Cycling is the most energy efficient means of transport available. In town it can also be the quickest and easiest way to get from a to b. See just how quick for yourself by taking an armchair journey across Elgin by bike (link to armchair journey page)

Cycling is perfect for journeys between 1 and 5 miles where it can be appreciably quicker than walking and a lot less bother than driving when you take parking and congestion into consideration. Riding a bike burns even less calories per mile than walking so you can go a surprisingly long way before ‘refuelling’.

Contrary to popular imagery cyclists are likely to live longer and breath less pollutants than car drivers. The health benefits of cycling as a means of transport far outweigh the risk factors associated with riding in traffic. Cycling becomes even safer as more people do it. Drivers learn to share the road space and react better to difficult situations.

Riding a well maintained bike can consume as little as 150 kilojoules of energy per mile making it very well suited for journeys in town, where slow moving traffic and frequent stopping reduce the efficiency of cars to less than one twentieth of this.

Using the bike to extend a public transport journey is a very effective way to reduce journey time and still get all the benefits of cycling. Folding bikes offer the most options for travelling in this way, although improved carriage of conventional bikes is making multi-modal travel available to a wider audience.

A good bike will save you money by getting you to places quicker, without fuel costs, parking charges, MOT or vehicle tax.

We’ll be making cycling in Elgin a more attractive option by improving links into the town centre, providing additional cycle parking and investigating options for bike hire and cycle carriage on buses- be part of the consultation by registering here