Gathering together cycle industry, policy, academic and media resources around the role of cycling during the coronavirus outbreak. Collated by the Bicycle Association as a resource for the cycle industry.
Summary Monday 11th January 2021:
England’s “Stay at Home” lockdown: We can confirm that bicycle shops are once again specifically listed among the businesses that can remain open in the latest “Stay at Home” lockdown. Travel by cycle or walking is encouraged, as is exercise once a day in your local area.
Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales: We understand that under all current restrictions bike shops may remain open.
Business support: A new “plan for jobs” has been announced. Other Government support is detailed here.
£50 vouchers for repairs: open now to the public (and for repairers to register) in England and in Scotland. For England, a second batch of vouchers has been released and are now all claimed. We understand all remaining vouchers will be released over the next six months.
Retailers: the latest advice and resources are on the ACT’s COVID-19 pages. Please also register your open status at openbikeshops.uk/trade
FREE LEGAL ADVICE: During this crisis the BA is extending this BA Trade Network benefit to the entire UK industry. Any UK cycle industry retailer or supplier wishing to access free legal advice can call Law Express on 01275 378 831, quoting “Bicycle Association”.
FREE HR SUPPORT: The BA’s free HR (human resources) support is likewise now available for any UK cycle industry retailer or supplier, from Avensure on 0800 015 50 30. Again please quote “Bicycle Association” to access the free service.
Reducing infection risk for cycle retailers, mobile mechanics and cargo bike operators
Retailers:
We recommend UK retailers refer to the latest guidance from the ACT but the following links may still be helpful:
- 09/04 Bicycle Retailer (USA) has an interview with the Trek CEO who links to this very interesting PDF document about how shops can reconfigure their operations
- 24/03 The BA has produced a guidance note for retailers, including options for partial opening and some initial suggestions for minimising risk
- 15/03 Bicycle Retailer (USA): Retailers change policies and practices as COVID-19 concerns escalate
- 13/03 Cycle Industry News: How bike shops can reduce Coronavirus risk to staff and customers
Mobile mechanics:
- The ACT has produced Operational advice for mobile mechanics.
Cargo bike operators:
- 25/03 Bikeworks (London cargo bike operator): Guidance for pilots
- 17/03 Pedal and Post (UK cargo bike operator): COVID-19 steps and measures for cycle logistics to operate safety
Advice, support and resources for UK cycle industry retailers and suppliers
- Main Government COVID-19 advice page
- Government business advice page
- Government business support page (including details of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – this page explains it all very clearly so should be a first port of call for any business which may need support or to access Government help.)
- The ACT (Association of Cycle Traders) are posting new retailer resources regularly at their main COVID-19 page here
Cycle industry reports and updates
- 03/04 CIN: Coronavirus distributor updates: MDI and Greyville are both open for business
- 30/03 Cycle Industry News: Hotlines outlines additional support for dealers, including free home delivery and PDI
- 30/03 Cycle Industry News: Fully Charged invites brands to join in providing free loan e-Bikes to NHS workers
- 27/03 Bikebiz: Chicken CycleKit to offer direct to consumer deliveries
- 26/03 BikeBiz: Velobrands now offering to drop ship direct to consumers
- 25/03 BikeBiz: ZyroFisher launches home delivery across all P&A brands
- 24/03 BikeBiz: Chicken CycleKit issues company update on COVID-19
- 24/03 BikeBiz: Hotlines, Windwave issue COVID-19 operations updates
- 20/03 Cycling UK: Coronavirus Q&A: is it safe to cycle?
- 20/03 BikeBiz: Saddleback issues update on COVID-19 operations
- 19/03 Cycle Industry News: Moore Large, ZyroFisher, Ison, ACT issue Covid-19 support statements
- 19/03 National Bicycle Dealers Association (USA): COVID-19 Message to members
- 17/03 National Bicycle Dealers Association (USA): Financial steps retailers can take now to survive the COVID-19 pandemic
Cycle industry actions and initiatives, key worker support
- 30/03 Independent: How bike rental companies are helping NHS staff get to work and avoid public transport
- 30/03 Cycle Industry News: Fully Charged invites brands to join in providing free loan e-Bikes to NHS workers
- 28/03 Tweet: Shropshire Cycle Hub to support Covid-19 response with free bicycles for community volunteers and NHS staff.
