London has some of the best cycling infrastructure in the UK but lags behind European cities including The Hague and Paris, a global survey revealed today.
The capital scored an average of 69 out of 100 in the PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings, though four boroughs — Hackney, Islington, Southwark and Westminster — all made the world top 20 when ranked individually.
Campaigners said Britain’s score showed how we had failed to pursue the Gear Change strategy outlined by Boris Johnson four years ago. This sought to build on the increase in cycling during the the pandemic by setting a target of “half of all journeys in towns and cities being cycled or walked by 2030”.
According to Transport for London, about 1.3 million weekday journeys in London are cycled — about a third of the number of Tube journeys — but this is less than five per cent of the
25.7 million journeys made each day in the capital. About 39 per cent of trips are walked. The survey put The Hague in first place on 89 points, followed by Paris and Brussels on 87 and Utrecht and Lyon on 86. Amsterdam was sixth with 85.
Cambridge was the top-ranked British city on 84, with Hackney and Islington on 82, Southwark on 80 and Westminster on 79. The US-based survey, which expanded for the first time to include the UK, also highlighted disparity in the capital, with outer London boroughs such as Bromley (52), Harrow (51), and Barnet (50) all scoring poorly.
In 2020, Mr Johnson pledged the “most radical change to our cities since the arrival of mass motoring” with a £2 billion fund for protected bike lanes, low traffic neighbourhoods, bus lanes, e-bikes and bike repair vouchers.
But under Rishi Sunak, the Government pursued policies designed to tackle what it described as the “war on the motorist” and pledged to make it harder for councils to introduce LTNs.
London had a city-wide average of 69, followed by Greater Manchester on 49 and the West Midlands on 46.
Jenn Dice, of PeopleForBikes, said: “The data shows that while London has made incredible strides in recent years to improve biking, there is more work to be done.”
