LONDON (UK) – In a bid to avoid closed spaces on public transport during the pandemic, millions of commuters, shoppers and schoolchildren are using bicycles to travel, data from the fitness tracker application Strava showed on Wednesday.
Liverpool recorded the biggest year-on-year spurt in cycling, with an increase of more than 220% for people who make at least one trip by bike.
The biking surge came in May 2020 when the lockdown curbs were implemented across the country.
According to Strava spokesman Gareth Nettleton, they are making the data freely available to local authorities to take steps to encourage more people to use bicycles and improve cyclists’ lanes and streets.
“We’re desperate for this not to be a COVID blip,” Nettleton said. “We’re doing this now – making the data available – because the only way this doesn’t become a COVID blip is if infrastructure gets improved on the back of what’s happening right now.
“This is about how we create infrastructure so that active travel is a viable alternative, not just for those in lycra who go for long distances, but for anybody doing the nursery drop-off or going to the shops.”
The number of cyclists is also growing in London, which stands fifth in the ranking table. It showed a spurt of 119% while Manchester recorded 169%, Glasgow 146% and Birmingham 134%.