World Car
Free Day
Today marks World Car Free Day, a day in which motorists around the world are encouraged to give up their cars and celebrate their local communities with less motor traffic.
Recently, we ran a study into lockdown modes of transport which shows what we had already suspected as a result of cycling experiencing a boom in popularity.
A staggering 78% of new cyclists say that they started during lockdown to avoid COVID19 and with winter coming, people are now more willing to brave the elements with 65% saying they would prefer to cycle in wind and rain instead of going on public transport in order to avoid risk.
We’re supporting this year's World Car Free Day with the new research, to switch up the nations mindset when it comes to cycling and encourage more journeys to be made by bike.
Our Managing Director, Lee Kidger has said that ‘health and wellbeing is of great importance to people, and the current situation has only accelerated peoples thoughts on cycling. It’s been great to see the popularity of cycling on the rise in people's everyday lives, as a way to see some positive health benefits, as a money saver and also to lessen reliance on public transport.’
This week is also World Climate Week, and the rise in cycling has demonstrated great environmental benefits too. 67% of Brits agree that the air was cleaner during the lockdown and that they don’t want to return to the polluted air pre-lockdown. 90% think some of the reasons behind the cleaner air was due to people cycling more and driving less.
We’re calling for this World Car Free Day to be the catalyst for cycling to be more catered for on UK roads. 57% of people surveyed would like to see more cycle lanes, 52% would agree with motorists in wanting a smoother road surface and 37% say educating drivers more about cyclists will help make the UK roads safer for all.
Kidger continues, ‘this isn’t just people wearing lycra or riding the mountains, it’s a choice to embrace cycling as a new everyday mode of transport for the long term. We have a unique opportunity to make a significant step change in cycling habits to make the country a more ecologically sustainable environment and to deliver a reduction in emissions. This teamed with a positive benefit on health and wellbeing has to be high priority for a significant proportion of the population as well as government priorities.