Edinburgh leads the way as UK’s most cyclable city
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
Data from City Ratings, which ranks global cities according to how cyclable they are, lists Edinburgh as the UK’s top city in 12th place.
In the global rankings, three countries fill the top ten positions. The Netherlands has three cities in the top ten including the number one spot: The Hague (88.97), Utrecht (84.05), and Amsterdam (82.8). Germany has two cities in the top ten, as does France and Belgium.
If it were a city, Hackney, in North London, would rank 18th, however London as a whole ranks 47th, a drop of three places from the previous year but still making it the only English city in the top 50. Manchester’s Metro area ranks 53rd and Birmingham 56th.
When compared to international cities, two London boroughs are ranked among the top 20 overall. Hackney at 18th is one place behind Colombian capital city Bogota while Southwark completes the top 20. Hackney leads all English boroughs surveyed with an overall rating score of 67.4, compared to the average of 49.8. This is likely due to the significant steps that the borough has taken in recent years, delivering high quality cycling infrastructure and measures to reduce traffic.
London scores 49.8 overall — achieving a score of 50 or higher tends to preface exponential growth in cycling which means there can be some optimism about the future of cycling in London.
According to PeopleForBikes, a US advocacy group that has been calculating the rankings annually since 2017, every ten points’ increase correlates to a linear growth in ridership. A score of 50 indicates there’s enough cycle infrastructure in place for more rapid cycling growth, a point at which ridership “breaks from a linear relationship to an exponential relationship.” At this point, cycling starts to become more convenient than driving.
Jenn Dice, CEO, PeopleForBikes said: ‘’Building safe, connected bike networks is key to growing cycling worldwide, which is why PeopleForBikes created the City Ratings program. We know that when people feel safe and comfortable riding a bike, they are more likely to cycle to everyday destinations like school, work, and the grocery store. We are excited to see a growing commitment to cycling and building better bike networks throughout the United Kingdom.”