just how amazing a cycling future could be, but that feels so far from reality for us in Britain. 

Cycling is a positive on so many different levels, I’m sure that is not news to the readers of Cycling Weekly, but it is not just good for our individual health, both physical and mental. It is good for our public health, and therefore the NHS. It is good for the environment, for our bank balance, and can be so much fun. 

It is devastating that we missed the opportunity for that “golden age” of cycling in the UK. Perhaps, with a change of government, that opportunity might reappear soon. We just need to do all that we can to ensure that they seize it. Keep cycling, campaign for that bike lane on a local busy road, go to cycling clubs, don’t  be afraid to take up space on the road,, and vote for candidates who support a future which includes active travel. The opportunities are there.

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.