They should concentrate on cycle lanes in cities, getting the numbers of users up considerably. It might also reduce congestion in some cities as well

The problem with that is there isn't room for cycle lanes in existing cities. There's only so much you can shoe horn in before you have to start knocking things down and starting again from scratch.

In many cities you are right, but with many cities having pedestrian areas they could integrate public transport in a way that does encourage cycling. Maybe building regs that ensure plenty of cycle storage bays for employees. If oil prices rise significantly then cycling might be a very viable option for many to cope financially. It will mean financial problems for those that commute longer distances. Though that will be much further into the future.

What amazes me is that the quoted numbers for cycling in the netherlands - 26% of journeys.
Apparently nobody's noticed the difference in geography of our fair nations.

Indeed. Bit different to Holland round these parts..

Yes but over much of the country it is not mountainous.


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I used to ride my bike to visit my girlfriend on a daily basis. She lived about 25 miles away.

I ride into the city here, which is about a 45km round trip. The eldest daughter lives 2 towns away and regularly rides over here to visit. Nearly every major road has cycle paths running next to them and there are thousands of alternative routes, which are more direct than the roads, which cyclists can use.

It is very hilly here, but you can ride along the tow path of the canal here (the canals here are much wider than in the average in the UK, being about 50M wide and the tow paths can easily accommodate 2 way traffic from pedestrians, cyclists or horse riders. Being a canal, it means that the route to the city is fairly flat.

In the towns and cities here, there are lots of cycle paths, either sharing the pavement or a lane on the road, depending on which is safer. Mostly, the outer half of the pavement is reserved for bikes and the half nearer the building is reserved for pedestrians.

Germans love their cars, but there are many more bikes than cars on the roads.

There is plenty of room, it just needs to be reassigned to cyclists.

Yes better long term provision of cycle routes would make cycling a better option. It would also help the nations health.

My fiancé was absolutely horrified with the 'provisions' for cyclists in England when we visited.'

In much of the country it is non existant.

when cyclists stay paying road tax and obeying red lights, then we can think about giving them more space.

Hold on most pay road taxes as drivers. More than half of all cyclists also drive. Also the road taxes are supposed to pay for the repair of roads damaged by traffic. A million bicycles do not do as much damage as one juggernaut. So really how much should they pay? £5 for life would be fair and it would cost far more than that to collect it. As for obeying red lights I agree with you but that is breaking the law and can be covered by the police actually enforcing it.

used to cycle to work and back but the roads have got that bad you can lose a cycle down some of the pot holes ...