Forceful bike campaigners can undermine UK cycle lane planning, report finds

‘Well-meaning but overly forceful advocacy –particularly from pro-cycling campaigners – can sometimes undermine the very schemes they are trying to support,’ the report’s author said. Photograph: LeoPatrizi/Getty Images

Few local policies generate more debate than cycle lanes. But a report has unveiled a surprising obstacle for local councils when planning bike infrastructure: some cyclists.

The study, based on interviews with dozens of councillors and local officials who lead on transport projects across the UK, found that opponents of bikes lanes and similar projects were the most uniformly hostile, but sceptical cycle campaigners were some of the harshest critics.