From commuting to camping, our family cargo bikes do it all: Robin’s story

What is the Walking and Cycling Index, and what does it mean for Perth? 

The Walking and Cycling Index is the biggest assessment of walking, wheeling and cycling in urban areas in the UK and Ireland. In Scotland, the Index is delivered by Sustrans in collaboration with eight cities. Each city reports on the progress made towards making walking, wheeling and cycling more attractive, everyday ways to travel. 

The Index reports every two years. This is the third report from Perth produced in partnership with Perth & Kinross Council. The data in this report comes from 2023 and includes local walking, wheeling and cycling data, modelling and an independent survey of 1173 residents aged 16 or above in the city.

The Index found that, in Perth, 52% of residents walk or wheel five days a week, and that 16% cycle at least once a week.

Overall in the city, 25% of residents want to drive less, yet 37% of residents often use a car because no other transport options are available. And in terms of funding, 53% of residents would like to see more government spending in the area on walking and wheeling.

Hi Robin, can you introduce yourself? 

I’m Robin, I live in Perth with my wife and children. We got our first cargo bike about five years ago when we were expecting our first child. 

Why did you choose to get a cargo bike? 

We chose a cargo bike over a regular bike because they are safer and more practical. Children come with quite a variety of toys and accoutrements. The cargo bike makes life a bit easier carrying them around because it is a bit more stable. They're a little bit heavier but with the electric assistance on them, you don't notice.

They also tend to come with really good stands, which means loading kids and shopping onto them is really easy. They also feel a bit safer, unlike a trailer, they're a bit more substantial. And if nothing else, they give us at least a feeling of security, if we were to cycle onto something or something was driving toward us because they're a bit bigger and a bit heavier.

We got a lot of help buying the bike from the Energy Saving Trust loan scheme. It allows us to get an interest-free loan, which really does help with the purchase cost. As they're not the cheapest things in the world. 

Do you feel safe cycling your children in the cargo bike?  

Most of the time, we feel safe enough on the bikes. I think we're able to choose our routes well with the bikes, and the more you cycle in town, you know the little cut-throughs, or the little routes, or the junctions where there are problems. The more you do it, the safer you can plan your journeys.  

I think the bigger bikes give you a bit more road presence. Which can have upsides and downsides. It makes some drivers more careful passing, and it makes others more frustrated and maybe cut you up a little bit. But in general, it is as safe as any other bike on the road. And they're a bit more substantial, particularly the front loader if we were to have an accident, it feels like the kids would be more protected. 

What would you say to encourage more people to try a cargo bike to replace car journeys? 

We find that the kids are a bit more interactive when they’re on the cargo bike than in the car. We have conversations with them when we go from a to b. They tend to fall asleep mostly. They definitely look around a bit more, and on a cycle route, it is dead easy for everyone to hop off and back on again. 

Another benefit is that it is definitely cheaper than running a car. You’re not paying for fuel or servicing or parking. That’s another practical benefit: you don't stress thinking about where you're going to park. You can just stop on the front of the shops and load your shopping in afterwards. That's never a problem.

It is quick and it is easy and it makes shopping trips really easy. I am regularly quicker than the car getting into town on the bike, and I get exercise. Otherwise I'd be sitting still.

What kinds of trips do you use the cargo bike for? 

The cargo bikes are pretty handy. We use them on a daily basis, and both bikes are used everyday for running the kids to school and nursery in different directions across town. I can commute my 20km after that to get to work.

And, we use them a lot on holidays! Whether it’s camping or big beach trips, they replace everything that you would do on a day with a car. We do it on the bike!

What do your children think of travelling by cargo bike? 

Both of our kids are growing up with cargo bikes. We got the front load cargo bike in advance of having our first child, so neither really know any different. They love it - they will fight to get on the bike most of the time. They love climbing out of them. They like interacting, they don't get bored.

I've never had a point where they got bored on the bike. We go on holiday and they'll sit in it all morning, watching the world go by, chatting, telling us about what they're seeing. They just prefer it to the car to be honest, unless it is really raining. But even then they're safe because they're inside a rain cover.

Your children are currently learning to cycle. Do you think Perth is safe for kids to cycle their own bikes? If not, what needs to improve in order to make it safer? 

Perth is awesome for balance bikes and young kids. The round-Perth path is completely traffic free, and there are two big parks, they are great places for kids to learn. I think we're going to struggle a little bit moving forward when the kids get a little older and want to cycle themselves.

I don't think the road network is safe enough. The historic structure of the city means that segregated cycle lanes are pretty rare. And again, that's where the cargo bike comes in, because they can hop on and off really easily and they can do the bits they can do, and we can cycle them on the bits they don't feel safe.

It would improve if car drivers become a bit more aware of young kids on bikes. 

What are some of the main barriers or problems faced by cyclists in Perth? 

The difficulties of cycling in Perth are probably very similar to other towns across the country. I think the old road structure means that road users generally can get frustrated with traffic, and therefore sometimes it feels a bit vulnerable riding the bike.

Sometimes a little bit more patience from other road users would make life significantly better. Some other difficulties are the disjointed infrastructure. You end up swapping roads at random points and there are uneven road surfaces.

Dropped kerbs not being in the right place are a problem. 

 
How do you think things could be improved for cycling? 

I think getting cars outside of the city centre would be the obvious starting point. Getting more people walking and biking is a clear way of doing that.

I think in terms of everyone working together, a segregated road structure would help, as would improving the flow on the bike lanes and paths and visibility at junctions. Improving the surface is a surprisingly useful thing to do. When you're on a poor surface, you can get battered around, or even pushed into traffic. 

There are little things that would help a lot such as raising road junctions to the same height as the pavement, so you're not going up and down all the time as you cycle along.

And maybe just informing people where the cycle tracks are, because there's a lot if you look and work it out.

Download the Walking and Cycling Index for your city 

National Cycle Network routes in Perth and the surrounding area