Coronavirus: Boom time for bikes as virus changes
lifestyles
By Roger
Harrabin
BBC
environment analyst
7 May 2020
Fear of catching coronavirus on public transport has
helped lead to a boom in cycle-to-work schemes.
The schemes
saw a 200% increase in bicycle orders from people working for emergency
services.
Demand for
more mobility and exercise amid lifestyle changes imposed by the lockdown has
also boosted bike sales across the UK.
"Very
strong" bicycle sales at bike and car parts chain Halfords this week saw
its shares soar by 23%.
Some bike
stores are battling to meet demand. Broadribb Cycles in Bicester normally
despatches 20-30 bikes a week, but manager Stuart Taylor says the shop is
currently selling 50 bikes every day - and seeing a commensurate rise in demand
for servicing.
"It's
just gone crazy," he told the BBC. "People are dragging bikes out of
sheds and garages and finding they need new tyres and cables.
"We
normally take in bikes for repair and servicing and deal with them for next day
[pick-up]. Now we're booking services for two weeks [ahead]."
At Lunar
Cycles repair shop in north London, the mechanic says trade was booming, then
ended the call to avoid upsetting the socially-distanced queue outside.
Andrew
Hassard from Mango Bikes in Ballyclare, Northern Ireland, said: "The
bicycle industry is having a boom. People are saying 'I'm getting back on a
bike after 15-20 years - I'm going to use it during lockdown - then commute on
it as well,' to avoid public transport."
A recent
poll for the consultants SYSTRA suggested 61% of Britons are nervous of taking
public transport post-lockdown.
Adrian
Warren who runs an alliance of cycle schemes, told the BBC: "This past six
weeks, we have seen the biggest experiment in transport policy this country has
even known. It's clear the default option is cycling."
More
cycling infrastructure
Cycle
schemes allow employees to claim a tax credit on bikes they buy at work.
But rusty
cyclists may be nervous on busy roads, so the pressure group Cycling UK has
commissioned research showing how 100 "pop-up" lanes in 10 English
cities could make cycling and walking easier.
It maps UK
cities which have created extra cycle lines during the crisis, in many cases
taking over one car lane on a dual carriageway.
The Cycling
UK research from Leeds looks at English cities with a high cycling potential
and has identified 99.2 miles of streets and roads in London, Birmingham,
Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol, Leicester, Sheffield, Newcastle and
Cambridge which could benefit from temporary walking and cycling
infrastructure.
Cities
round the world have been freeing space for people on foot and bikes, in response
to the coronavirus lockdown.
In Germany,
expanded cycle lanes have been marked by removable tape and mobile signs.
Paris is
rolling out 650 kilometres of cycleways, including a number of pop-up
"corona cycleways".
Some
cities, like Milan, are making the changes permanent.
The
Scottish government has announced £10m of funding for councils to provide
temporary space on the roads this way, and Cycling UK is urging ministers in
Westminster to follow suit.
In London,
the walking and cycling commissioner, Will Norman, told the Online magazine
BikeBiz that the capital's public transport capacity is running at a fifth of
pre-crisis levels, meaning post-lockdown up to eight million journeys a day
will need to be made by other means.
UK
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has in fact said that he favours getting
people out of their cars, overall.
Mr Shapps
told Sky News that he sees cycling and walking as part of the solution.
"Active
transport can keep people off public transport and get people to work under
their own steam - and that can be a very important part of this [the nation's
post-lockdown] recovery as well," he said.
Not
everyone is in favour: The libertarian group the Alliance of British Drivers
has strongly opposed removing road space from motorists. But Edmund King,
president of the AA, said he didn't oppose the transfer of road space to cycles
"where appropriate".
Follow Roger on Twitter.
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