The Health Benefits of Cycling

With high petrol prices, is it not time to get out of the car and start cycling? Rather than further subsidizing car use (i.e reducing petrol prices), it is time to invest in this active transport mode. It will not only relieve our car dominated and highly polluted cities but also provide a healthy and sustainable way to move around.

[This text was originally published in Catalan in Diputació de Barcelona’s EspaiS@lut bulletin.]

Cycling is Healthier

Cycling has many benefits, as it increases physical activity and reduces e.g. premature mortality, cardiovascular disease and cancer risk, it combines transport with the gym (many people don’t have time to go to the gym), it does not cause air and noise pollution, it emits zero CO2, it uses much less space than the car and cyclists tend to be happier than other transport users.

The bicycle is an excellent way to lose weight, specially these days when many people are overweight or obese. A number of studies have shown that cyclists weigh less than car drivers, and that also car drivers who switch to cycling lose weight. 

A recent study found that if high cycling scenarios are achieved in 17 countries by 2050 (assuming that 100% of bike trips replace car trips) 205,424 annual premature deaths could be prevented annually among 18-64 year olds. If only 8% of bike trips replace car trips in a more conservative scenario, 18,589 annual premature deaths could be prevented by 2050 in the same population

Cycling is Cheaper

Cost-benefit analyses show that costs of cycling are generally much lower than car use; for example, the cost of car driving is more than six times higher (Euro 0.50/km) than cycling (Euro 0.08/km) in Copenhagen. 

Cycling is Better for the Planet

People who walk or cycle have lower carbon footprints from daily travel (up to 84%). Urban residents who switch from car driving to cycling for just one trip per day can reduce their annual carbon footprint by about half a tonne of CO₂. If just one in five urban residents permanently changed their travel behaviour, it would cut emissions from all car travel in Europe by about 8%.

Given all these benefits why do people generally cycle so little and is cycling restricted to “cycling paradises” like the Netherlands and Denmark? What makes cycling possible in these countries and not in others? 

What Do We Need to Do to Get People Cycling?

A large number of car trips are less than 5 kilometers (as high as 50%) and these could easily be replaced by other more sustainable and healthier modes of transport such as cycling.

What deters many people from cycling is safety concerns. Accident rates for cyclists are still considerably higher than, for example, for car drivers (although accident rates for motor bikes are even worse). Therefore, an important prerequisite for cycling is e.g. the availability of safe cycling infrastructure, including segregated cycling lanes.

A recent comparison between the historical development of per-capita bicycle ownership and car ownership reveals five varying types in an S-curve among different countries. High bicycle ownership does not necessarily lead to high bicycle use, which is instead still marginal in daily trips worldwide (<5% for most countries). The study suggests that pro-bicycle policy and infrastructure development enabled modal shift like the Netherlands and Denmark can lead to significant untapped climate and health benefits worldwide, if implemented.

Putting a safe segregated cycling lane in each street could save 250 premature deaths annually in a city like Barcelona because of the increase in physical activity

Cities urgently need to create (more) safe cycling networks throughout the city, or free up some streets altogether for only cycling and walking. A recent German study using cycling counters in 106 European cities showed that the 20 cities that had considerably increased their cycling network (on average by 11.5 kilometers) during the COVID-19 pandemic saw also an increase in cycling by 11% to 40% compared to those that did not.

Another study of 167 European cities found that there was a direct relationship between the availability of safe cycling infrastructure and the percentage of cycling mode share and that around 10,000 premature deaths could be prevented annually in these cities if 1 out of 4 trips was through cycling. Putting a safe segregated cycling lane in each street could save 250 premature deaths annually in a city like Barcelona because of the increase in physical activity.

Although the cycling network has increased dramatically over the past few years in many cities, being a cyclist still feels like being a second class road user.

Although the cycling network has increased dramatically over the past few years in many cities, being a cyclist still feels like being a second class road user. Too often where to put cycling lanes seems to be an afterthought and cyclists have to make strange maneuvers to move around and at times cycling lanes stop and they end up between heavy motorized traffic. This needs to change and we should be planning first and foremost for pedestrians and cyclists and then then other mode of transport.

