The united kingdom’s national cycle network: Paths for everyone, past, present and future

Abstract

The National Cycle Network (NCN) covers every region and nation of the United Kingdom. At its peak, it totalled over 16,500 miles, with routes on quiet roads, traffic-free paths and greenways. First conceived of in 1997, the network was initiated by the sustainable transport charity Sustrans; this organisation is still the custodian of the Network but it remains very much a joint production. Routes are provided and maintained by local government, private landowners large and small, volunteers and government and non-governmental bodies. It is a major collaborative achievement of civil society and in 2017 carried 785 million journeys a year, with an estimated annual contribution to the UK economy of £3.8 billion. This paper does three things: first recount the genesis of Sustrans and the NCN; second, explain the rapid growth of NCN in the early twenty-first century and its impact; third, explain the 2017–2018 review of the NCN and its re-visioning as a network of traffic-free paths for everyone—in many ways a return to its founding ideals and one that is as important as ever.