Public bodies in England who wish to fund cycling infrastructure need to present a business case that justifies the investment. The idea of spending money to encourage people to cycle wasn’t central to public policy in the UK until quite recently. We therefore make the case for investment in cycling using an approach that evolved from the appraisal of more traditional transport projects, like highway improvements or new railway stations.
Planners and politicians in many countries seek to increase the proportion of trips made by cycling. However, this is often challenging. In England, a national target to double cycling by 2025 is likely to be missed: between 2001 and 2011 the proportion of commutes made by cycling barely grew. One important contributory factor is continued low investment in cycling infrastructure, by comparison to European leaders.
