Why do people cycle?

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The other day I visited a friend who I sometimes get together with to play music. Then as I was leaving, her husband arrived. He turned out to be a retired town planner and he is now writing a book about planning for ways to increase cycling for local journeys (this is something the UK government is supposed to be promoting to reduce traffic congestion and pollution and improve public health). We ended up having a very long discussion about cycling, why people do or don’t get on their bikes, and what constitutes good or bad cycling infrastructure – unfortunately around here we have countless examples of really bad infrastructure! I was still thinking about it when I got home and started listing reasons for and against. This was the list I came up with for why people do cycle: It’s cheap. Good exercise. Exercise becomes part of daily routine, not a special effort. Enjoyable. Good family activity. Avoid traffic congestion. Can use low-traffic routes in some places (e.g. designated cycle paths, tow-paths). No congestion charge, emissions charges etc. in towns. No parking charges or risk of parking tickets. Better than sitting at a cold bus stop for 30 or 40 minutes! More flexibility in times and routes. Get warm on a cold morning and no need to scrape ice off the windscreen. On a hot day it’s cooler than sitting in a hot car or bus. Easy to stop if you see something interesting or see a friend on the way. Actually saves time on short journeys when traffic is bad. Can you think of any others? All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2025.