Contraflow Cycling - A Safer Way Of Cycling On Roads

To help build a richer connection between the academic and policy worlds, the Leeds Social Sciences Institute at the University of Leeds and the Department for Transport (DfT) have jointly developed a webinar series: Linking Leeds with DfT

The first of four lunchtime webinars in this series took place on Wednesday 2nd November.  Attendees came from organisations such as the Department for Transport, Active Travel England and travel planners from local authorities across the UK.  Presenter Caroline Tait, PhD Researcher from the University of Leeds discussed her findings from the first large scale study on UK contraflow cycling safety (contraflow cycling allows cyclists to ride both ways in one-way streets).

 

We conducted the first UK large-scale analysis of the safety impact of introducing contraflow cycling on one-way streets. We found that its introduction does not affect pedal cyclist crash or casualty rates.

Caroline explained how contraflow cycling could create safer and more convenient cycling networks and routes, improving the experience of cyclists (Improving transport for the user) and resulting in greater active travel, in line with Gear Change (the government's walking and cycling plan).

We recommend all one-way streets are evaluated with a view to introducing contraflow cycling.

Donatella D'Antoni and Jo Bacon from the DfT Behavioural Science team facilitated the webinar and the presentation by Caroline was followed by a question and answer session.

If you have any questions relating to the contraflow cycling research, please contact Caroline Tait at ugm4cjt@leeds.ac.uk.

If you would like any further information about the Linking Leeds with DfT seminar series please contact Natalie Jackson, at Leeds Social Sciences Institute n.c.jackson@leeds.ac.uk, or Donatella D’Antoni at the Department for Transport donatella.d'antoni@dft.gov.uk.