Copenhagen style celebration of bike life comes to Greater Manchester

Copenhagen style celebration of bike life comes to Greater Manchester

Transport for Greater Manchester and charity Sustrans are aiming to boost the love of cycling in the city-region to Copenhagen levels through a new citizens’ survey inspired by the Danish capital.

The survey will show progress on creating a city fit for bike life whilst giving a voice to the people of Greater Manchester. Citizen involvement will be crucial to finding out what people living and working in the region think about getting about by bike, and to progress towards making our leading cities more bike friendly.

TfGM and Sustrans will work together to showcase a vision for increasing cycling and will set up monitoring and evaluation programmes to track progress with results published in a biennial report for each of the cities.

Reporting on cycling conditions, new initiatives, how many people are cycling and what residents think about cycling in their area will inform planning and action to put cycling by people of all ages and abilities right at the heart of life in Greater Manchester, increasing travel choices and creating a great area to live in.

For Copenhageners, riding a bike is as much part of life as brushing their teeth. Cycling is such an integral part of the city's life and transport system, that it reports every two years on how cycling is benefiting not just Copenhagen, but Denmark, and what Copenhageners think of the city as a safe and pleasant place to live.

The project is supported by The Freshfield Foundation.

Between 2011 and 2015 Greater Manchester will have received £37m government funding for cycling improvements ranging from cycle hubs, to new cycle routes and road safety improvements.

Through its Velocity 2025 cycling vision Greater Manchester is gearing up to introduce an initial 56km network of – where possible – separated cycle lanes. Locally over 80% of occasional cyclists have said they would cycle more if there were safer cycle routes. This programme of cycle routes will go hand-in-hand with cycle and ride stations and an ambitious education programme. The target is for 10% of trips to be made by bike by 2025 subject to continued government funding.