Cycle push could cut 54M car journeys

20 September 2007

Up to 54M car journeys a year could be saved if the Government invested £70M annually in proven cycling programmes by 2012, according to Cycling England.

Such an investment would also save 35,000t of carbon dioxide a year, and cut the number of cars on the school run by 5%, latest figures from the government-backed cycling group reveal.

Cycling England commissioned specialist economic consultant, SQW, to measure the economic value of cycling ‘for the first time ever’. Its report concluded that, on conservative estimates excluding the impact on children’s health, a 20% increase in cycling in 2012 would release a cumulative saving of £523M by 2015.

These figures demonstrate that a £70M annual investment in a proven cycling programme would deliver a rate of return of between 3:1 and 4.5:1, over a 10-year period. The investment would involve ‘scaling-up’ an established programme of integrated projects funded by the Department for Transport and overseen by Cycling England.

A nationwide START Cycling Programme (School Travel & Active RecreaTion) would see every child in England receive Bikeability training before they left school; dedicated cycling champions working with every school in England within seven years; safe routes identified to school for every child in England; the construction of 600 new cycling links to school; a programme to develop a cycle-centric English city of one million people; and 10 additional cycling towns.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: ‘The Government is working to encourage cycling, which is why we doubled Cycling England’s budget to £10m, and we are investing in projects such as safe routes to schools and cycle demonstration towns. ‘We are aware that cycling brings economic benefits, in terms of reducing congestion, helping tackle climate change and improving air quality and health – and that’s why the Government is working to promote cycling. ‘But we need to study these figures further.’

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Cycle push could cut 54M car journeys

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