How long does it take to cycle between popular spots in Manchester?

A lot of people wonder exactly how long it would take to get to their regular destinations by bike in Manchester, and are often surprised at how little time it takes.

Currently, there are 250 million car journeys of less than one kilometre made each year in Greater Manchester, which is about the equivalent of a five minute bike ride, so we wanted to show people a simple way of understanding just how quickly you can arrive at your destination if you take a bicycle

We set about researching the journey times, for an average adult, to cycle between each tram stop on the Metrolink network and then overlayed that cycling data with a version of the existing, recognisable Manchester Metrolink map.

We were pleasantly surprised at how quick some of the journeys are e.g. Monsall to Victoria Station is a leisurely twelve minute ride by bike while Media City to Deansgate is just a twenty minute spin.

Given that congestion is currently costing businesses in Greater Manchester an estimated £1.3Billion annually, as well as the population of Manchester suffering with the same air quality issues and obesity related illnesses as other cities in the UK, any way of showing people how easy it is to use a bicycle for their regular transportation is something to be encouraged

With the surprisingly large health benefits of local leisurely cycling, and not to mention how expensive driving and parking can be around Manchester, it makes sense to see if travelling by bike is a viable alternative for local journeys

With the exciting new Beelines cycling routes planned by Transport for Greater Manchester we expect some of the new routes to reduce cycle times even more so we’ll do another version of this map when the new routes are built to compare the differences.

Have you got friends thinking about getting a bike and riding in Manchester? Share this with them and let them know how quick and easy their journey could be.