Rather than engage in culture wars rhetoric, the new London Loves Cycling campaign, which launches today, focuses on the joy and benefits cycling brings to millions of Londoners.
By London Cycling Campaign
For some Mayoral candidates, “militant” cyclists are taking over the capital’s roads, causing “a war on motorists” and “gridlock“, while protected cycle lanes “cause nothing but havoc“. Rather than engage in culture wars rhetoric, the new London Loves Cycling campaign, which launches today, focuses on the joy and benefits cycling brings to millions of Londoners, reminding candidates how mainstream it is now; how much Londoners want their next mayor to build on the cycling success the city is already seeing; and just how much London really loves cycling.
“I started cycling during Covid as a way to avoid crowded public transport and now I can’t imagine not cycling to get to and from work, the gym, the pool, etc. Safe cycling infrastructure was absolutely key to me feeling confident as a beginner cyclist and I love how quickly I can get from A to B. It’s something that fills me with joy when I ride along the Embankment on a sunny day or through a park with fresh air in my face,” Georgia Williams
London, of course, really has embraced cycling. While one candidate claims “only 2-3 per cent of the population are cyclists“, cycling in London is now a mainstream transport mode, with TfL saying 1.26m journeys are cycled daily, a third of all tube journeys – and indeed on the average day, cycling accounts for 4.5% of all journeys made in the capital. TfL surveys suggest 1 in 5 Londoners who don’t currently cycle are actively considering it while nearly a quarter of all Londoners cycled in the capital in the last year.
This Mayoral election increasingly looks set to pit candidates who want cleaner air, more people cycling healthily and fewer unnecessary climate-hitting car journeys versus those intent on ending over a decade of progress delivered by both Labour and Conservative Mayors. LCC’s London Loves Cycling campaign, launching 3 April, is set to show that such an approach would be unpopular and futile, given the rising popularity of cycling with so many Londoners, who are realising the social, health and environmental benefits it brings.
Read more about the campaign and how you can get involved here.
