Birmingham to ‘fall behind’ other cities for cycling as campaigners make two key demands

A major cycling study has revealed that Birmingham is “lagging behind” both London and Manchester in providing safe cycling. The latest City Ratings, a data analysis tool that ranks global cities in terms of cycling facilities from PeopleForBikes, found that Birmingham is the most cycle-friendly area in the West Midlands, but still trails other major cities in the Britain.

The West Midlands region has seen huge investment in cycling under outgoing mayor Andy Street, with campaigners stressing the need for equal ambition from new Labor mayor Richard Parker. However, the region lags behind both Greater London and Manchester in terms of safe cycling provision.

Birmingham is currently 70th in the UK when it comes to cities with the best safe cycling offer, Manchester 37th and parts of London in the top 5. Participants said the study shows many Brummies want to go more a lot by bike, but “they lack safety”. roads and infrastructure’ to do so.

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The PeopleForBikes campaign aims to highlight the best towns and cities for cycling and provide city leaders and campaigners with useful information to improve cycling in their communities. Jenn Dice, President and CEO of PeopleForBikes, said: “We are proud to release our city rating data. Once again, this program doesn’t just provide scores and rankings, it also provides concrete insights into how cities and towns globally can create safer and more connected places for people to get around.

“The figures for England make it clear that despite significant recent funding in cycling infrastructure, the West Midlands continues to lag behind both London and Greater Manchester. We hope the data is valuable to local authorities, campaigners and anyone who wants to see bigger and better cycling infrastructure.”

City Ratings scores and rankings measure the quality and connectivity of a city’s bike network, including the effectiveness of connected and protected bike lanes, bike lanes, reduced speed limits and safe crossings. A separate report in March found that more than half of Brummies want to walk or cycle more, but almost a fifth of us don’t feel safe doing so.

Commenting on the Cycle Ratings report, Mat MacDonald, chair of Better Streets for Birmingham, said: “It’s encouraging to see Birmingham’s score on this index increase, but there is still a long way to go before people feel safe enough to travel shorter by bike in this city.

“Time and time again, surveys and studies show that many Brummies want to cycle more, but lack the safe roads and infrastructure to make it a reality. If the council is really serious about its vital ambition to reduce car journeys, it needs to step up its game and deliver both the big projects and the quick community wins that will enable people to make the switch to cycling.”