TRENDSPOTTING
system manufacturers - making the most seamless motor support, the most natural pedal feel, and the longest battery power - these goals are just as applicable when riding in mountains, riding off-road, riding to work, to the shops, doing the school run, replace cars for journeys, where a bike is the best tool for the job. Ultimately, if we’ve got the battery-assisted drive
system, it makes a bike more approachable for people who come from a lower activity level, and a lower physical fitness level, plus the bike is easy to promote as a tool which will decrease the amount of time people take to get to work, whilst improve activity levels, and reduce the impact on the planet as well. The e-bike market has a huge role to play here, and, naturally enough, this also includes enabling an older generation, for whom an e-bike means they can still enjoy cycling with friends and family members, and still get the same amount of enjoyment.
Critical element number two of this conversation is people feeling safe to ride: Consistently this is the number one reason given for not taking to a bike, for sport, leisure or straightforward A-to-B daily transport.
What is the impact of worsening physical inactivity on the economy? Here I want to mention the work that WFSGI has done, and continues to do, with the World Health Organization: We’ve got our memorandum of understanding, which is unique to the private sector trade association. It means that we’ve got a clear line of conversation with the World Health Organization through their Physical Activity Unit. This is critical, because, when we look at the impact of physical inactivity on the global economy, a figure has been put on it. A monetary value. A financial cost. The public healthcare cost of physical inactivity is forecast, in 2030, to rise to $300 billion US dollars - a measurable, quantifiable, drain on the global economy and national health services
The money that will inevitably end up on the epidemic of physical activity could be better spent on providing infrastructure, education, sporting programmes etc. Now, where we all work together - smart, motivated, capable people examining data and statistics at the World Health Organization - in terms of health, transport, environmental impact, road and infrastructure planning, that’s work that filters down, into legislative actions in the US and in Europe and the UK
That’s how we collectively - WFSGI members and multinational organisations like the WHO - are going to be able to have a meaningful impact: Faster, together. Because it’s a long process at best.
38 | January 2025
The key is not to work separately, in silos, but rather to
make sure that conversation is really, really connected, with everyone marching to the same beat.
Where WFSGI is a global organisation, are there European and North American bodies that engage a common, shared, audience?
Cycling Industries Europe is our equivalent for the European market, and they have done a phenomenal job in terms of the European Cycling Declaration. There has been 4.5 billion euros set aside for cycling infrastructure in HTE 2021-2027 EU Cohesion Policy. Cycling Industries Europe are having a significant, positive, impact in an area that’s so specialist in terms of European legislation. A similar influence is brought to bear in America by
‘People For Bikes’. For WFSGI it’s very much a question of how can we harmonize what both these organisations are doing, bringing it together, lobbying from a World Health Organization perspective, whilst making sure that the messaging is aligned in all of these different bodies and across these regions.
Where we’ve then got some test case scenarios, with the
likes of Paris and Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and London, how can that knowledge and experience be transferred across into these other countries and other cities that want to have that positive impact?
This is where WFSGI can assist, working with cycling industry businesses, with industry associations, working in collaboration with active travel organisations.
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