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Diary of a cycle commuter. Supermarket by bicycle

9/12/2020

10 Comments

 
Supermarket shopping by bicycle
Using my bicycle to do supermarket shopping
Is it possible to do your supermarket shopping using a bicycle? Supermarkets in Scotland tend to be visited mainly by people using cars. The entire concept- filling a trolley with bulk purchases, the location of the shop and the large car park- is based on car ownership. Supermarkets do provide cycle racks and people do use bicycles for their shopping. I have been doing supermarket shopping for 2 adults and a child using my bicycle and this blog shares my thoughts about the experience.

How I transport shopping on a bicycle
I have two rear panniers on my bike and a backpack and this is sufficient to carry what I buy in the supermarket. It does not have the same capacity as a car which means I don't do a weekly shop, but visit the shop once every 2 or 3 days. Personally, this works out well because with a weekly shop you really need a big fridge and I have a small one. I also find that some of the fresher items do not last that well if you do a weekly shop. And it means more frequent exercise for me if I am doing it once every couple of days instead of once a week. The reduced capacity of my bike helps to control my spending and forces me to only get what I need and not succumb to temptation!
How I get to the supermarket
This is the main thing I wanted to write about in this blog. Each time that I do a supermarket trip by bicycle it always makes me think about how urban planning has made us so dependent on cars for short journeys.

I live in Colinton in Edinburgh and my nearest supermarket, Tesco, is a 9 minute cycle ride . That's really not far, so this should be a journey that anybody with a bicycle should be able to do. Right?

The problem is that there is no cycling infrastructure, no separated bike lanes and no painted bike lanes. It means that a person using a bike has to travel on some busy roads and be confident cycling in traffic. Part of the route is through some quiet roads in a housing estate where there is no traffic. However, to get to the quiet section you have to go on a busier road first. And this is why whenever I arrive at the supermarket I am the only one using the cycle racks or there is sometimes one or two other bikes there, but never more than that. This Tesco is hemmed in by roads that see a significant volume of traffic, probably a similar situation to many supermarkets in urban areas.

​For most people the prospect of cycling on these busy roads to get their shopping is frightening, so they will use a car. There will be people who would like to go to this supermarket by bike, but if they do not feel safe they are not going to do it. 

Do you need a car to get a pint of milk?
Here is another observation about this situation. Walking to this supermarket takes 25 minutes, so if someone just needs one or two things, like a pint of milk, they probably are not going to walk. We already know that not many people use a bike to get to this supermarket, which means that there are lots and lots of short car journeys being taken to reach it. It's not the fault of the people using the cars, urban planning has left them with no choice. It's not practical to walk 25 minutes to the  supermarket each time you need something and cycling, if you don't feel safe on the road, is not an option. Okay, there are small convenience shops that you can walk to for things like milk, but not every location has one within reasonable walking distance and they don't stock everything that you need, so the only alternative is to travel to the supermarket.


What about public transport? There is a bus that covers this route to Tesco and it takes about 9 minutes, so the same as the bike. However, it is a 30 minute service so you are going to have to plan out your shopping trip to make sure it starts and finishes for when the bus comes. For people who do not own a car this is what they do when they visit the supermarket, but for people who own a car they may not want the inconvenience of waiting for a bus, planning their supermarket trip to the bus timetable, and having to carry bags of shopping on and off the bus.

There is another supermarket very close to where I live. Aldi, on Oxgangs Road, is 12 minutes by bike and 6 minutes by car. Again, 12 minutes is such a short time to be on a bicycle, so this trip should be a normal, everyday thing. However, like the Tesco route, the Aldi route requires you to be confident cycling on a bike next to vehicle traffic. The most direct way to reach Aldi is on the B701 which has no painted cycle lanes and no segregated cycle lanes. I come off the B701 at Oxgangs Farm Drive and head onto Oxgangs Farm Avenue as these roads have virtually no traffic, but there is no way to completely avoid busy roads when travelling to this supermarket.

Aldi has 4 bicycle racks and when I visit I am usually the only person using them. I have seen no more than one other bicycle parked there. There must be other people with bicycles who would cycle to Aldi if they felt safe on the roads.

We know that cycling and walking are good for health and the government wants us to do more of it. We know that driving, particularly for frequent short journeys that could be done by walking or cycling, is not good for the environment. Why, then, should it be so challenging to cycle for 9 to 12 minutes to a supermarket? The absence of segregated cycling lanes means that for the vast majority of people the journey to the supermarket will continue to be done by car. It should be normal to cycle 9 to 12 minutes to pick up shopping, not extraordinary, but the design of our urban areas has made it unusual to see a person using a bicycle to visit a supermarket.

Something has to change if we want society to move away from dependency on the private car for short, everyday journeys. If we really want to tackle health and climate issues then creating an urban environment where people feel safe to cycle for these short distance shopping trips is a good place to start.

This great video from Cycling UK explains the benefits to society of cycling lanes:
How about you? Do you cycle to the supermarket? Would you like to cycle to the supermarket? Tell me about your experiences and thoughts in the comments.
10 Comments
Colin Calder
10/12/2020 12:23:07 am

Great blog post ... highlights the problems.

Reply
Colin
10/12/2020 07:17:34 am

Thanks Colin

Reply
Finlay Turnbull
1/1/2021 07:29:39 am

I think people like you need to take a step back and have a reality check. If you have a family of 4 and both parents work full time, shopping once a week is the easiest, most convenient option. Trying to get 2 adults to transport a weekly food shop for 4 on the back of their bikes in a near-impossibility, unless you have a cargo bike, which only an extremely small minority own. You’d never in a million years be able to get 1 adult to cycle back with a family of 4’s weekly food shop.

