Images courtesy of Transport for London
The UK government has vowed to make unprecedented investments in bike riding and walking as a means of drastically cutting doctor’s appointments across the country.
The pledge, made by the UK’s transport secretary Louise Haigh, is symbolic of the way policymakers are recognising the bicycle as one of the most powerful preventative health tools at our disposal.
Haig says providing residents with a national network of safe bike routes can help them incorporate physical activity into their everyday lives.
“There’s lots of evidence to show that will reduce the number of GP appointments by hundreds of thousands, if not millions, a year,” she told The Guardian.
A 2024 study following more than 80,000 long-term bike commuters in Scotland found that their choice of transport lowered their risk of an early death from any cause by 47%.
Studies have also shown that riding a bike to work can reduce risk of anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions.
Governments around the world are investing in bike infrastructure to promote active living, but the UK is going a further by positioning bike riding explicitly as a measure to address ill-health.
Last year, it started the rollout of health trials that enabled doctors to provide patients with prescriptions for walking and bike riding to improve health.
Meanwhile, bike infrastructure is on the improve in the capital. London’s strategic cycle network expanded from 90km in 2016 to 352km in 2023, and the proportion of Londoners living within 400m of the network has surged from an estimated 5% to 24% over that timeframe.
Transport for London’s ambition is to grow that number to 70% by 2041.
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