Urban cycling is central to sustainable transport policy, yet uptake remains limited despite substantial investment in infrastructure and bike-share. In London, recent strategies have prioritised network expansion and access provision, but provision alone has not secured widespread adoption.
This study examines how medium-term access to a personally assigned bicycle can support cycling transitions in ways that short-term hire does not. Using a mixed-methods design centred on qualitative inquiry, following five participants in London through a one-month trial, combining interviews, GPS travel logs, and bi-weekly reflective sessions.
Findings show that change was not a simple linear process of skill building, but emerged through the coordination of material, spatial, and temporal factors. Continuous access enabled regular use, route experimentation, and a sense of responsibility that encouraged attachment. The material qualities of the bicycles built confidence and comfort, spatial practice reshaped cognitive maps and route choices, and temporal structuring allowed new routines to take hold within the trial window.
The analysis develops a coordination framework that demonstrates how these dimensions work together to embed practice, offering a dynamic account of cycling adoption. It addresses the limits of behaviour change theories that emphasise attitudes or fixed routines, showing instead how adoption unfolds across interacting contexts. This perspective also challenges the assumption that access alone guarantees use, highlighting the importance of continuity, control, and time-bounded engagement.
The findings suggest that medium-term loan schemes can complement infrastructure investment by creating conditions for skills, confidence, and habit formation, informing the design of future urban mobility programmes.
Toby Liu is a recent MSc Transport and City Planning graduate from the Bartlett School of Planning, UCL. Originally from Taipei and now based in London, he brings a unique multidisciplinary perspective to urban mobility, bridging a decade-long career in the creative industries as a music professional with technical expertise as a bike mechanic at Tokyobike London. Toby is a versatile learner and active volunteer with the London Cycling Campaign, dedicated to exploring the intersection of design, culture, and sustainable city planning