Cardiff’s ambitious new cycling strategy aims to double the number of trips taken by bike, part of its ultimate goal to become Europe’s most liveable capital. But Cambridge, the reigning champ of cycling, won’t be beaten easily

If Cardiff and Cambridge were in a race to become the UK’s top cycling city, the latter would, predictably, be in the lead as Cardiff’s red dragon puffs along behind – realising, deep down, that it’s got some training to do.

You could argue that Cambridge, with decades of cycle-centric planning and investment, is the clear national champion, whereas Cardiff is more of your regional champ with promise.

That said, the Welsh capital has big dreams. It hopes to double cycling in the next 10 years, from its current 9.2% of all commutes (not bad for the UK, though it pales in comparison to Cambridge’s 30%). The more immediate goal is to reduce trips made by private car to 50% by 2026, the other 50% by public transport, walking and cycling. Currently 56.1% of Cardiff commutes are by private car, while 16.5% are by foot.

Cardiff’s ultimate goal is to become Europe’s most “liveable” capital city, and its new cycling strategy sets out how it will achieve this.

As Chris Weaver, councillor and assistant to the cabinet for active travel in Cardiff, explains, getting more people on bikes and tackling congestion and air pollution is crucial to achieving that goal. And as Cardiff’s new draft cycling strategy says, a city that’s good for cycling is an attractive city in which to live – and invest.

“The key thing is about improving life here in Cardiff,” he says. “We want it to be possible for people to be able to cycle safely. So many journeys are achievable by bike, by so many people. And it’s a cheap, environmentally friendly and fun way to travel.”

Like Cambridge, Cardiff is flat and fairly compact – 52% of journeys in the capital are less than 5km, which would take an estimated 20 minutes or less by bike.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cardiff hopes to double the number of commutes by cycling by 2026. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

“If we make our infrastructure safer it really could free up a lot of people to [cycle],” says Weaver. “There is unmet demand for it, but the way the city is currently laid out they feel unsafe doing it.”

All local authorities in Wales now have an obligation, under the 2013 Active Travel (Wales) Act, to map existing walking and cycling routes, and then improve and link them up. Cardiff will tie in its cycling plans with these obligations.

One motivation is the rather pressing issue of growth: from 2005-2015 the population of the city increased by 11% – and it continues to grow. Cardiff recognises expanding road space is neither affordable nor sustainable, and if all the additional Cardiffians were to take to private cars, Weaver says, there would be gridlock.

Weaver and his colleagues will need to offer more than favourable topography and short commutes if they hope to see 38,000 more cycling trips by bike per day in the next decade. They will have to address fears of cycling in traffic to make up ground with Cambridge.

At present, routes suitable for any age to cycle on, which meet Active Travel Act design guidance, are sparse. Totalling several incomplete strands overlaid on the map of Cardiff, they give the impression someone tried to draw a tortoise, blindfolded.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Almost 30% of people in Cardiff don’t cycle but would like to. Photograph: Alamy

Cardiff’s cycling strategy says those missing links will be filled, especially in the city centre, while two major new routes, a strategic east-west and a north-south link, will be built between places of work, education, and homes. Developers will need to start including cycle infrastructure in their plans, while businesses will be encouraged to provide end-of-journey facilities, like secure parking.

Cardiff is aiming for the best European design standards, and they’ve set out how different types of route will look, like cycle lanes protected by car parking, with priority at side roads.

So how does Cambridge feel about this newcomer, snapping at its heels? Cambridgeshire county council’s cycling projects team leader, Mike Davies, wants cycling normalised across the UK, so more cities can enjoy its benefits.

Cardiff has the ambitious plans and leadership, but a lack of investment from the Welsh government is holding them back Sam Jones

However, he warns, it’s not enough just to encourage cycling. Cambridge has had to tackle car dominance, and Cardiff will, too.

He says: “I think the most important message for any of these cities is they can spend millions building infrastructure but unless they implement some measures that make it unattractive to drive – like making areas permeable for cyclists but not cars– they will end up like Stevenage – with a network of protected cycle routes few use, because it’s still too easy to drive and park.”

It will take more than motivation to succeed, which brings us to the sticky point of funds.

Of the £39 spent on transport in Cardiff per resident per year, less than £4 goes on cycling – money that will need to be spent wisely if the city wants to break into the big league. It’s nowhere near what European cities have spent on cycling for decades, or the £20 per person per year spent in Cambridge.

As Cycling UK’s campaigns coordinator Sam Jones puts it, to increase cycling, local authorities need to “plan, invest and then build”.

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“Cardiff clearly has the ambitious plans and leadership for the first stage,” he says, “but a lack of investment from the Welsh government is holding them – and the rest of Wales – back from making the radical changes in infrastructure which will ease congestion and create even more attractive places to live and work in.”

That’s not to say Cardiff can’t do it, and with limited funds available Weaver sees the game plan as more of a team effort than an individual one. That means sharing information with other cities, and learning from each other’s successes and failures.

Having approved the strategy, Cardiff city council will start consulting on how to proceed, and Weaver says Cardiff’s residents will need to cheer for the team if they want it to succeed. To help with the cheerleading, Cycling UK set up a tool for people to register their interest as councils begin collecting local knowledge on what routes are needed to make cycling and walking easier.

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