We're living in a time
in which we're polluting our world at an alarming rate,
in which the majority of people in the West
are not getting enough physical activity,
and in which we're spending a lot of time, wasting a lot of time and money and energy
stuck in traffic.
Thankfully, we're also living in a time in which riding a bicycle is awesome.
(Laughter)
It makes you feel good.
You arrive at your destination feeling energized
and connected with the world around you.
It's good for your health, it's good for the planet,
and it helps to make our cities more livable.
So, how can we get more people cycling?
Well, it's a combination of infrastructure, improving safety,
and changing people's perceptions and behavior.
And one of the things that I've been doing over the years is looking at
how we can apply behavior change theory to getting more people cycling.
And I have just one idea that I'd like to share with you today.
And that is, that when we're looking to encourage people
to adopt the behavior of cycling to work,
we need to understand that this overall behavior
is actually made up of lots of sub-behaviors and stages
that people go through from not cycling, to thinking about it,
to trying it out, to getting a bike, to cycling a little bit, a little bit more
and cycling to work.
And within each of these sub-behaviors are a number of barriers
that people need to overcome to get to the next stage.
And so, it is important that we understand this
when we're trying to encourage people to take up cycling.
Because if we say to someone who is down here, as a non-cyclist,
"Hey, you should cycle to work.
It's good for you.
You'll save money; it's good for the environment,"
it's kind of a big ask.
And we need to keep this in mind because our energy is much better spent
focusing on the next little step that we can get people to take.
And one of the strategies that we have found to be quite effective
in getting non-cyclists to take up cycling
is simply encouraging them to have some fun
and ride a bike for just 10 minutes.
And what we find when people do this is they go,
"Hmm, actually, this isn't so bad.
This isn't as hard or as scary as I thought cycling was.
This is actually quite easy and quite fun."
And that's a fantastic first little step
that we can get people to take on this wider journey.
So taking a step back
and looking at the question of how do we get people cycling,
what about the infrastructure and improving safety?
Well, thankfully, all the solutions already exist there out in the world.
If you go to any good cycling conference, you will find the technical expertise,
the case studies,
the wheels already invented
that we can bring into our cities, adapt, and roll out,
that will result in more people cycling.
So if the solutions are already there,
why aren't we seeing their widespread application?
Well, there's a number of reasons,
and one of them is that many people don't believe it's possible
to get more people cycling in their city.
"Oh, it's too far, there's too much traffic,
it's too dangerous, it's too hot, it's too wet."
And thankfully, we now have evidence from around the world
that the possible is indeed possible.
So, looking at Spain and Seville, they invested in cycle lanes
and went from 0.5 per cent of trips by bicycle
to 6.6 per cent of trips by bike
in just six years.
In Portland, they increased cycling by more than 200 per cent.
In Denver, you can see they increased the number of cycle lanes
and had a corresponding increase in the number of people riding bikes.
And I could show you evidence of this trend
from around the U.S. and around the world.
Now, just to be clear about what I'm not saying.
I'm not saying that you can turn every city in the U.S. or the world
into a Copenhagen or an Amsterdam,
where about half of all the trips are done by bike.
That's amazing.
However, our cities are laid out quite differently.
But in the U.S.,
about 40 per cent of all trips are less than three miles.
And it's within these short trips that the opportunity lies for cycling.
So, what I am saying is that if we want to get more people cycling,
if we commit to it,
then it is absolutely possible for us
to get five per cent or more of trips in our cities done by bike.
And finally, I think it's interesting that
when we look at some of the other problems that we're facing in the world today,
one of the barriers that we may by facing
is that many people don't believe in what's possible.
But thankfully, I feel that the tide is turning
and more people are believing in what's possible in their own lives,
for our communities, and for our planet.
And so, let's keep on believing that we can make the possible our reality.
And let's make it happen.
Thank you.
(Applause)