Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

Perth and Cambridge top bike commuter ratings - but could they do more?

Around 30% of commuter journeys by bike in hotspots - but we're still far behind Europe...

People living in Cambridge and Perth are the most likely to cycle to work in the UK, according to a Royal Mail study of postcodes.

The research, mapping commuting methods across the country using figures from the Annual Population Survey and information released from the Office for National Statistics, has found that Perth has a  31.6 per cent cycle use, with Cambridge just behind at 31 per cent.

Cambridge's five city postcode areas, CB1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 dominate the top ten cycle commuting spots, but are all beaten by the PH8 district of Perth and Kinross, in central Scotland.

However Robin Heydon, of the Cambridge cycling campaign, told Cambridge News: "It's no surprise that we are one of the top cycling cities in the UK, if not the English speaking world.

"You will probably find there are some people that have a bike but don't cycle to work, because it's too close, or there is no cycle parking available."

"We have got an ideal city to do this. It's compact, it's flat and the weather is significantly better than say the Netherlands, so why aren't we up to 50 per cent?" he said.

"The quickest way to get around Cambridge is on a bike, so the people who live in other cities and want to use a bus, are the ones here who typically go by bicycle."

Perhaps as a result of the high levels of cycling, less than 10 per cent of all the city's postcode areas take a bus to work.

Andy Campbell, managing director of Stagecoach East, said: ”Over the last 10 years or so Cambridge has been a bit of a success story in getting people to travel on bus, admittedly from a low base originally", he said.

"I am not surprised there are a lot of cyclists, because it's very difficult to travel through Cambridge at any time, but particularly at peak. I think the local authority probably gives better priority for cyclists than they do for buses."

Dr Ian Philips, of the University of Leeds found 44 per cent of workers nationwide would be able to commute by either walking or cycling.

He said: "The factors that affect your chances of being able to get to work depend on where you live, meaning the results of this study are particularly useful when mapped for small areas.

"For example, bicycle availability has a bigger effect in Cambridge than in Sheffield."

Add new comment

14 comments

Avatar
armb | 8 years ago
0 likes

Robin omits perhaps the most important factor about Cambridge - its centre, with a mediaeval street plan, is dominated by a University that doesn't allow most students to keep cars, and doesn't have parking spaces for most of its employees (and many local companies employ many graduates who have got used to cycling as students). Neither this, nor the flat terrain, nor the relatively dry weather for the UK, are things that other cities can really learn from.
On the other hand, at times the county council seemed to be actively anti-cycling, and the city council powerless, so Cambridge could learn from elsewhere. There are signs of improvements.

Avatar
Dnnnnnn replied to armb | 8 years ago
0 likes
armb wrote:

Robin omits perhaps the most important factor about Cambridge - its centre, with a mediaeval street plan, is dominated by a University that doesn't allow most students to keep cars, and doesn't have parking spaces for most of its employees (and many local companies employ many graduates who have got used to cycling as students). Neither this, nor the flat terrain, nor the relatively dry weather for the UK, are things that other cities can really learn from.
On the other hand, at times the county council seemed to be actively anti-cycling, and the city council powerless, so Cambridge could learn from elsewhere. There are signs of improvements.

That's a little defeatist - other councils can use parking controls more creatively than they do, and most places in the East of the UK are fairly dry (and flat). Everywhere is unique, and while Cambridge might always be a standout, other places can get much closer to it than they are now. Hackney, for example, has quadrupled cycle commuting in 20 years - it's now more common than car use.

Avatar
armb replied to Dnnnnnn | 8 years ago
0 likes
Duncann wrote:
armb wrote:

Neither this, nor the flat terrain, nor the relatively dry weather for the UK, are things that other cities can really learn from.
On the other hand, at times the county council seemed to be actively anti-cycling, and the city council powerless, so Cambridge could learn from elsewhere.

That's a little defeatist - other councils can use parking controls more creatively than they do, and most places in the East of the UK are fairly dry (and flat). Everywhere is unique, and while Cambridge might always be a standout, other places can get much closer to it than they are now. Hackney, for example, has quadrupled cycle commuting in 20 years - it's now more common than car use.

It's not meant to be defeatist. The point is that if, for example, other councils use parking controls more creatively, Cambridge can learn from those other councils, and improve. If Cambridge(shire) actually had the political will as well as the accidents of history, 50% or more is entirely plausible.

Avatar
Dnnnnnn replied to armb | 8 years ago
0 likes
armb wrote:
Duncann wrote:
armb wrote:

Neither this, nor the flat terrain, nor the relatively dry weather for the UK, are things that other cities can really learn from.
On the other hand, at times the county council seemed to be actively anti-cycling, and the city council powerless, so Cambridge could learn from elsewhere.