Bike sharing systems (BSS) have also increased cycling and provide health benefits. An analyses of 12 BSS in Europe found that health benefits of physical activity outweighed the health risk of traffic fatalities and air pollution. It was estimated that 5.17 annual deaths are avoided in the twelve BSS, with the actual level of car trip substitution, corresponding to an annual saving of 18 million €. If all BSS trips replaced car trips, 73.25 deaths could be avoided each year (225 million Euros saving) in the twelve cities.

Cycling superhighways

A challenge for a city in a metropolitan area is the private motorized traffic coming from the rest of the metropolitan area. To face this challenge, more and better public transport is urgently needed, but also cycling superhighways to encourage cycling.

Electric bikes have become more popular over the past few years, as the prices have come down. Electric bikes allow for long distance cycling journeys. They also allow for older people to cycle and also cycling in hilly areas as they require less effort. But they still provide physical activity. In the Netherlands and Belgium electric bikes have become popular for long distance commuting with distances up to 30 kilometers.

Reinforcing cycling cultures

We also need to develop initiatives that reinforce cycling cultures and the ability for all individuals to access and perceive cycling as a viable, safe, empowering mode of transportation. For example

1. Raising awareness and education through cycling trainings, campaigns, awareness programs, community engagement.
2. Provide stimulation and access through e-bike subsidies and tryouts, bike repair vouchers, earn-a bike programs, bike libraries, cycle to work/cycle to school.
3. Ephemeral interventions through open streets, school streets, slow streets, festivals and sports events to promote everyday cycling.

Also, reducing car speed to a maximum of 30 km/h will help to improve bike safety and reduce accidents. The recent law (Real Decreto 970/2020, el artículo 50 del Reglamento de Circulación) that was introduced on May 11 to reduce speeds to 30 km/h in Spanish cities is an important step, but must be enforced to make it work and extended to all roads in the city. A collision between a car and cyclist, or a pedestrian, at 30 km/hrs is much less likely to result in death than say at 50 km/hrs.

Most of all we need to change the planning pyramid cities; first we should plan for walking, then cycling, followed by public transport and finally for private motorized traffic rather than the other way around that currently seems to be the case<

But also we need further legislation like in the Netherlands, where when a bicycle and car collide, it is always the fault of the car driver. This encourages caution in driving. Also children should be taught in schools how to use the roads and their rights to use the roads. Roads are public spaces for us all to use and enjoy, not only car drivers.

Most of all we need to change the planning pyramid cities; first we should plan for walking, then cycling, followed by public transport and finally for private motorized traffic rather than the other way around that currently seems to be the case. Let´s put healthy and sustainable mobility on the top of the pyramid and make cities that are sustainable, liveable and healthy.

Tool for Estimating Health and Economic Impacts

The World Health Organization has developed a tool to help urban planners to estimate the potential health and economic benefits of cycling and conduct cost benefits analyses. The Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) for walking and for cycling estimates provides physical activity, air pollution, injuries and carbon impact assessments and helps planners to make the case to introduce more cycling infrastructure.

HEAT is designed to enable users without expertise in impact assessment to assess the economics of the health effect of walking or cycling. The tool is based on the best available evidence and transparent assumptions. It is intended to be simple to use by a wide variety of professionals at both the national and local levels. These include primarily transport and urban planners, traffic engineers and special interest groups working on transport, active transport or the environment.

Amsterdam before and after urban and transport changes. Photo: Amsterdam Archives / T. Schlijper.

How Did The Netherlands Do It?

The Netherlands is always seen as a cycling paradise and it is often assumed that such level of cycling could not be achieved elsewhere. However, the Netherlands was not always a cycling paradise and only because of specific policies and investments since the 1970s has cycling increased over the years. It did not happen at once, but slowly over time. It was not only a measure that was important in cycling but a multitude of coherent measures that promoted and made safe cycling possible. We need to learn the lessons and introduce the right measures, only then can cycling level increase.