British cities must do more to encourage cycling to help boost the economic fortunes of urban areas, delegates to a sustainable travel conference heard on Thursday.

International Transport Forum economist Philippe Crist said cyclists make more trips to a high street than motorists – and spend more than those who drive over the long run.

“Evidence is building throughout the world that cycling is good for commerce and it is worth considering this when developing transport policy in the UK,” he said.

“Cars don’t buy things, people do,” he continued, adding that a bicycle parking space in a city centre can generate three times as much economic value than a car parking space.

He went on to say that a study in Bristol found shop owners to overestimate the proportion of their customers that arrive by car, but underestimate the number that arrived by bike or on foot.

“Cycling is a tool for economic development and for attracting and retaining high value workers,” Mr Crist said. “A city that promotes active mobility can help local governments to attract large companies.”

He added that British cities need to revise their approach to traffic planning in order to attract more cyclists and walkers. “Choices made over the past half century have made it easy for cars to access cities, but this has to change.”

Mr Crist was addressing the ACT Travelwise annual conference in Camden, north London, where Transport Minister Robert Goodwill also spoke.

The Minister agreed that promoting cycling can lead to commercial benefit and warned: “Relying on clogged, congested roads and transport modes that do not include physical activity harms its users and leads to an unstable economy, which in the long run is a weak economy.”

Mr Goodwill added that encouraging active travel is a priority for Government, which aims to double the number of journeys made by bicycle. He stressed that it is safe too. “When I tell people that I cycle every day in London they say I must be mad. But cycling is a very safe way of getting around London.”

He added that Government’s walking and cycling investment strategy, promised in the last Parliament, will be published before this summer.

(Photo: Tejvan Pettinger and licenced for reuse under this Creative Commons licence)