Cycling in London up 40% since the start of the pandemic, TfL reports
Posted on in Cycles News
TfL said the increase in cycling was “very encouraging” and was achieved despite a reduction in all forms of commuting. Weekday bike trips are up 20- 25%, when March 2020 is compared with October 2022, while there has been a 90% increase in cycling at the weekend.
There has also been record usage of the “Boris bike”/Santander bike hire scheme - 10.9 million hires so far this year, up 762,500 on the same point last year, and including 86,000 hires of the scheme’s new e-bikes.
Will Norman, London’s walking and cycling commissioner, said: “It’s great to see that the boom in walking and cycling we saw during the pandemic has continued.”
TfL’s target is for a third of Londoners to live within 400m of a “high quality” cycle route by 2025. The figure has risen to 22%, compared with 12% in 2019, but some of the routes are temporary schemes that are being reviewed and could be removed.
TfL is investing £80m a year in walking and cycling schemes, with a further £69m a year for borough schemes.
Alex Williams, TfL’s chief customer and strategy officer, said: “Walking and cycling are absolutely essential to a more sustainable future for London so it’s very encouraging to see this new data, which shows that there continues to be significant increases in the number of journeys cycled or on foot.”