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Chancellor announces new bike lending service for children
In the recent spending review, Chancellor Droves announced formal funding for a national cycle library service (NCL). The NCL funding is intended to allow local authorities to set up cycle equipment lending services aimed at families with children, and will be delivered over the coming years, with pilot schemes in rural and urban areas across the country.
Radical cycling proposals were first drafted several years ago as a result of the COP21 climate summit, where the Paris Agreement were agreed. As part of measures to reduce emissions, the UK government initially conceived plans for a scheme where a bicycle would be guaranteed for every adult who wanted one. Plans at the time were shelved after the perception that it would be too difficult to get a meaningful uptake amongst the general public, and a scandal surrounding procurement of the bikes themselves.
In the decades since, various factors have resulted in action groups, industry leaders, and NGOs across sectors calling for a renewed approach. Rising global temperatures and slow progress with decarbonisation of transport have reignited calls for rapid efforts to tackle climate change. The health concerns and co-morbidities associated with the modern sedentary lifestyle that resulted in greater risks to the public during the COVID-19 Pandemic have highlighted the need for more a more active lifestyle. The rise in more home working post-pandemic has left more of the population with shorter commutes which, along with warmer and drier conditions in the UK, are making cycling and walking as a daily activity more palatable. Combined with rapid technological developments in the past decade which have helped to lower cost of production of battery assisted cycles, more options are now available to help people begin cycling, and interest is on the rise.
Under revised plans, NCL funding will allow local authorities to bulk-purchase equipment aimed at all age ranges of children, and issue it out on long-term loan. The lending service proposes that once a child outgrows one bike, the family can return it for servicing and redistribution, and the child can graduate up to the next suitable size of bike. Special provisions have been made to ensure that children always have access to safety helmets, and the government is to tender grants for companies that wish to design and develop bespoke tricycles and other light wheeled vehicles for children not able to use standard two-wheeled bicycles. The devolved governments of Scotland and Wales have been given discretion to decide how to use the funding, but for now indicate they intend to follow broadly the same plan.
The recent announcement of NCL funding has been met with broad approval. Manufacturing and construction industries are highlighting the benefit that increased bike ridership would bring, offering jobs in a more accessible manufacturing sector at a time when car manufacturing is being offshored; as well as investment into road redesign and bike infrastructure construction. “Children who grow up cycling will become adults who spend money [on cycling equipment], and this will ensure new jobs well into the future as car use declines”, said manufacturing union head Ike Onyerb at a recent trade conference.
Poverty action groups are also praising the move, a representative for ‘All In It Together’ saying it “Will make cycling truly accessible to all. Everyone knows our kids are always outgrowing everything, whether it’s clothes or bikes. The high cost of equipment once priced lower-income families out of cycling altogether. These changes will remove any barriers preventing parents from giving their children a healthier and much more fun start in life”.
The rising trend of self-professed ‘Transformers’, car enthusiasts who want to take a more progressive approach to transport policy, are pleased with the changes. Terry Batt, the chair of the country’s largest electric vehicle enthusiast group quoted “All these new bikes start getting used, that means fewer cars in towns. We’ll have less tax needing spent on fixing potholes, and more investment into motorways and scenic routes, where cars are best to drive”.
Not everyone is pleased however. Some campaigners are arguing that deploying an NCL while large portions of the country, particularly rural areas with poorer or non-existent cycle infrastructure puts cyclists and drivers at risk. One ‘Lanes First’ activist Fumi Gates said “The government are putting thousands of children out onto roads without good bike lanes, right? What do they think’s gonna happen? There’s gonna be kids getting hurt, and drivers aren’t gonna be able to drive safe”.
When we put these concerns to government Transport Minister Wandering, who responded “We know we need to develop radical plans to change how we get around, and it’s always going to be a chicken or egg problem. Do we invest in infrastructure first, or do we invest in changing habits? Part of why we’re deploying this first as pilots across the country is to see exactly what the problems are, so we can fix them. And of course, some of the NCL funding is earmarked for the exact purpose of making the streets themselves safer”.
Many opposition MPs have criticised the government for choosing poorer neighbourhoods to trial the scheme, accusing them of “sacrificing lower income children” while the scheme rolls out. Wandering replied “The whole point of the scheme is to help lower income families, if we want to help the most, we should start in more economically deprived areas first”.
The first bicycles are already being built by RE-Bicycle, a firm that takes non-recyclable plastics and converts them into plastic threads that can be 3D printed into a bicycle body without the need for metal components. As they scale up, the company claims it can cut manufacturing costs by 80% compared to a traditional bike.
The NCL is expected to be in trial starting next year for at least 12 months in locations yet to be announced, and if successful will be deployed across the whole country before the next election.