Problem–Solution — Declining use of bicycles as transport and how to encourage cycling

In many cities the bicycle, once the ordinary way of getting to school or work, has almost disappeared from the roads. The decline has practical causes, and I would argue that people will return to cycling only when the authorities make it safe and convenient again.

Several factors have pushed commuters away from bicycles. As incomes have risen, motorbikes and cars have come within reach of ordinary families, and these are faster and less tiring. At the same time cities have spread outwards, so a commute that was once three kilometres may now be fifteen, further than most people will pedal. Danger is a further deterrent: where there are no dedicated cycle lanes, cyclists must share the road with buses and lorries and breathe their exhaust. Finally, in some societies the bicycle carries a stigma, being seen as the transport of those who cannot afford a motor vehicle.

Because people gave up cycling for practical reasons, telling them that it is healthy achieves little. The most important step is to build lanes that are physically separated from traffic, since fear of being hit is what keeps most would-be cyclists off the road. Copenhagen and Amsterdam are full of bicycles not because their residents are unusually virtuous but because decades of investment have made cycling the quickest and safest choice. Long distances can be handled by placing bike-sharing stations at metro stops, so that people ride only the first and last kilometre. Employers can provide secure bicycle parking and showers, while city councils can restrict car access to central streets. Once managers and professionals are seen riding to work, the image problem tends to solve itself.

Cycling has declined, in short, because motor vehicles became affordable while cities grew larger and their roads more hostile. If governments redesign streets so that the bicycle is once more the convenient option, people will need little persuasion to use it.