City Rating Cycling Scores - Stevenage now rated

The latest City Ratings, a data analysis tool ranking global cities and towns for how amenable they are to cycling has been released - with thousands of locations across the globe analysed. 

The new annualised data shows that the gap between London and the rest of the United Kingdom persists, whilst the nation as a whole has shown no improvement from last year in relation to its performance compared to European countries. 

This year, Stevenage has been rated for the first time. 

It has a strong rating of 75 which has helped Hertfordshire record a good average rating overall compared to other areas in the UK. Despite rating well, local insight from campaigners indicates that the area is known for having an expansive network that hasn’t led to high usage rates. This is due to the original cycle network being focussed on radial commuter routes to the industrial area and to the town centre. This overlooked journeys to other destinations including schools, local shops and connections between neighbourhoods, with some key North-South Links missing. 

City Ratings scores and rankings measure the quality and connectivity to local amenities of a city’s bike network, including the efficacy of protected bike lanes, low-speed limits, and safe crossings. All ratings are out of 100.

Other locations in Hertfordshire, including St Albans, Hertford and Letchworth have been included before, and this year they record scores of 63, 44 and 41 respectively. Stevenage as a new inclusion ranks far ahead, with a rating of 75. This brings the overall average of the area up to 56 - above both the West Midlands and Greater Manchester which sit on 50. 

We were asked to comment on the rankings, and Teun said the following:

I think our rating is fair. It reflects the incredible legacy of Stevenage’s network, which was once number one in the world. It provides us with huge potential, but it will remain untapped until the missing links and many maintenance issues are addressed. 

Key destinations remain out of reach for many. While some progress has been made, it’s not nearly fast enough to address these deep-rooted issues. I expect our ranking to drop in future ratings unless the pace of improvement accelerates dramatically.

Jill added:

Stevenage's ranking confirms the value of ambitious infrastructure. For the new towns on the horizon, the challenge is to evolve this blueprint: replicating the initial vision while improving upon it with 80 years of real-world lessons.

Read more about the rankings on the full Press Release:

"STEVENAGE HELPS HERTFORDSHIRE RECORD STRONG SHOWING IN CYCLE RATINGS"