- 26/03 Forbes: Cycle Companies Race To Replace ICU Doctor’s Stolen Bike
- 26/03 BikeBiz: The Bike Project to offer virtual bike maintenance sessions (free to NHS staff)
- 26/03 Tweet: UK bike shops so keen to help they contact a New Zealand nurse whose bike was stolen…
- 25/03 Green Commute Initiative is asking for unwanted bikes which they will service and donate to local NHS workers
- 25/03 ACT reports: “A large mental health NHS Trust in London – the Tavistock and Portman NHS – has asked whether any bike shops would be kind enough to allow them to use some bicycles to get around during this crisis.”
- 25/03 Road.cc: The bike industry brands altering production to help during Coronavirus crisis
- 25/03 ThisisMoney: Brompton boss offers 200 cycles to help NHS staff get to work and avoid public transport
- 25/03 Pedal & Post cycle delivery company now delivering for an Oxford pharmacy.
- 25/03 Tweet: “My partner is a key NHS worker who is cycling to work. Last night she asked me to look at a rattle on her bike. Loose spoke, which I tightened, but the wheel needs truing and re-tensioning. Beyond my capabilities. That’s why bicycle repair shops need to stay open.”
- 25/03 Tweet “In the past 4 days we have received over 12 enquiries from NHS staff, contractors working on emergency projects inside hospitals and key workers who rely on their bicycles every day. We will be keeping our bicycle shop open for as long as we can”
- 25/03 Tweet: “@halfords have re-opened and are are offering free bicycle check-up services, worth £30 to NHS staff and emergency services.”
- 25/03 Tweet: a note that the NHS volunteer sign-up site accepts bicycles as a mode of transport
- 25/03 E-bike Capital offering free servicing to essential workers
- 24/03 Tweet: “anyone got a bicycle I could use to get to work at the hospital for a while? Busses are awful and can’t afford taxis everyday.”
- 24/03 Bikebiz: Beryl bikes now free for NHS staff in Bournemouth and Poole
- 24/03 Tweet: ” It’s so messy, but I’m afraid I’m pleased re cycle shops in London, as I need to keep my bike on road to get to work in the #NHS & I need to get off the buses which are still packed by people who don’t care whether they pass on something to my patients & cause outbreak!”
- 24/03 Tweet: ” Do you know which bike shops are open in Manchester? We are NHS workers and 2 of us need bike repair assistance but I’ve not seen any shops remaining open! “
- 23/03 Tweet: “So today i cycled further than i ever have before. Why? Because im a key worker in social care and i am needed. By pushing my self to cycle to work means i avoid public transport and human contact. Stay safe folks. X”
- 20/03 Freebike UK are making the first 30 minutes free on their hire bikes
- 20/03 Brompton Bike Hire: Bikes for NHS staff (on LinkedIn)
- 20/03 Cycle Industry News: Mango Bikes to donate ten free bikes to nominated health workers
- 19/03 NipNip Cycles offer free bicycle servicing and repairs to NHS staff
- 19/03 Santini Cycle Wear (IT): converting production to protective masks
- 18/03 Push Cycles offers 25% off to NHS ID card holders
- 18/03 Tweet: “My unexpected #COVID19 behavior—joining a pop-up volunteer bicycle food delivery service to help neighborhood restaurants stay afloat.”
- 18/03 Tweet: “I am signed up to bicycle courier stuff to the doorsteps of elderly people in my area. My partner is taking the calls. Have a think about doing something similar in your own area.”
Cycling organisation position statements
- Bicycle Association (UK) Covid-19 and the UK Cycle Industry Position Statement
- CONEBI (Confederation of the European Cycling Industry) and ECF (European Cycling Federation): Joint Public Statement: COVID-19, Cycling and Bike Repair Shops
- WBIA (World Bicycle Industries Association): WBIA supports the need for bike repairs during corona pandemic
- Association of Cycle Traders: COVID-19 information
- Cycling UK: What does the COVID-19 outbreak mean for cycling?
