Liverpool to be the most bike-friendly city in the England and Wales – with London emerging as the worst, according to the leading flatshare website Easyroommate.co.uk .
Easyroommate has calculated how friendly England and Wales largest cities are to cyclists, based on the percentage of inhabitants who work within cycling distance of their home, the number of bicycle accidents, and the percentage of landlords who offer bike storage.
Liverpool was the most bike-friendly city, emerging as the safest city with the proportionally lowest number of injuries to cyclists. London was the worst city for cyclists. A third of people in London live beyond the distance commutable on a bike – the same figure for the UK as a whole, a figure which includes rural areas. Cambridge and Oxford were the most unsafe cities for cyclists, with more accidents per head of the population than anyone else. Just 17% of landlords in Leicester provide bicycle storage.
Jonathan Moore, director of Easyroommate.co.uk, said: “Cycling is in the middle of a revival, with over one milliion journeys a day on the National Cycle Network alone. Over two-thirds of the country lives within cycling distance of their workplace, and more and more cyclists are commuting by bike. But for the many who do cycle, or wish to, their cities can be a deterrent. Despite Boris Johnson declaring 2010 a ‘Year of cycling’, London lags behind other cities. 33% of workers live too far from their office to commute on their bikes. Thousands more have nowhere to store their bikes – stopping many wannabe cyclists from saddling up.”
Following a user survey, in which 53% of respondents wanted bicycle storage, Easyroommate.co.uk introduced an option on its website, allowing flat-seekers to choose properties with bike storage and landlords to advertise it.
Just two months after the introduction of the option on the website, one in five of all Easyroommate landlords now promote their bike storage facilities to appeal to prospective tenants.
Jonathan Moore said: “The cycling revolution has meant the property market has had to become bike-aware. For a growing number of tenants, bike storage is a decisive factor in choosing a flat. Their survey response spoke volumes. Cyclists are tyred of wet bikes. While other flatshare websites give them a rough ride, we’re happy to promote cycling on our website. Not only will it help create a greener and healthier environment, but help young renters save their cash from costly fares and massive fuel bills.”
View the Evening Standard's breakdown of the results for London here: Click here