If the bike industry wants new customers, people need to feel safe cycling – Cycle Industry News

Mark Sutton5 February, 2020

There are links the world over connecting the conversion of space to something more pedestrian and safe cycling friendly to improved retail spend and customer dwell time. Should this be the bike industry’s main campaign aim, asks Laura Laker…

It’s a simple fact that every industry needs new customers for it to thrive and grow. For the cycling industry that means more people choosing pedal power. How to get more people to cycle, though, is not as simple as getting more people to buy jumpers – not least because, unless you’re riding exclusively off-road, at some point you’ll have to interact with British roads, and the inherent challenges they pose to new riders.

More people cycling is likely to mean more bikes and accessories sold, and more jobs in shops, cycle brands and related industries, and that goes for tourism businesses like cycle hire or trail centres, as well as regular bike shops (see box), and those designing and building the infrastructure.

As the Bicycle Association’s Steve Garidis put it, while cities like London and Manchester, which are planning major cycle routes, are “interested in benefits to the high street, which are worth exploring”, he adds: “the overall arguments for infrastructure are about getting more people cycling, and that’s about tackling safety barriers.”

“[Perceived lack of] safety is the most important barrier to people cycling, and infrastructure is the most obvious solution, but there’s no unique industrial case for infrastructure for the cycle industry, there are aspects of cycling that benefit all businesses,” he says.

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