25/03: Cycling UK calls on Government to “rapidly” introduce temporary cycle facilities
03/04 NHS staff offered free Cycling UK membership - British Cycling: COVID-19 guidance and FAQs
- Sustrans: Sustrans and COVID-19
- UCI: UCI takes strong measures faced with the development of the coronavirus
- IMBA: Mountain Biking and COVID-19
- CIE (Cycling Industries Europe): CIE Response to the Coronavirus Outbreak
- Sport England: Coronavirus: an update
- London Cycle Campaign: Cycling and the Covid-19 crisis
Cycling under lockdown: UK media and policy articles
- 30/04 Edinburgh: Council set to introduce emergency measures for pedestrians and cyclists
- 29/04 Independent: Green revolution? UK cities have only ‘weeks’ to design life after lockdown, warns Chris Boardman
- 27/04 Forbes: U.K.’s First Pop-Up Cycleway—A ‘Keyworker Corridor’—Installed In King Richard III’s Leicester
- 14/04 BikeBiz: Scotland sees increase in cycling since social distancing measures introduced
- 14/04 Road.cc: East London council to block cars to protect cyclists and pedestrians from speeding drivers during pandemic
- 09/04 Guardian: How the coronavirus crisis got me back on my bike and feeling free
- 03/04 Newham Recorder: There With You: Cyclists delivering food and medicine during coronavirus crisis
- 02/04 Guardian: Sainsbury’s revives bicycle deliveries in central London
- 25/03 Road.cc How much distance should you leave to the cyclist ahead in a time of pandemic?
- 24/03 Guardian: UK bicycle shops and repairers see a surge in business
- 24/03 Evening Standard: NHS intensive care doctor asks ‘how am I supposed to commute?’ after bike stolen from Battersea home
- 20/03 Guardian: Why not encourage cycling during the coronavirus lockdown?
- 19/03 British Cycling: British Cycling asks Health Secretary to recommend cycling as part of Government advice
- 19/03 Cycle Industry News: Cycling shops report a bounce as people turn to bikes for transport
- 18/03 Road.cc: Experts back bike industry call for government to protect cycling as “strategic industry”
- 17/03 Forbes: Do Not Ban Bicycling In Covid-19 Crackdown, Industry And Academics Urge U.K. Government
Cycling under lockdown: public policy internationally
- 30/04 Archyde: The State will offer a package of 50 euros to the French to repair their bikes
- 26/04 Independent: Cycling is booming during coronavirus – let’s keep it that way
- 23/04 Forbes: Paris To Create 650 Kilometers Of Pop-Up Corona Cycleways For Post-Lockdown Travel
- 21/04 Guardian: Milan seeks to prevent post-crisis return of traffic pollution
- 14/04: WIRED: The Pandemic Could Be an Opportunity to Remake Cities
- 13/04 Guardian: Pop-up bike lanes help with coronavirus physical distancing in Germany
- 13/04 Forbes: New Zealand First Country To Fund Pop-Up Bike Lanes, Widened Sidewalks During Lockdown
- 10/04 Guardian: Oakland (USA) to open up 74 miles of city streets to pedestrians and cyclists
- 11/03 Guardian: World cities turn their streets over to walkers and cyclists
- 01/04 Cycle Industry News: Global bicycle groups call to allow bike shops to operate during Covid-19 lockdowns
- 30/03 Ride Healthy is an international site supporting the use of cycles during the pandemic – with materials about why to cycle, for new riders and for policymakers
- 25/03 Citylab: In a Global Health Emergency, the Bicycle Shines
- 19/03 USA: San Francisco mayor confirms bicycle repair shops and mobile bicycle repair companies are “essential”
- 19/03 AUSTRALIA: ‘Perfect social distancing’: Commuters dust off their bikes
- 19/03 INDIA: Dabawalla services suspended due to COVID-19 outbreak
- 18/03 COLOMBIA: Bogotá expands bike lanes to curb coronavirus spread
- 18/03 USA: Need to Get Around in a Pandemic? Ride a Bike.
- 17/03 FRANCE: French Bicycle Users Federation calls for civil responsibility and benevolence (PDF)
- 17/03 USA: Bike Shops in Philly Are Now Considered ‘Essential Businesses’
- 17/03 INTERNATIONAL: Should We Be Riding In The Face Of Adversity? (Global Cycling network Youtube video)
- 16/03 USA: One Important Thing in a Public Health Crisis: Safe Transportation
- 15/03: NETHERLANDS: Netherlands Closes Sex Shops, Cannabis Cafes Due To Coronavirus; Bike Shops Stay Open
- 14/03 USA: A surge of biking to avoid crowded trains in NYC
- 13/03 USA: Is using a bike for transport the best way to avoid coronavirus? 2.43 long video by Streetfilms on Vimeo
Medical opinion/academic evidence
- 17/03 Open letter from public health & transport researchers calls on government to support safe walking & cycling (in terms of infection & injury risks) during the COVID-19 pandemic:
Please note: inclusion in this list does not imply Bicycle Association endorsement of advice or views in any linked article or statement.