Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman and British Cycling have launched a 10-point manifesto to increase the number of journeys made by bike and improve safety.
Dubbed Time to Choose Cycling, the manifesto – to be presented to the government – includes proposals to accommodate cycle-friendly infrastructure in all new road building and refurbishment, add cycling safety to the driving test, make bike training available to all children and tackle dangerous lorries.
It will also back a measure in the landmark Get Britain Cycling report, published in April last year, urging the government to increase spend of on cycling from £2 to £10 per head.
To coincide with the launch, BC-commissioned research from Cambridge University will show what the beneficial impact would be if 10 percent of journeys in the UK were by bike. Currently, just two percent are pedal powered.
According to the study, if people cycled for five minutes of the average 36-minute commute there would be an almost five percent reduction in the burden of inactivity-related illness on the national purse.
Boardman, said: “Britain is now one of the most successful cycling nations in the world. How can we be getting it so right in terms of elite success but still be failing to truly embed cycling as an everyday part of British culture? This research demonstrates that the impact of more cycling would have positive effects for everyone."
