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Hello and welcome to the TCC Weekly – the Friday bulletin for people who know their Wilhelm Scream from their Munch Scream.
Today we look, in our politics section, at the topic of cycling. Why is it that we Brits are so unwilling to switch four wheels for two?
And of course, there’s Charlie’s Attic, the part of the bulletin which is never pedestrian. This week is a bumper edition, including an AI rendition of Barbie Girl and polling on types of belly button.
Vicious cycles
We were drawn to a recent YouGov poll, spanning 12 countries, which finds that Britain has the most negative view of cycling as a mode of transport. Just 43% are positive about cycling, compared to 80% in the highest scoring country – bike-mad Poland. In a week where ULEZ restrictions on drivers have become a political hot topic, it’s interesting to ponder why we Brits are so suspicious of two wheels.
It’s important to stress that the question asked is about ‘cycling’ rather than ‘cyclists’. For anyone about to blame Lycra-clad types ignoring red lights, this wasn’t necessarily a referendum on those using bikes.
With this said, we wonder whether these questions are as charged – or as laden with identity politics – in other countries. Bike use verges on being a culture war issue here, with footage such as Jeremy Vine’s helmet cam videos generating furious debate on social media. Cycling has, for a whole range of reasons, become about more than getting from A to B.
Perhaps, however, more mundane factors ultimately explain Britain’s resistance to bike use. Many parts of the country remain poorly set up for cycling, meaning that doing so can be dangerous – and leave you open to the ire of motorists and pedestrians alike. The creates a vicious cycle (pun intended!), where getting on your bike is less appealing, where those who do ride to work defend their right to do so more stridently, and where being behind the wheel of a car comes to feel like the only way of travelling freely.
According to this version of events the ‘four wheels good, two wheels bad’/ ‘two wheels good, four wheels bad’ identity politics follows the infrastructure. A lack of good bike lanes creates a turf war over who uses the roads and how, creating a divide which is ever harder to cross.
And finally Charlie’s Attic, the part of the Weekly that freewheels in its own direction each Friday:
