Not a single political leader who has embraced cycling has ended up regretting it. 

The will to transform towns and cities often isn’t just about cycling, it’s about something bigger.

For the mayor of New York it was about increasing mobility for the city’s poorest people, for the mayor of London it was about increasing capacity on the transport network for a growing city, in the Netherlands it was about tackling climate change and improving road safety.

For cycling to truly become an option for the majority of people, we need to see bold and brave action taken by political leaders. Humans select the easiest option, it’s not laziness, it’s about efficiency. The same goes for cycling - if it looks difficult then people will not do it.

As a nation, across England, Scotland and Wales, we are capable of large behaviour changes. Seatbelts, smoking, plastic-bags are just a few examples where through a mixture of legislation, incentives, enforcement and social pressure, millions of people have changed previously entrenched habits.

We have done it before and leaders in Britain and around the world have shown it can be done for cycling.