How many times have I nearly died riding my bike in Britain? Let me count the ways.
Most recently, it was going to meet a friend after work in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, less than a mile from the Guardian’s Deansgate office. I decided to try out the new cycle lane on Portland Street, north of Piccadilly Gardens. I couldn’t believe the transport planners actually wanted me to ride between two bus lanes: a video on the Manchester Evening News website conveys the full horror of being sandwiched between two double deckers, one of which has to cross the bike lane in order to turn right towards Piccadilly station.
We can blame Transport for Greater Manchester for this particular death trap. But in these austere times, local authorities have ever less money to devote to sensible cycling schemes, thanks to central government cuts. That’s why it’s particularly outrageous for the government to sneak out its rubbish “blueprint” for cycling and walking on Easter Sunday, and having the brass neck to try to spin its laughably small investment in cycling and walking as a genuine attempt to make them people’s choice for shorter journeys and to reduce the rate of cyclists killed or seriously injured.
Chris Boardman, the former Olympic cycling champion, was on the BBC Breakfast sofa on Sunday morning to point out how paltry the sum pledged by the government is. The £316m promised over the next five years amounts to barely half of the cost of upgrading Bank tube station and works out at £1.38 per person in England outside London. Meanwhile, the Department for Transport has set aside £15bn to upgrade the nation’s motorways and trunk roads.
Currently, about 1-2% of all trips in the UK are made by bike, compared with 25% or more in some nations, such as the Netherlands, where about £20 a head is spent on cycling. Yes, the Netherlands is flatter than Britain, but the weather is just as bobbins. If the Dutch can do it, so can we. I just hope I survive to see it happen.