That's a little defeatist - other councils can use parking controls more creatively than they do, and most places in the East of the UK are fairly dry (and flat). Everywhere is unique, and while Cambridge might always be a standout, other places can get much closer to it than they are now. Hackney, for example, has quadrupled cycle commuting in 20 years - it's now more common than car use.

It's not meant to be defeatist. The point is that if, for example, other councils use parking controls more creatively, Cambridge can learn from those other councils, and improve. If Cambridge(shire) actually had the political will as well as the accidents of history, 50% or more is entirely plausible.

Agreed, and I think "political will" is the key point. Maybe not everywhere will ever achieve what Cambridge can without even trying but most places can do much better if they try. They just don't, and the voters don't care (or actively don't want them to). So brains and balls are needed, and they're not restricted to small, flat, dry, medieval university cities.

Avatar
niico replied to Dnnnnnn | 8 years ago
0 likes

Im from Cambridge - and Ive lived in Hackney for many years - the increase in cycling probably has a lot more to do with the fixieification / hipsterification / gentrification of the area than anything the council has done...

Avatar
The Giblet | 8 years ago
0 likes

I think for Perth they actually meant the postcode 6000 and more specifically 6028 that includes Kinross.

Avatar
KirinChris | 8 years ago
0 likes

Not exactly related but on the subject of why people choose transport methods and why there are more cars on roads than there should be...

My son is due to start university in Exeter soon and has to go down for a meeting regarding some support he needs, and my wife will go with him.

She thought she would take the train - nice easy 2.5 hour journey from London, going against the commuter flow so not too crowded.

It would have cost 480 pounds to get them there and back. About the same as a return flight between London and Dubai. And I would bet twice that amount there are empty seats on those trains.

She's driving.

Avatar
Dnnnnnn replied to KirinChris | 8 years ago
0 likes
abudhabiChris wrote:

Not exactly related but on the subject of why people choose transport methods and why there are more cars on roads than there should be...

My son is due to start university in Exeter soon and has to go down for a meeting regarding some support he needs, and my wife will go with him.

She thought she would take the train - nice easy 2.5 hour journey from London, going against the commuter flow so not too crowded.

It would have cost 480 pounds to get them there and back. About the same as a return flight between London and Dubai. And I would bet twice that amount there are empty seats on those trains.

She's driving.

Walk-up peak-time trains can be extortionate, it's true, but it's usually not difficult to avoid those fares. Traveling off-peak could reduce those fares by two-thirds straight away. Booking in advance probably even more so. And your son will be eligible for a Young Person's Railcard, won't he?

Avatar
lerrup | 8 years ago
0 likes

And is not a surprise why so few people take the bus in Cambridge either as it's expensive, unreliable and slow. It's quicker for me to walk the two miles to work rather than catch a bus to do so.

As for cyclists getting more priority than buses? That's b*****ks, frankly, the man from stagecoach should realise it's their fault and no one else's.

Avatar
Airzound replied to lerrup | 8 years ago
0 likes
lerrup wrote:

And is not a surprise why so few people take the bus in Cambridge either as it's expensive, unreliable and slow. It's quicker for me to walk the two miles to work rather than catch a bus to do so.

As for cyclists getting more priority than buses? That's b*****ks, frankly, the man from stagecoach should realise it's their fault and no one else's.

Stagecoach drivers in Cambridge DGAF about pedestrians or cyclists. Huge double decker buses very frequently swing round from Jesus Lane into narrow Bridge Street with hundreds of people on the pavements trying to get out the way as many Stagecoach bus drivers misjudge the turn and the bus over hangs the narrow pavements. Many a times I have seen groups of unsuspecting people almost crushed and have had to shout at the drivers to stop as STAGECOACH bus drivers DNGAF about road safety. They also tail gate and pull in or out on cyclists. They are flippin' dangerous menace. The horrible back smoke they chuck out is lethal.

Avatar
pjclinch | 8 years ago
0 likes

It's worth asking for PH8 on Google Maps. It's pretty much in the middle of nowhere (excepting Dunkeld/Birnham which is somewhere between a town and a village, check it out on Streetview) and you don't see that many people on bikes around there. Some sort of statistical abberation, I'd think.

Avatar
ron611087 replied to pjclinch | 8 years ago
0 likes
pjclinch wrote:

It's worth asking for PH8 on Google Maps. It's pretty much in the middle of nowhere

Ah! That probably explains it. It would be easy to achieve a high cycling percentage with a small population. I guess the question is why was it reported or considered in the analysis because it's not of any significance.

Avatar
harrybav | 8 years ago
0 likes

It's only PH8, not Perth. PH8 is not in Perth.

Avatar
ron611087 | 8 years ago
0 likes

Perth??? That's news! I don't think I have seen any mention of Perth in any cycling context. I assume that its due to its university & college.

Latest Comments