We ask Brummies: Does Birmingham need more cycle lanes?

The Clean Air Zone and the cost of driving leads many to consider switching to two wheels to get around. With that and the environmental impact of cars should we be doing more to encourage cycling? I headed into Birmingham city centre to get people’s views on whether the region needs more cycle lanes.

Zoheb says: “So, my cousin, he cycles quite often and I see it takes him quite a bit of time to come because he has to travel through main roads and it’s a lot harder for him to come to work and all of that because he lives quite far.

“So I’d say if there were more cycle lanes it would be a lot easier for people to travel that doesn’t have a car or doesn’t take public transport,  even just exercise in general. I’d say if there were more cycle lanes it would be a lot easier for most of the people that do cycle and it would be less of a headache as well for people that drive as well, people that ride their bikes,  the cars that have to slow down for the bikes and all that, you know, it would be a lot easier for more cycle lanes in Birmingham to be put in place.“

Daighton says: “I think probably because they’ve introduced the emission costs. So it makes sense to introduce more cycle lanes so that’s an option for cyclists.  It’s also better for the environment so that’s a positive. So I’d say,  yeah, they maybe should. I’m not sure where they would put the cycle lanes but it’s definitely an idea they should look into.“

Jonathan says: “We should have more cycle lanes. I think if you travel to places like Amsterdam or even cities in Sweden where it goes down to -10 and people are still out there cycling. I think the weather is no excuse for people not to cycle and in terms of personal health it’s far superior to driving. 

“So I think in terms of specific places to implement cycle lanes,  that’s a more difficult question because you have to go by case by case basis - does it make sense in the road?  But I think you should lead with the principle - firstly, let’s do public transportation. 

“If we can’t do public transportation we’ll put a cycle lane in and then if we can’t do either of those then we’ll put a road. I can see the tram right now.  We should increase the size of the tram network alongside increasing the size of the bicycle network.  It just makes more sense in terms of air quality and congestion in the city.“