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MANIFESTO | ECONOMIC CASE | MISSION AND PRINCIPLES | WORKING AREAS, POLICIES
Central Government funding for cycling is increasingly moving towards a structure in which large ‘block grants’ are allocated to particular parts of the UK – often covering wide areas such as “transport” or “economic growth”. So as the era of centralised, cycling-specific funding may be passing, many of the investment decisions which would support cycle industry growth (rather than other projects, e.g. buses) will increasingly be taken at the regional, city-region and local levels.
The BA is now also working to bring together data, cycle industry and advocacy partners and policy makers to increase cycling investment on the ground, in what we call “The local economic case for cycling”.
Our first focus region, London, was mobilised in late 2021 and has provided valuable insights for other regions and BA projects.
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Looking for a concise summary of our key arguments on the local bicycle economy in London? Read the briefing PDF now
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Or for an audio introduction to the Local Bicycle Economy concept, play our podcast here
STEP 1: COMMISSIONING RESEARCH
The first step was to use our Market Data Service to inform research on the benefits of cycling investment to Greater London. The Bicycle Association commissioned a report from the independent research group Transport for Quality of Life which used this unique local and regional breakdown capabilities of the Market Data Service dataset to demonstrate that investing in cycling to the extent necessary to achieve London’s net zero carbon target would create:
The full report and evidence case can be downloaded here:
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October 2021
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF LOCAL CYCLING INVESTMENT: GREATER LONDON CASE STUDY
Report for the Bicycle Association by Lisa Hopkinson, Transport for Quality of Life
These findings are eye-opening, and highly effective in putting the case for cycling investments. The most efficient way to put them to local decision-makers and political representatives is to team up with a local advocacy partner – and to leverage the expertise and passion of the people in the local cycle industry.
For the launch region, London, we are delighted to be working with the very well-established and well-connected London Cycling Campaign, alongside the extensive community of Investors in Cycling who operate cycling businesses in local communities across London.
Our Advocacy Partner: LONDON CYCLING CAMPAIGN
Growing the local bicycle economy
Hashtag: #bicycleeconomy
We, representatives of the London cycle industry and our partners at LCC will be identifying and targeting decision-makers – and also supplying evidenced arguments and collateral for other cycle advocates who are working to build the case for public investment to grow cycling – be that at city, borough or even street level. The “elevator pitch” is shown opposite.
Together with LCC, we have also summarised the full London-specific case in the following briefing document:
December 2021
LCC- BA BRIEFING: 25,000 GREEN CYCLING JOBS FOR LONDON 2030
Policy makers care deeply about economic contribution and jobs, so at the heart of the BA’s advocacy work has for several years been what we call the “economic case for cycling”. As the industry association, the BA is uniquely placed to make this case.
Evidence of the UK cycle industry’s economic contribution is essential for our credibility. That’s one of the main reasons we developed the BA Market Data Service to gather superbly accurate and detailed sales data for the UK.
A second pillar of evidence was commissioned in 2017 by the BA from respected consultancy Transport for the Quality of Life. They delivered a foundational piece of research to quantify the economic contribution of our industry. They showed this to be at least £5.4 billion/year, supporting 64,000 jobs – making cycling bigger than the steel industry – and this was widely picked up by national and specialist media. Download the report here.
This was updated in 2023, with a new report: The UK cycle industry: current economic and employment benefits and decarbonisation-driven growth potential – click to download. This updated the annual ecopnomic contribution figure to £7.5 bn – and forecast the scale of jobs and industry growth which would result if cycling were to grow to the levels necessary to meet the Government’s published climate change targets.
The “economic case”, together with our “trusted advisor” approach (see “Principles” below) have been remarkably successful, and we now have access to and close relationships with both politicians and officials at the highest levels of Government, and especially within the Department for Transport.
A key success came with the publication of Gear Change in July 2020 – in which the Government committed not only to spending £2 bn on cycling (largely for infrastructure) but also to implementing many of the items for which the BA has consistently advocated: a national e-bike incentive scheme, support for cargo bikes, action on cycle theft and more.
However, subsequent political announcements have made it clear that the battle for secure, sustained and long-term funding is never won, so we must, with our advocacy allies, keep up the pressure on Government to deliver the funding to make a meaningful change in UK cycling.
SUPPORT THIS WORK AS AN INVESTOR IN CYCLING
There are over 1,000 supporters of the advocacy work of the Bicycle Association, from the largest global brands to the smallest local retailers. They all play a vital role as Investors in Cycling – helping the industry shape a powerful advocacy message for public investment, nationally and locally, to get more people cycling.
If you’re a company in the UK cycle industry, you can join thousands of your peers as Investors in Cycling to support the industry’s advocacy work, both in resources and through your active engagement.
