Cycling is Transport

I've written before about the parlous future before us if we do not, as a people, extricate ourselves from our dependency on the motor car. Now I have grounds to be optimistic, but tragically, these grounds seem to be smothered and overwhelmed by grounds for pessimism.

I believe that the future of mass short-range transport in Britain is the electric bicycle, not the electric car, and still less the driver-less car.

Look at it this way:

If we replace every existing car with an electric car we have the same congestion as we have now, without any drop in road casualties.

We can't all afford an electric car. Electric cars which are second hand are likely to remain expensive, because they will need, or will soon need, a replacement battery. (We have to hope that the batteries can be recycled).

We can't all charge an electric car. A great many people live in homes with no direct access to the street - people in flats are the most obvious group, but there are others. Even people who do have access to the street often do not have a private driveway.

Even if we manage to get driverless cars to work (which we would presumably use on a shared basis), then they will not mix with other types of road users. So they are only likely to work in confined areas, which will presumably be no-go areas for cyclists and pedestrians. And that's if we ever get them to work faultlessly. They'll be useless in rural areas.

Electric pool cars will have a place, but if people need to book time in one, then there is an element of inconvenience. This may tip the balance of convenience towards an electric type of "vehicle" which they can afford, and which they can store easily and charge readily. The electric bike (or a non-electric one) may come to be seen as a very convenient tool for ad-hoc short journeys.

According to Sustrans in their statistical report for England dated 2016 and updated in 2018: 62% of all trips were made by car, either as driver or passenger, 25% of trips were made by foot, 5% by bus, 3% by train, 2% by cycling and 2% by other. At the same time, 68% of trips were under 5 miles (which includes trips on foot) and 23% of trips were under 1 mile. 56% of car driver trips were under 5 miles.

This suggests that 91% of all trips were under 5 miles, some of which are walked or cycled, but all of which could be walked or cycled or ridden easily on an ebike.

But:

Search the BBC website for cycling, and today (as I write this) every hit is about sport. Not a single article about transport comes up. It's as though it hasn't occurred to anyone!