Two wheels better

Play

Narrator: The National Cycle Network has encouraged millions of people to get healthier and do their bit for the environment by using their bikes for work and leisure.

Man 1: My chief reason for using my bike to go to work is probably for the fitness, with the environment and saving money being the second two.

Man 2: The main reason is: it keeps me fit because that’s one of my main forms of exercise. And also it’s cheaper than getting public transport, so you save a lot of money.

Man 3: I’ve always enjoyed a ride, but I guess that I started cycling more seriously about 10 years ago when I started cycling to work and it just became a really quick way of getting from A to B and kind of a very useful way of arriving to work in an un-flustered manner.

Woman 1: I’ve only recently started. I moved house so I started cycling to work from my new house every day. I’ve been doing it for about four or five weeks now; so far so good! I’m really enjoying it so far. I use the bicycles in London that you can hire so I don’t actually own one, I just hire one every day.

Man 2: I notice there are a lot more places to lock your bike up. Like at work we’ve got a place where we can lock them safely away, but I’ve noticed on the streets there are a lot more safe places where you can lock your bikes up.

Woman 1: I pay £45 for the year and then I don’t pay anything else for the hiring of the bike.

Man 4: I use it as a commute, obviously, but I tend to try and use it wherever possible just because it’s cost-effective and it means I’m not spending any money on public transport.

Man 2: You can just put on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Obviously, you’ve got to buy a helmet and lights, but you can make it cheap or you can make it as expensive as you want. If you’re just using it and you’re not going to use it for going on long bike rides… You can spend thousands of pounds, but just to and from work around the city, two or three hundred pounds would do you.

Man 4: For me really, I guess it saves time as much as saves money, but I think also because I have a fairly lively lifestyle, it’s a good way of keeping fit and keeping the weight down.

I think there is not doubt that certainly London at least, where I live, has become a lot more cycle-friendly. There are many more cycle lanes, lots of places to lock your bike up but also many more people cycling.

Narrator: This is a Big Lottery Fund podcast, for more information go to: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

We’re getting fitter and healthier, exploring our countryside and boosting the low-carbon economy through the National Cycle Network

The Millennium Commission funded hundreds of projects to regenerate particular places, but there was one that had a cross-country reach – the National Cycle Network (NCN), which has grown from a 2,500 mile system of safe paths and roads suitable for walking and cycling to its 12,600 mile length today.

“We wanted to make the National Cycle Network a really attractive experience and to build something memorable, as well as something that could be used for everyday journeys that we make – from shopping to work or visiting friends,” explains Sustrans chief executive Malcolm Shepherd. (Sustrans is the charity that oversees the Network.)

By creating a system of safe and attractive paths for walking and cycling, the Network does much more than simply open up many parts of the countryside for leisurely enjoyment – although it has managed that very successfully.

“We felt that the freedom to get on your bike and roam had been lost, particularly among children”

The Network also helps make it possible for more people to use their bikes to travel to and from work: 23 per cent of all trips in 2008 were for commuting, more than double the figure for the previous year.

did you know?

• During 2008, 134 million journeys on the Network were made by people who could have used a car but chose to cycle or walk instead
• Sustrans estimates that cycling on the Network could save the NHS £3.4 billion over the next ten years