Bike Life

Bike Life gives leaders of cities and towns the confidence, opportunity and evidence to talk about the benefits of cycling. It helps them make cycling an everyday way to travel.

What is Bike Life?

Inspired by the Copenhagen Bicycle Account, Bike Life is the biggest assessment of cycling in cities and urban areas across the UK and Ireland.

Each report looks at infrastructure, travel behaviour, the impact of cycling, and new initiatives.

Since our first reports in 2015, Bike Life has informed policy decisions, justified investment and enabled cities to develop more ambitious action plans for cycling.

This year we've published reports in:

— Belfast — Bristol
— Cardiff — Dublin Metropolitan Area
— Dundee — Edinburgh
— Greater Cambridge — Greater Manchester
— Inverness — Liverpool City Region
— Southampton City Region — Tower Hamlets
— Tyneside — West Midlands
Bike Life UK-wide 2019 report front cover

Bike Life UK 2019 report

Our UK-wide report aggregates data from 12 of the 14 cities and urban areas we've worked with on Bike Life 2019. 

Download the UK report

Walking and cycling index data

Explore our data through our collection of data dashboards which over what people think, what people do and also settings data about each city in the index.

Walking and Cycling Index Data

In 12 UK cities and urban areas

270,000

cars taken off the roads every day by cycling

160,000 tonnes

of greenhouse gas emissions saved each year by cycling

55%

of residents think there are too many people driving in their neighbourhood

59%

of residents support restricting through-traffic on residential streets

68%

support building more cycle tracks even when this would mean less room for other road traffic

58%

of residents would like to see more government spending on cycling

Two friends with bicycles stop at the end of a road next to a sign which reads "Road open to" followed by symbols for a parent and child, push scooter, wheelchair and bicycle.

Streets for everyone

Creating streets that make walking, wheeling and cycling safer for everyone has wide-ranging benefits for local communities.

In our series of videos, local businesses and residents across the UK tell us why the changes made in their area matter to them.

Find out more and watch the videos

Bike Life methodology paper

Read how the Bike Life data was captured and analysed.

Download the paper

Got a question about Bike Life?

Bike Life is a collaboration between Sustrans and the participating cities. It is funded by The Freshfield Foundation, Transport Scotland and our city partners.

If you have a question about Bike Life, please get in touch.

Two women cycling together on a segregated cycle lane

Take a look at our other Bike Life reports

Want to see how things have progressed? Download our previous UK Bike Life reports:

Other reports and further reading

We also published reports in 2018 for:

Girl cycling towards the camera along bridge

News

People living in UK cities and towns want measures to reduce car use and increase cycling