Everyday Cycling in Urban Environments: Understanding Behaviors and Constraints in Space-Time - Computational Approaches for Urban Environments - page 180

processing and presents descriptive statistics about the primary sample. The concept
of corridor space analysis is introduced in the fourth part followed by application of
the concept using real data in Part V. The last part discusses the results and concludes
the chapter.

8.2 Contextual Background

Cycling in British cities is on the increase but at a slow rate (CTC 2014 ), partly
due to the increased costs of private and public transport as a result of the recession
(Allen 2012 ; Brignall and King 2012 ) and partly due to the 2012 London Olympics
as the UK government - taking advantage of the success stories in the 2012
Olympics such as the Paralympics and the Tour de France - has unveiled the
largest investment of about £77 million to make cycling more visible and useful
to encourage everyday cycling (DfT 2013b ) and political backing (Briggs 2012 ;
Charlesworth 2012 ; Shankleman 2012 ; Hill 2012 ) and to a lesser extent as a result
of active transport interventions (Cope et al. 2011 ). The vast majority of these
initiatives and interventions tend to be less top-down with an urgent call for those
at the top to take bold initiatives as pointed out in the recent Get Britain Cycling
report (APPCG 2013 ; Goodwin 2013 ), driven by environmental issues (DfT 2007 ;
UNECE 2009 , 2011 ), health (NIHR 2012 ), and political agendas, usually followed
by improvements in the current national cycling facilities for recreation (Sustrans
2012 ) and commuting, for example, the London Barclays Cycle Superhighways
(TfL 2012 ), but hardly ever matched by significant investments in the infrastructure
which will go a long way to densify existing cycle networks to enable “everyday
practical journeys” (Jones 2012 , p. 148).
The lack of significant investments in cycling infrastructure and limited con-
sultation with commuter cyclists, employers, and bicycle user groups (BUGs) are
evidenced by the mushrooming of cycling campaigners and activist groups in
many British cities. Examples of these groups are Newcastle Cycling Campaign,
Gateshead Cycling Forum, and London Cycling Campaign, to name a few (NCC
2012 ;GCF 2013 ;LCC 2013 ). These groups question whether this wave of perceived
cycling uptake presents a genuine mode shift in British commuting patterns or
whether it is a temporary phenomenon hyped by the media and politicians with
vested interests. There remains the danger that cycling will fail to reach critical
mass , as a result of societal attitudes towards cyclists, coupled with lack of real
investment in cycling infrastructure and gaps in the current cycling facilities. This
means that following the Olympic summer and current recession, cycling uptake
is likely to implode once the Olympic hype is over and we see past recession
returning to the old habits and reliance of private and public transport even for
the most cycleable of short trips (i.e., less than 5 miles). As cycling in British
cities increases, so do conflicts between cyclists and other road users, as well as
debates with city planners who are trying to balance cities' transport infrastructures
in the face of public spending cuts and limited investment. In Tyne and Wear