Blog

Women and cycling

Lime

London Cycling Campaign

 

Meeting Summary – 12 November 2025

APPGCW session: What Stops Women Cycling / Women’s Safety

Context & purpose

• Meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking on women’s safety when cycling
• Chaired by Fabian Hamilton MP
• Speakers: 
  • Sophie Gordon – Cycling UK
  • Alice Pleasant – Lime
  • Kate Bartlett – London Cycling Campaign (LCC) 
• Aim: to understand why women cycle less than men, how fear and harassment shape route choice especially after dark, and what MPs, local authorities and operators can do about it 

Sophie Gordon – Cycling UK

• Survey work shows: 
  • Women cycle less frequently than men
  • A larger share of women have not cycled since childhood compared with men 
• Top deterrents from Cycling UK / YouGov polling: 
  • Sharing the road with lorries and large vehicles
    Drivers overtaking too closely
  • Busy junctions and roundabouts
  • These factors are around ten percentage points more likely to be cited by women 
• Change over time: 
  • Since 2018 some risk perceptions have improved for men
  • Little or no improvement for women, suggesting current measures are not closing the gender gap 
• Harassment and personal safety: 
  • Women report abuse even when riding legally and assertively
  • One instructor’s experience illustrates that a single shout from a driver can undo hard-won confidence 
• Night-time route choice: 
  • Women often face a trade-off between: 
    • Well lit but hostile main roads
    • Quiet paths through parks or underpasses that feel unsafe when isolated or unlit 
  • Many women avoid otherwise “good” cycle paths after dark 
• Network design and trip patterns: 
  • Women more likely to:
    • Travel with children or on cargo bikes / trailers
    • Trip-chain between school, work, shops and childcare 
  • Barriers and pinch points can block non-standard cycles
  • Current networks often focus on radial commuter routes rather than dense local grids that support complex daily journeys 
• End-to-end safety: 
  • Visible, well lit parking near destinations is essential
  • Hidden or rear access parking feels unsafe for both property and personal security 
• Glow Rides initiative: 
  • 67 night rides across the UK with about 3,000 participants
    Demonstrated demand for safe all-year cycling after dark and helped raise awareness among local politicians 
• Suggested actions for MPs: 
  • Table written and oral questions on women’s safety in cycling
  • Engage local councils to ensure women’s views are included in route design and network planning 

Alice Pleasant – Lime

• Lime context: 
  • Shared e-bike and e-scooter operator active in 250+ cities worldwide
  • UK operations include London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Oxford and previous trial areas 
• Gender Pedal Gap report: 
  • Combined survey of Lime riders and a wider UK sample
    Nine in ten women report barriers to cycling at night
  • Only about one in five female cyclists feel safe riding alone at night 
• Barriers in general: 
  • Lower confidence in traffic compared with men
    Perception of insufficient protected space on the road
    Poor road surfaces and potholes reducing comfort and control
    

• Night-time specific barriers: 
  • Poor lighting on roads and paths
  • Isolated or quiet areas that feel unsafe after dark
  • Fear and experience of harassment 
• Door-to-door issue for shared mobility: 
  • Around 71% of women would not hire a shared bike or scooter at night if forced to park far from their destination
  • Some women choose private cars over shared modes or public transport at night due to personal safety concerns 
• Why some women do ride at night: 
  • Faster than walking through poorly lit areas
    Avoids long waits for public transport
    Offers more control and fewer interactions with strangers, if confidence is already there 
• Case study: 
  • Nurse requesting a closer Lime parking bay to avoid walking through an unsafe park after late shifts 
• Recommendations from the report: 
  • More protected cycle lanes and higher density of secure parking, especially near transport hubs and key destinations
  • Improved street lighting on popular cycle routes and around parking areas
    Use operator GPS data to help councils target investment where people actually ride
  • More cycling training to build confidence, particularly for adults who did not grow up cycling
  • Journey planning apps should offer “well lit” options, not only “quiet” or “fast” routes
  • Lime is exploring features such as “Follow My Ride” so people can share trip progress with trusted contacts 

Kate Bartlett – London Cycling Campaign

• Focus on London but with wider relevance 
• Gender gap in cycling: 
  • Only about one in three cycle trips in London are made by women
    In the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, women account for about half of cycle trips, showing parity is achievable 
• LCC goal: 
  • Equal representation of men and women in cycling in London by 2030 
• First report – What stops women cycling in London: 
  • Survey of around 1,000 women who cycle now, used to cycle or want to cycle
  • Many already overcome initial barriers such as owning a bike, storage and basic skills
  • About 90% said better infrastructure would make them start or cycle more
  • Only a small minority felt their borough offered a local network that met their needs
  • One in three avoid cycling after dark in winter because of a lack of safe routes
  • Abuse and intimidation from other road users is common, illustrated through testimony gathered in a campaign video 
• Second report – audit of TfL strategic cycle network after dark: 
  • Women rode the main cycleways at night and logged sections where they felt unsafe
  • About 24% of the audited network was rated unsafe after dark
  • Around 58% of routes had at least one unsafe section, making the whole trip unattractive
  • Problem features included: 
    • Parks and green spaces with low passive surveillance
    • Canal and riverside paths
    • Long stretches beside railways or in industrial areas
    • Some links were lit but still felt isolated
  • Conclusion that too many routes follow “easy to build” alignments that avoid reallocation of road space rather than providing direct well overlooked corridors 
• Priorities identified: 
  • Networks must be safe and usable day and night, not only off-peak in good weather
  • Funding should support infrastructure that meets social and physical safety standards, not just any new route
    Women and other under-represented groups should be involved directly in design and audit
  • Behavioural side is critical: 
    • Extend violence against women and girls campaigns to cover streets and cycle routes
    • Encourage police to take harassment and abuse of women cycling more seriously and improve reporting 

Discussion 

• Men’s responsibility and VAWG framing: 
  • Peers highlighted that most harmful behaviour is committed by men so men must be part of the solution
  • Strong support for integrating women’s cycling safety into wider government work on violence against women and girls rather than treating it as a separate transport niche 
• Infrastructure choices after Sarah Everard: 
  • Experience from Edinburgh showed a shift away from viewing park and railway-path routes as a gold standard once safety after dark was considered
  • On-road protected routes are harder politically and legally but are essential for social safety 
• Trip patterns and childcare: 
  • Discussion noted that women often manage childcare and other care trips, leading to more complex schedules and off-peak journeys
  • Some of the patterns seen in Lime data may also reflect shift work and class, not only gender 
• Culture and perception of cycling: 
  • Some women see cycling as a sport that requires special kit and facilities rather than everyday transport
    Speakers stressed the role of imagery, community rides and buddy schemes in normalising cycling as a practical option 
• Highway Code and driver behaviour: 
  • Participants argued that changes to the Highway Code have not been backed by a proper government-funded public information campaign
  • Driver aggression is often linked to misunderstanding of new rules around priority and positioning
  • There were calls for broader “think about others” messaging for all road users
    

• Parking, storage and reliability: 
  • Data from Cyclehoop showed women close to parity among users of secure cycle hangars, suggesting that good local storage supports women’s cycling
  • This aligns with findings on door-to-door safety and reluctance to walk far from parking at night 
• Shared understanding between drivers and cyclists: 
  • A contributor asked about reviving “Exchanging Places” type initiatives so cyclists can experience drivers’ viewpoints from large vehicles and vice versa