With a UK parliamentary enquiry underway, there's been a lot of buzz about how the country should increase cycling. ECF’s Director of Development, Kevin Mayne, spoke to the global radio station Monocle . A seasoned veteran in the field of bicycle advocacy, he has some great advice.  

Why is that some countries manage to have more than a third of trips by bicycle yet others only see the young and brave on two wheels? And why do 40% of Danish children cycle to school, yet in the US, Australia and the United Kingdom, that figure doesn't make double digits. Speaking on radio, our very own Director of Development shared his thoughts. 

"Government needs to invest in public confidence," Mayne told Monocle Radio. 

"When you ask across Europe what has given public confidence, the first thing we see is that cycling is backed consistently by money, not just talk, for years. It's a proper mode of transport."

Indeed, countries which see high levels of cycling spend money. The Dutch allocate an estimated €25 per head. As a bare minimum, national and local governments should be spending 10% of their transport budget on cycling. But part of getting people on bicycles means tackling other issues, such as car use.  

"Nobody's made change really fast by taking cycling in isolation. They've dealt with car-driving behaviour, they've dealt with speed...  roads are made for children to live on and play on," Mayne said. 

Mayne is equally adamant that both local and national governments need to get behind cycling and work in tandem. Also on the show, Helle Soholte from Gehl Architects offered some timely advice.

"There's not just one model that works all over the  world," Soholte explained. 

"But there's not a single traffic planner that will disagree with me;  when we build more roads, we get more traffic. The same is true for bicycle infrastructure. If we do provide people friendly bicycle infrastructure, we will see more people bicycling."

With the UK's parliamentary enquiry going on today, let's hope that we see talk of more cycling translated into money and budget lines. This is what will make the difference between 2% of people cycling and 20% . 

 You can listen to the Monocle Radio Interview Below 

About the Author 

Julian Ferguson is the Communications Officer for the European Cyclists’ Federation. Originally hailing from Australia and a keen bicycle advocate, he plans one day to ride his bicycle from Brussels to Melbourne