Government Pumps Money into Cycle Lanes

The government has given cycle lanes a boost of £175 million, as they continue to increase in popularity. 

Many more people are viewing cycling as a healthy way to travel, both for the health and the environment. As the UK enters a second lockdown, bike usage will go up again and will be viewed by many as a great form of exercise. There were 300% more cyclists on the road during the first lockdown, as people used this as their form of daily exercise.  

It is essential that bikes are used more often than they are currently. 80% of people believe that travelling by bicycle is a good way to reduce traffic and feel that the level of traffic is too high. More people riding their bike is a great way to do this, and many people are trying to make the change to commute by bike instead of by car or train.  

The government is keen to reduce the levels of climate change by making people cycle and walk more and introducing this scheme will certainly help. When the prime minister, Boris Johnson, was London Mayor, he brought in a new scheme called ‘Boris Bikes’ where people were encouraged to cycle with free bikes around London. This scheme has been viewed as highly successful and has helped to reduce traffic and levels of climate change. By investing more in cycle lanes, he hopes that a similar thing will happen, and that people will start riding their bikes more. Another advantage is the benefit to the health. Riding a bike is a good aerobic activity that will improve health, rather than sitting in a car. 

There have been many sceptics of the scheme, believing that cycle lanes will cause more crashes and will slow traffic down, however the government belives that this will not be the case

To conclude, riding a bike instead of going by car can reduce traffic and climate change whilst being healthy. The new lockdown has given many people the opportunity to try out this new mode of transport, and the government aims to keep up the numbers of people riding their bike to help all of these factors, whilst believing that it will be a good use of money.