Birmingham ranked best place for cycling in the West Midlands - here’s why

New data shows that Birmingham is leading the way for cycling in the West Midlands.

The research comes from a campaign led by advocacy group People for Bikes, which has produced city ratings based on different cities cyclability - using an analysis tool ranking cities for how cycleable they are.

The data for England has focussed on London, Manchester, and the West Midlands. The ratings draw from two key factors: the quality of the cycling network in a borough (Network Score) and community perceptions of cycling (Community Score). The first is sourced from the PeopleForBikes Bicycle Network Analysis and the second from surveys with local residents.

51 boroughs were rated, with the average Bicycle Network Analysis score for all boroughs being 42/100. Access to retail destinations scored best for all boroughs (average 55), whereas access to people (where people live) scored the worst (average 28). There are some significant differences between individual boroughs.

When it comes to overall ratings out of London, Manchester and the West Midlands, London leads the way with 18 of the top 20 boroughs being within the capital.

Two London boroughs featured in the top 20 internationally when compared with cities outside the UK. However, London continues to trail behind its European counterparts with an average score of just 49.8 compared to Paris’ score of 82.56 and Berlin’s of 77.75. Manchester has an average score of 30 and the West Midlands a score of 26.

What does the data show for the West Midlands?

In the West Midlands, 7 boroughs were rated with the top scoring borough being Birmingham ranking 33/100. The area had an average network score of 22 but the Community Survey found particularly weak scores on access between neighborhoods, with an average of just 12. In the West Midlands, there was an average community score of 42 and average City Ratings score of 26/100.

All three of the lowest ranked boroughs surveyed in England are in the West Midlands. Sandwell was 49th with an average score of 24, Wolverhampton was 50th with an average of 24, and Dudley was the worst neighborhood surveyed in England with an overall score of 21.2. Dudley had the lowest community score of all boroughs surveyed and scored particularly badly on connections to transit at 7.4.

What’s been said about the data?

Rebecca Davies, PeopleForBikes City Ratings program director said: ‘’Boroughs throughout the West Midlands could substantially improve their scores by reducing speed limits on local roads. Speed is a major cause of traffic crashes, and higher motor vehicle travel speeds contribute to higher fatality and injury rates and lower bicycling rates.”