{"id":392246,"date":"2026-01-27T01:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T01:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/392246\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T01:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T01:24:15","slug":"was-2025-the-year-london-became-a-cycling-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/392246\/","title":{"rendered":"Was 2025 the year London became a cycling city?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Was 2025 the year London truly became a cycling city? When the first velocipedes appeared in London in 1819, the Victorians nicknamed them \u201cdandy horses\u201d and \u201cboneshakers\u201d, and their riders have sometimes been called much worse. But bicycles have steadily grown from an eccentric 19th-century novelty to a dominant force \u2014 perhaps the dominant force \u2014 on the city\u2019s streets.<\/p>\n

Recent data from Transport for London (TfL) revealed another double-digit percentage increase in cycling in the capital in 2025, to 1.5 million daily journeys \u2014 roughly equivalent to the combined daily ridership of the Northern and Piccadilly London Underground lines, and a surge of 43 per cent compared with 2019. <\/p>\n

The accelerated uptake can be attributed to several factors, including the increased availability of rental e-bikes and consistent investment in cycling infrastructure. Since 2016, TfL\u2019s network of cycleways has grown almost fivefold from 90km to 431km. And when cyclists brave the roads alongside motor vehicles, they no longer find what the MP Anthony Steen described in 1995 as \u201ca battlefield, with every inch contested.\u201d There are fewer vehicles in the city centre, and they drive much slower than they did in the Nineties. <\/p>\n

\"Cyclist<\/p>\n

MIKE KEMP\/IN PICTURES\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

The uptake is particularly marked among commuters. In the City of London, cyclists now comprise 56 per cent of all traffic in peak commuting hours. Heatwaves and strikes gave many the nudge to try cycling for the first time last year, with Lime and Santander Cycles reporting usage surges of more than 70 per cent during the first day of the September Tube strikes.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Bike crashes rise during Tube strike, ambulance service says<\/a><\/p>\n

It was also a year in which cycling made an unlikely entrance into the fashion sphere. Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet set the tone in January when he arrived at the London premiere of A Complete Unknown aboard a Lime bike (which he claims led to a fine of \u00a365 for improper parking<\/a>). His example was then followed by stars including Pedro Pascal, Olivia Rodrigo, and even several professional Japanese sumo wrestlers. In September, Vogue declared the Lime bike to be \u201cthe most coveted accessory\u201d at London Fashion Week, and the England cricket team \u2014 back when they were popular \u2014 arrived at a match at the Oval on them after their team coach became stuck in traffic. <\/p>\n

What next, then? TfL has promised to extend the cycleway \u2014 which at present runs to 431km, comparable to Copenhagen\u2019s in length but in a city far larger \u2014 by about 30 to 40km a year, with a particular focus on areas of outer London where the network remains most sparse. In 2026 cyclists can expect new cycle lanes in areas including Woolwich, Newham, Hammersmith and Streatham Hill.<\/p>\n

\"England<\/p>\n

Harry Brook, Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts travelling to their match against the West Indies at the Oval in June last year<\/p>\n

PAUL CHILDS\/REUTERS<\/p>\n

\"Tobizaru<\/p>\n

The sumo wrestler Tobizaru rides an e-bike during last October\u2019s Grand Sumo Tournament<\/p>\n

KYODO NEWS VIA GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

The risk of cycling in London should continue to decrease this year. \u201cWe know the biggest barrier to people cycling is not feeling safe,\u201d Will Norman told The Times at a caf\u00e9 near TfL\u2019s Southwark headquarters. Norman, who cycles to Southwark from his home in Hackney every morning, has been the city\u2019s walking and cycling commissioner since the role was established under Sadiq Khan<\/a> in 2016. He is continuing to push for zero annual transport deaths by 2041 as part of the city\u2019s Vision Zero strategy. \u201cYou can\u2019t have any other target than zero. Some will say that\u2019s impossible, but Helsinki has done it and Oslo has done it,\u201d Norman says, referring to feats achieved in Helsinki in 2025, and Oslo in 2019 and 2023. In comparison, 110 people were killed in road accidents in London in 2024, and 253 in New York.<\/p>\n

\u2022 More than half of London cyclists admit they often run red lights<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Will<\/p>\n

Will Norman during a launch event for a new Raleigh Stride e-cargo bike in 2021<\/p>\n

ALAMY<\/p>\n

Of course, much of the increase in journeys has been driven by the availability of the almost ubiquitous rental e-bike. Convenient and zippy, they\u2019ve encouraged Londoners to complete more \u201cmulti-modal\u201d journeys, speeding from Tube station to final destination. Antisocial parking, however, has angered many. Reactions are largely split according to age: Lime reports that almost half of Londoners aged 18-34 use their bikes on a weekly basis, while, according to a survey conducted last year by Boston Consulting Group, 69 per cent of Londoners aged over 75 think they should be banned entirely.<\/p>\n

E-bike parking and use is regulated by local authorities, meaning 33 different regimes across the city. In August last year, for instance, Hounslow council ended its contract with Lime and awarded one to Forest, while neighbouring Richmond council renewed its Lime contract but continued to refuse access to Forest. The result was a rampart of abandoned bikes along the border of the two boroughs. <\/p>\n

\"Lime<\/p>\n

Lime bikes blocking the pavement along Piccadilly, in the heart of London\u2019s Mayfair district<\/p>\n

ALAMY<\/p>\n

Norman and TfL hope this issue will be solved this year with the passage of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which would allow the transport body to create city-wide regulations. With Lime, Forest<\/a> and now Voi continuing to jockey for market position, it remains to be seen which providers will benefit \u2014 and which will be hindered \u2014 by such an approach. <\/p>\n

But as more people take to the dandy horses and boneshakers, will other transport providers lose ground? One survey conducted by Lime in November suggests that 43 per cent of Londoners now think the city is better known for its bicycles than its black cabs. Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers\u2019 Association, is unconvinced: \u201cAre we concerned about losing our iconic status to a load of green bicycles? No.\u201d He believes there are still occasions when cycling just won\u2019t do. \u201cIf you, me and our wives are going out for dinner, we\u2019re not getting four Lime bikes, are we?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Was 2025 the year London truly became a cycling city? When the first velocipedes appeared in London in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-392246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}