Cycling Rates in Europe

[flecc]

The link below has a survey of rates of cycling as the main means of transport in Europe. It appears to show the UK as having 16% of the population having the bicycle as their main means of transport, more than half the Netherlands level! It's nothing remotely like that of course, other online sources seen previously give it as 1 or 2%.

EU survey on Vehicles Used as Main Means of Transport
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[ding-dong]

Virtually all the e-bikes I see around here on the costa blanca are owned by Dutch people who come on holiday in motorhomes & caravans. ding-dong. Ed

 

[Mussels]

Paid for by the Directorate General Mobility and Transport, I guess the report said whatever was on their agenda that week.

 

[Scottyf]

I've started to see more bikes and even more electric bikes on my commute now.
Couple of meake shift ones too.

Its definetly on the rise.

 

[flecc]

Paid for by the Directorate General Mobility and Transport, I guess the report said whatever was on their agenda that week.

Indeed. I doubt if 16% of the UK population even own a bike!

 

[Scottyf]

Maybe 16% would own a bike but out of that 16% only 1% would use it.

I have alot of friends that do weekend riding MTB and trials not competativly but they are quite outdoor orintated. If I said about commuting with a bicycle I think they laugh at me.

A couple in London use it as their main travel though.

 

[flecc]

Yes, the figures do make a bit more sense in London, due to the congestion charge doubling cycle commuting, but it's still not 16% of all transport forms though.

Elsewhere in the country, although increasing, it's still very low. Even if it had doubled recently (unlikely), that would still only make it about 3% at most using bicycles as their main means of transport.

Europe's claim about the UK percentage proportion means that 1 in 6 of all people, including children, the very old and the disabled, use bicycles for most things, school runs, commuting, weekly shopping etc. Excluding those children, elderly and disabled who don't cycle, we end up with about 1 in 4 using bicycles as their main transport means to justify the claim. That's ludicrous.

 

[Scimitar]

The link below has a survey of rates of cycling as the main means of transport in Europe. It appears to show the UK as having 16% of the population having the bicycle as their main means of transport, more than half the Netherlands level! It's nothing remotely like that of course, other online sources seen previously give it as 1 or 2%.

EU survey on Vehicles Used as Main Means of Transport
.

It also seems a load of rubbish for cycling in Ireland, with it claiming 15% for Irish cyclists. Utter nonsense. The figure of 68% for car use in Ireland isn't wildly out.
I suspect the telephone survey had people simply lying to seem greeener, especially if they have a bike in the shed that they intended to use more (but never did).

 

[OTH]

I think the survey shows 2% cycle in the UK compared with 31% in the Netherlands (Ref: graph D7). This is a little more credible.

 

[flecc]

With more than one graph shown as D7, the bars non-linear and the numerical presentation very confusing, it's difficult to tell what we are supposed to read. The 2% is the accepted figure for UK cycling on some other online sources, but those don't specify cycling as the main mode of transport.

 

[Mussels]

It also seems a load of rubbish for cycling in Ireland, with it claiming 15% for Irish cyclists. Utter nonsense. The figure of 68% for car use in Ireland isn't wildly out.
I suspect the telephone survey had people simply lying to seem greeener, especially if they have a bike in the shed that they intended to use more (but never did).

I reckon lots of people who used the cycle to work scheme didn't want to 'fess up to not adhering to the terms and conditions.