New research has revealed the most popular cycle routes in the West Midlands.
Recent data also shows that the West Midlands Cycle Hire is proving to be extremely popular in getting the region’s residents and visitors on their bikes since its launch two years ago, with riders in the region now having cycled a combined 850,000 miles – the equivalent of 30 times around the world.
There are now 1,500 bikes and e-bikes available for hire from various locations across Birmingham, Coventry, Sandwell, Solihull, Stourbridge, Sutton Coldfield, Walsall, and Wolverhampton. The newest location to get a bike hire station is the Moseley area of Birmingham.
The Transport for West Midlands’ (TfWM) scheme launched in 2021 to encourage people to become active and healthy, and to offer amore environmentally friendly alternative to the car for shorter journeys. The scheme is operated by Serco, the company that also runs London’s successful Santander Cycle Hire scheme.
Bikes can be hired using the Beryl app – which will take over the running of Birmingham’s e-scooters in June. It costs £1 to unlock a pedal bike and £1.50 for an e-bike, and then 5p per minute and 10p per minute, respectively. Regular users can buy 100, 300, or 600-minute bundles upfront.
An average of 750 journeys are being cycled every day and riders have clocked up a collective 250,000 hours in the saddle over the past two years. With this in mind, we’ve taken a look at the most cycled A-to-B journeys and the most cycled circular journeys in and around Birmingham, according to Transport for West Midlands.
Let’s take a look:
1. Solihull – High Street to Malvern Park Car Park
2. Birmingham – Smallbrook Queensway to Belgrave View, Bristol Road
3. Coventry – Warwick Sports Hub to Warwick Interchange, University of Warwick
4. Wolverhampton – Sainsburys to Upper Zoar Road