00:00The number of people cycling in London keeps going up year after year.
00:04However, men outnumber women by about two to one.
00:07So what can be done about it?
00:09Well, Transport for London has chosen to name 10 Boris Bikes,
00:13the Santander-sponsored hire scheme after 10 inspirational women cyclists,
00:19and it hopes that this will encourage other women to give cycling a go.
00:22There's been some really interesting research in the last couple of years
00:25by the London Cycling Campaign's Women's Network,
00:27and they looked in quite granular detail at what women were feeling around cycle routes
00:33and how different routes worked for them at different times of day.
00:37And one of the big things that came out was that the sort of traffic-free routes,
00:40the Canal Toe Pass and the park routes, while lovely in the daytime,
00:45feel quite dangerous at night.
00:46And it's the isolation quite often that does it.
00:49And what they said was that there need to be parallel routes to these lovely green paths
00:55so that, you know, it may not be the most kind of peaceful, you know,
00:58it may be heavily trafficked road, but, you know, at least there's people,
01:01other eyes on the street, and then you can feel socially safe.
01:03And that's really, really important, I think, for women.
01:06It's definitely just encouraging the safeness on the roads, you know,
01:11and just making sure you're able to go out and you're not really battling the cars.
01:16And, you know, there's a place where you can go and not feel like you're going to get into an
01:20accident.
01:20I think that would be really key.
01:23I think safety, just making sure, I mean, this is a nice bright day,
01:27but often, like, in particularly winter months, the darkness, the lighting on the road,
01:32making sure there's enough safety provided for women to ride across parks.
01:38These are really, really important.
01:39How do we connect all the urban places together in a way that feels safe and accessible?
01:45I think that's really the key message.
01:47There's so many things that can be done.
01:48I think a lot of it is just building awareness that there are safe routes,
01:53that there are groups you can join so you don't have to cycle alone,
01:56that there's free training across councils.
01:59And I think slowly, the more of us that are doing it, the infrastructure will build up.
02:02Groups like Cycle Sisters and kind of people inspiring women to cycle.
02:07I mean, I got into cycling in London because of a friend at university
02:09who encouraged me, showed me a route.
02:12And I think just sort of helping these grassroots organisations
02:15to get more and more women and empower people, because one person or a group of people
02:19can really spread the confidence and the skill set needed to travel around London.
02:24And I think that's, I think you need both of them.
02:26I don't think either of them can be ignored.
02:28I think it's also just having a safe space to be able to cycle.
02:32So I think it's very important to make sure the space is welcoming, open to all.
02:36And yeah, just you can ask no question. It's a silly question as well.
02:41So we always have questions in the group and people will answer it.
02:45And yeah, just encourage people to continue cycling.
02:48I think try and find a group if you can and just get on that,
02:54get on that saddle and just pedal and you will get there.
02:58Because everybody starts on somewhere small, like I did as well.
03:01And, you know, it's just about encouraging others.
03:04And that's what we do as a club as well. We, you know, encourage people to come out
03:08despite the weather and, you know, come together.
03:11And I think for us, we do sort of tell people that we're going to stop at a coffee shop.
03:16And that's always enticing them in for sure.
03:20Cake and tea, can't go wrong.
03:22If a woman colleague of yours was to say they wanted to give cycling a go in London,
03:26what would you advise them?
03:28Definitely do it. Yeah, get on your bike.
03:30It's the best way to go. It's the quickest way to go.
03:32It's the cleanest way to go.
03:34Yeah. And it's fun.
03:36It's great fun, especially if you go with a group of friends.
03:39Is London safe for women to cycling?
03:41It is safe, but there's more we can do.
03:44And we've got a budget of £158 million next year to invest
03:51in making London's roads safer.
03:54And part of that is building cycle infrastructure.
03:57We do a lot of junction upgrades to make cycling and walking safer through those junctions.
04:04We know that there's more to do on lowering speed.
04:07So we have a big programme of lowering speeds to ensure that the environment is not intimidating for people on
04:15a bike.
04:16Yeah.
04:22We're at the end of 19 Africa 10th of over 2.
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