If you own a car, unless it’s just for a few light things, why wouldn’t you drive to the supermarket?

The claim that some people are to ‘frightened’ to cycle to the supermarket is ridiculous. I live in Fairmilehead and I can cycle to Tesco, Aldi and Scotmid almost entirely avoiding dangerous main roads. I’ll describe the route if you want me to. I’d attach a photo of the route if I could. Most people don’t HAVE to cycle everywhere along busy main roads, they can cycle along quieter residential streets.

I’ve started cycling, like many, a lot more since the first lockdown. I’ve had many close passes, the worst of which was a taxi coming within inches of me when I was cycling along Queens Drive at Holyrood Park. I had a driver open his window and spit at me when I was cycling in Morningside. I had a near miss with an NHS Lothian Lorry in April. I’ve had many a few drivers swearing and making hand gestures at me for no reason. A few weeks ago in Morningside a lady drove down the other side of the road at about 30-35mph to overtake me despite me doing the 20mph speed limit. I’ve had more tailgaters than I care to remember. But guess what, that’s just part of being a cyclist. I’m afraid to say that you can’t be a cyclist and not encounter bad, awful drivers. Just one of the dreadful experiences I’ve encountered when cycling could put people off getting on their bikes. All these things you’ve got consider when you ask yourself ‘why is nobody cycling the supermarket?’

Reply
Abike
27/2/2021 12:20:30 pm

"why wouldn't you drive". I can think of a bunch of reasons! Health, because you like it, save on petrol and car maintenance, reduce the need for a gym membership, reduce emissions, encourages other people to do it, improves your neighborhood... Sure, it might take you longer as it'll take multiple trips to take all that food in panniers rather than in your car boot, but is the most convenient option always the best?

Also, those scary things you list could happen on quiet streets, not sure why it's ridiculous to say some people are frightened to cycle. If there are fewer car trips that will make cycling more pleasant, that will encourage more cycling and so on. If cycling were more popular I think there'd be acceptance rather than the close-passing and spitting etc.

Reply
Colin
1/1/2021 12:30:05 pm

Hi Finlay. I totally agree that using a bicycle to do supermarket shopping is not practical for everyone. The example of a large family that you give is a case in point. For some people, like myself, it can be an option. I just wanted to share my thoughts that the urban infrastructure should be designed in a way that makes it possible for all types of transport, including bicycles, to safely access supermarkets so that you have the choice of whatever mode of transport suits your circumstances. The choice isn’t always there for people wishing to cycle- the lack of segregated cycling paths will put them off. Your last point puts it perfectly, that the negative encounters you have had with people driving cars is enough to put many people off using a bicycle and is exactly why segregated cycling infrastructure is so important. It’s good that there are some supermarkets you can reach using quieter roads, but that’s not always the case. I use quiet roads as much as I can to reach my local supermarkets, but there are still sections on busier roads with no alternative.

Reply
Finlay Turnbull
1/1/2021 06:32:29 pm

I agree that more segregated cycling infrastructure is needed. I have been hugely impressed with the amount of segregated cycle lanes that the council have implemented in Edinburgh recently.

Since April, I have called for the cycle lanes on Oxgangs Road North to be re-painted and segregated and I've also called for the cycle lanes on Oxgangs Road to be segregated as well. I have spoken to councillors about this and published my suggestions on the Commonplace tool earlier in the year.

Unfortunately though, the segregated cycling infrastructure in recent days has been all but unusable due to the council's failure to grit the cycle lanes. A few days ago I had a crash on Braid Road, a road closed by the council for the benefit of pedestrians and cyclists, due to the council's failure to grit the road.

Unfortunately in some places segregated cycling infrastructure is not really a viable option. For example it would be all but impossible to put segregated cycle lanes on Morningside Road, without removing every parking space on the road and HUGE backlash from businesses and possible legal action. But in other places, it is an option, and should be implemented.

It's nice to see you recognise that cycling for a weekly food shop isn't an option for many families. People like yourselves however, as you say, it is an option and I commend you for doing so. Another thing you've got to remember is that for many people without a car it will be easier to walk to the supermarket than to cycle. Also, getting the bus will be some people's preferred option.

I've cycled to many, many places this year, most commonly 'non-essential' shops and restaurants, but I'd never cycle to the supermarket.

I appreciate your reply to my comment though. Thanks.

Reply
Mark Wringe
8/1/2021 04:16:43 am

I live in a very different setting, south Skye, but your blog chimes with me so much! We have a great community-owned shop 5 minutes' away by bike, but it can't stock everything you need. During the first lockdown I cycled to the Co-op in Broadford about once a week, about 45 minutes or 8.5 miles away, and learned to use the dinky small trolleys so I didn't buy too much to fit in two panniers. Unfortunately when they renovated the store a while ago they removed the bike rack, but outside the tourist season I wouldn't be worried about securing my (electric) bike from theft. Some of the route is off road, but the last mile or so is on Skye's busy, narrow spinal A road. During lockdown it was blissfully quiet and safe, but once tourist traffic returned in summer I went back to using the car. It's just the last mile, but it carries every one of the half a million visitors that come here each year, all the buses, all the trucks on a road that is sub-standardly narrow for a trunk road.

Reply
Neil link
28/6/2021 11:09:23 pm

Awesome blog! I love how you were able to tackle important points to consider when using your bike for some errands. I use mine for everything. I commute with to work and I run pretty much all my errands with it. It is a much less hassle to bring and I can avoid the traffic I will get when in a car. Thank you for pointing out that you can go get some groceries with it. I hope this enlightens others too.

Reply
Colin
1/7/2021 01:14:32 pm

Hi Neil, thanks so much for your kind comments. Great to read that you also use your bike for errands.

Reply
car dealers link
20/12/2024 05:29:26 am

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