Eilidh Murray explores why London must do more to help women cycle

Eilidh Murray is Chair of the Board at the London Cycling Campaign.

We know cycling is great for physical and mental health, for saving time and money, and for boosting wellbeing and freedom – everyone should be safe to enjoy all of these benefits. Women, especially, stand to benefit from the benefits of cheap, quick and healthy transport, as they typically have less free time, less disposable income, and more caring responsibilities. Across the city, moving more of our journeys to cycle trips will be a critical part of meeting climate and sustainability goals; and for bringing London’s polluted air in line with WHO air quality guidelines. Despite all of these clear benefits of getting more of us in the saddle, less than a third of London’s cycle trips are taken by women, in stark contrast to some other European cities, where women take more than half of trips. Back in the summer of 2023, we wanted to find out why.

We asked more than a thousand women why they don’t cycle, or why they don’t cycle more often, for everyday journeys around London, and the picture was horribly clear. The answers included a shocking level of abuse and aggression from drivers, and a lack of safe cycle routes to use all year round. Women told us that they regularly face abuse on the roads, especially where there’s no safe space for cycling; and a fifth of women told us they’d stopped cycling, either permanently or for some time, because of their experiences being intimidated or threatened by other road users. Overwhelmingly, women told us that having to mix with traffic was a major barrier to cycling.

The themes in these responses became our three ‘asks’ to the Mayor of London, the Metropolitan Police and every London borough. They all must act urgently on these constraints to women’s mobility and freedom.

Physical safety: deliver high-quality, physically protected cycle lanes across London, giving women the freedom to cycle with confidence

The single biggest issue women reported was the fear of mixing with traffic, combined with the frequency of bad experiences when they did get out on the roads. On roads with no safe space for cycling, cyclists can be perceived as a nuisance to get around, rather than legitimate road users allowed to take up space.

• 9 out of 10 women said they would start to cycle, or cycle more, if they had better infrastructure (like protected cycle lanes) for their journeys.
• 93% of respondents said drivers had used their vehicles to intimidate them. For 77%, it was at least once a month.

Social safety: deliver, measure and report on faster, verifiable actions to radically improve social safety for women cycling

We were shocked by the frequency of abuse and harassment that was reported by the 1,000 women who responded to our survey, with the most common line of attack being along the lines of “get off the road” or “get out of my way”. These were often accompanied by slurs, which sometimes targeted women’s bodies, race, religious background or age.

In addition to this form of harassment, many women told us they don’t feel safe cycling in unlit parks, towpaths or isolated industrial estates at night. Unfortunately, many of London’s official cycle routes are in this category.

• 9 out of 10 women said they had experienced verbal abuse and aggression while cycling in London;  for 63%, it was at least once a month.
• Over half of the respondents said they routinely face a choice between busy roads without safe space for cycling or a route through quiet and/or dark places where they feel at risk.
• Police responses to these incidents were inadequate. 25 survey respondents spontaneously described incidents which mentioned the police, and only one of these resulted in significant follow-up action.

Provide local cycle networks: give the same priority to creating local cycle networks, like low traffic routes, safe routes to amenities and schools, and secure cycle parking

Brilliant progress has been made on creating major cycle routes in and out of central London, which have no doubt significantly boosted numbers of cyclists in the last decade. These routes, however, are primarily used by men. While valuable, these major routes don’t reflect the nature of most women’s typical day-to-day journeys, which are often more likely to be more local and more complex (involving multiple stages, multiple modes, or dependents).

For London’s cycle provision to reflect women’s needs, it must also consider local networks. This means having low-traffic routes available; secure cycle parking at local destinations like schools, surgeries and shops; and good wayfinding.

• 80% said that their borough had not done enough to provide them with a cycle network that met their needs
• 39% of respondents with children said their kids never cycle, either alone or with an adult. 67% said this was because there were insufficient safe routes for children.

So what are we doing about all this ?

So far, we’ve organised two ‘Women’s Freedom Rides’ in March to march International Women’s Day and highlight the inequalities playing out on London’s roads. Our next ride, on 6th February 2025, will highlight how unlit cycle routes become unusable for women in the winter – please join us there!

Our campaigning on our three asks is ongoing. We’re engaged with Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police, with local boroughs and politicians to push for change.

Our membership has grown to over 2,000 and we have an extremely active WhatsApp community, when women cycling in the capital can share ideas, experiences and talk about the issues we face on the roads. We hold monthly meetings to discuss progress, exchange ideas and provide solidarity.  New women are always welcome to the group – just sign up to join our mailing list, and we’ll do the rest.

Help us make cycling safe for all women who want to have the freedom, convenience and health benefits from just getting around by bike.