Cycle Parking Hub Project - Reading

Volunteers from Ethical Reading identified high bike theft rates in the town as a disincentive to cycling and began to look into solutions, contacting the Department early in 2021 about a potential research collaboration. Together with partners at Avanti Cycling, Reading Bike Kitchen, Reading Cycle Campaign, Reading Borough Council and Sustrans, the idea of a secure cycle parking hub located one of the town centre’s vacant units was developed. It is hoped this will encourage more people to cycle in Reading, support efforts to reduce carbon emissions and incentivise healthy travel, and boost the regeneration of the town centre.

Reading Borough Council subsequently won funding from the Department for Transport's (DfT) Capability Fund to create a Hub with a central town centre location preferred. Funded by the University’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Project Fund (2022) and Research England’s Participatory Research Fund (2023), REP researchers have supported Reading cycle hub partners by creating an evidence base of UK hubs, updating data on Reading’s existing cycle parking and holding two participatory workshops to develop a vision for the Reading cycle hub.

Find out more about this work in the project report B30795 Cycle Hub Brochure Digital Version MP V1 Accessible24 or by contacting the lead researcher Emma Street: e.j.street@reading.ac.uk.