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9 Jul 2025

A recent BBC Breakfast segment has sparked backlash from the cycling community over its portrayal of e-bikes, with critics accusing the broadcaster of conflating legal e-bikes with illegal,...

8 Jul 2025

More than 30 locations across Scotland have seen a major rise in the number of people cycling, according to newly released data.

7 Jul 2025

Sixteen illegally upgraded e-bikes capable of speeds up to 40mph have been seized and disposed of in a joint enforcement operation in Birmingham city centre.

7 Jul 2025

Bristol-based Cytech training provider and ACT member Life Cycle has launched its award-winning Bikes Beyond Bars programme at HMP Bullingdon, expanding a project that has already impacted lives...

4 Jul 2025

New data from Strava reveals a major surge in cycling across the UK, with Gen Z and Millennials leading the charge.

3 Jul 2025

Shimano has launched an urgent investigation into what it describes as a “critical” shortage of skilled bike mechanics across Europe, warning that the situation threatens to...

2 Jul 2025

MPs have called on Amazon and eBay to tighten controls after e-bikes and chargers flagged as serious fire risks were found for sale on their platforms.

25 Jun 2025

The E-Bike Positive campaign has seen major success in the first half of 2025, with its message reaching nearly 8 million people across the UK through high-profile media coverage and growing...

20 Jun 2025

The House of Commons Business and Trade Committee has asked the ACT, and its parent company Bira, to help them reach out to small business retailers across the country, for their quick input on...

20 Jun 2025

Activate Cycle Academy has reopened its Cytech training facility in Darlington, offering a full range of courses from Home Mechanic up to Cytech Technical Three.
 

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Sustrans calls for improved cycle storage for people on low incomes.

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

The Sustrans Walking and Cycling Index, the biggest UK survey of walking, wheeling and cycling, found only 40% of residents on low incomes had access to a cycle. This compared to 59% in professional occupations. 

parked bikes

Importantly the Index found in 2021 that 70% of residents on a low income would find access to a cycle useful to start cycling. But while people on a low income are less likely to be able to afford the cost of a new cycle, it's not just cost that has been found to put people off getting a cycle. 

Sustrans’ Cycling for Everyone research found that people do not just consider the upfront cost of a cycle but also have concerns over security and insurance in the long term.

60% of residents on a low income or not in employment think access to secure cycle storage at or near their home would help them to cycle more.

Recent research from Cycling Scotland found a third of Scottish households were likely to have no safe place to store their bikes. 46% of Scottish social housing residents have nowhere suitable to store a cycle. The research suggested people living in high-rise buildings, tenement flats and apartment blocks were most likely to be affected.  

Cycling Scotland also found that very few Scottish authorities were retrofitting cycle storage, with no requirement to provide residential cycle storage in national planning and transport policies.  

Sustrans says it believes all people should have access to cycle storage that is convenient, secure, safe, weatherproof and accessible.

However, people on a low income or not in employment are more likely to live in smaller homes, including flats. A lack of space inside homes, no access to private outside space, and living in blocks of flats without step-free access from the street, all make cycle parking harder.   People on low incomes are also more likely to live in areas of multiple deprivation where crime is often higher. This means that secure cycle storage access is vital.

Overcoming cycle storage barriers is critical to increasing cycling levels amongst people on low incomes, it says.

Sustrans is therefore delivering research, supported by Cyclehoop, to better understand cycle storage provisions in the UK and the barriers that people face to safely storing their bikes. This will include a UK-wide representative survey and focus groups to understand the scale of the problem, barriers to home cycle storage and potential solutions.  Sustrans hopes to launch this research in July 2024. 

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