Health

The positive consequences of biking as a healthy mode of transportation, or as a purely recreational activity, span across many aspects of our lives. They can be expressed in terms of the health of the environment (and resulting health of all living things), as well as the health of individuals who are more physically active. A transportation system that is conducive to bicycling can reap many benefits in terms of reduced traffic congestion and improved quality of life.

Economy

Economic rewards both to the individual and to society are also realized through reduced health care costs and reduced dependency on auto ownership (and the resulting insurance and maintenance costs). There are also other economic benefits of bicycling that are more difficult to measure, such as the increased economic vitality of communities that have emphasized bicycle mobility. Finally, bike-able communities create a more equitable society that provides transportation choice for all citizens.

Regular cyclists enjoy a fitness level equal to that of a person ten years younger. (Source: National Forum for Coronary Heart Disease Foundation, Sharp)

Want to burn calories? Don't tuck in behind another rider: that reduces energy expenditure by 30 percent. How many calories can you burn when cycling? Lance Armstrong burns about 1000 calories an hour in the Tour deFrance, going about 80 miles a day at an average of 24 mph. A reasonably fit female cyclist, riding on a flat road at 18 miles per hour for an hour, and weighing 125-pounds, would burn 555 calories. Running for an hour, at 8 minutes a mile, the woman would burn a little over 600 calories but runners cannot usually sustain sessions of more than an hour in duration whereas cyclists, supported by their machines, can easily ride for three hours plus with little risk of injury. (Source: Dr. James Hagberg, exercise physiologist at the University of Maryland, USA).

Cycling at least twenty miles a week reduces the risk of heart disease to less than half that for non-cyclists who take no other exercise. (Source: British Heart Foundation, Morris)

If one third of all short car journeys were made by bike, national heart disease rates would fall by between 5 and 10 percent. (Source: Bikes not Fumes, CTC, 1992).

The average UK resident spends about 9 days a year in a car. (Source: National Travel Survey).

The UK has the worst traffic congestion in Europe. (Source: Commission for Integrated Transport, November 2001).

The Confederation of British Industry estimates that congestion costs the UK economy up to £20 billion per year. The European Commission's report - The Hour of Choice (2001) says congestion costs Europe up to £85 billion a year. Road traffic in the EU is forecast to increase by 50 per cent by 2010. Europe is being asphyxiated by congestion,î the study said.

A typical train commuter spends £12 a day (£5 on the train journey, £2 on coffee and snack, and £5 on lunch) and a typical road commuter £14 per day (average 17 miles @ 40p per mile, £2 coffee and snack and £5 lunch) or £30 per day in London if the £8 congestion charge and £8 parking fee are included. Potential savings [of cycling to work, and bypassing the cappucinno bar) could be between £1,152 and £2,880 per year.  (Source: Cost of car and train travel, Europ Assistance press release, May 2006)

46% of motorists admit they exceeded the speed limit most days. (Source: Counting the Cost, Cutting Congestion, RAC Foundation, 2004)

Regular cyclists have a similar annual risk of road deathto regular motorists. In the UK, there is roughly one death per 20 000 years regular driving or cycling. In the rest of Europe, the annual death risk is lower for cyclists. Annualdeath risk is believed to be a more accurate reflection of risk, compared to deaths per kilometre, as regular cyclists don't travel as far as regular motorists. (Source: Malcolm Wardlaw)

Gardening is more risky than cycling! An Australian survey found 5 percent of gardeners but only 4 percent of cyclists requiring medical care for an activity related injury in the survey period. (Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 17th January 2003)

Obesity is costing the [UK] economy £2 billion. Cases of type 2 diabetes are increasing among our young people, and the projection is that if something is not done about obesity, the economy will have to bear £3.5 billion in related costs by 2010.  (Source: Richard Caborn MP, Minister of sport, replying to a parliamentary question, 10th November 2003)

The Copenhagen Study (2000) concluded that those who did not cycle to work experienced a 39 percent higher mortality rate than those who didn't.

Kids are getting fatter, partly through inactivity. Children's waistlines have expanded by two clothing sizes over the past 20 years, says research published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. The report also says that girls are getting fatter quicker than boys. Dr Mary Rudolf of East Leeds primary care trust said in the British Medical Journal: This figure is all the more disturbing when one reflects on how many notches on a belt this represents.î Waist size is seen as an important indicator because of the link between abnormal girth in adulthood and increased risk of heart disease. Waist circumferences were also significantly larger than in 1996 and had increased by an average 4cm over 20 years.

The single most important tool to increase the number of people who [are] physically active [is improved conditions for walking and cycling. (Source: A Physically Active Life Through Everyday Transport, ed Dr Adrian Davis, World Health Organisation)

In 2004, there were 134 cyclists killed in the UK, as recorded by the police on STATS19.

The more people who cycle, the safer it becomes for each cyclists. According to the Jacobsen's Growth Rule, if the amount of cycling doubles, the risk per cyclist falls by 34 percent. If cycling halves, the risk per cyclist increases by 52 percent. (Source: Safety in numbers, more walkers and bicyclists, safer walking and bicycling, PL Jacobsen, Injury Prevention, Sept 2003).

Cycling gets a lot less money from central Government than it would like, but a lot more than it used to get. In January 2008, the Department for Transport pumped in a record GBP 140 million (€ 156.5mn) investment.
Cycling England had asked for GBP 250 million (€ 279.4mn). Cycling England’s previous budget was GBP 10 million (€ 11.2mn) per annum. The GBP 140 million (€ 156.5mn) is split over three years.

Phillip Darnton, Chairman of Cycling England, said:

“Cycling England produced compelling evidence to show that increased and sustained levels of investment in cycling can make a substantial impact. The bicycle really does have a role in helping meet England’s transport challenges. It is now taking its place as a proper mode of transport.”

Bristol may be Cycling England’s official Cycling Demonstration City but it’s London that is doing most to promote the use of bikes. At a cycling conference in October, speaker Peter Lensink of Ned Railways said cycling in London was at a tipping point.

“There’s been a change in perception, not just people in Lycra. Biking is becoming part of mobility. I pedal on a Dutch roadster and cycle everywhere in my suit. There are now lots like me. Who would ever have imagined the junction between Tavistock Square and Tavistock Place would have cycle congestion in the mornings?”

Before he was ousted by cyclist Boris Johnson, the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone announced a GBP 500 million (€ 559.2mn) 10-year plan to transform cycling in London. There’s to be a Vélib-style bike hire scheme with 6,000 bikes available every 300 metres. There will also be radial ‘Cycling Corridors’ - bicycle superhighways - for commuters to provide high-profile, easy to follow cycling streams into central London.

Jenny Jones, Green Party member of the London Assembly, said:

“These plans for promoting cycling and walking are more ambitious than anything which has been tried before in this country, but they are exactly what we need to persuade large numbers of Londoners out of their cars.”