Cycling map of Oxfordshire

By Emily Kerr and Robin Tucker

Emily is Oxford City Councillor for the Green Party, St Mary’s Ward and Robin is Co-Chair of the Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel (CoHSAT)

A couple of years ago a woman approached us at an event. She said that her life had recently been transformed by discovering a new and more pleasant cycle route on her commute. She’d been cycling the 2 miles on main roads for years, but there was a quiet alternative she’d never known about. We spoke to other people, and many told us they didn’t know how to get around safely by bike on quiet routes.

In response to this, a group of volunteers got together and crowdsourced an Oxford Online Cycling Map. It was launched last year and has had more than 250,000 views.

Creating an even bigger map

We soon realised that it wasn’t just people living in Oxford city who wanted this information. Cyclists across the county were interested in the safest routes for cycling around their local area and beyond. And so this year we gathered an even bigger group of volunteers and developed an even bigger map: Oxfordshire Online Cycling Map.

this map aims to include the safest routes even if they’re not the most direct

This interactive map is free to access on Google Maps. It aims to help nervous, novice and young cyclists see how they can cycle most safely around their communities. Routes are colour-coded to show those that are car-free, those with less traffic and those where you have to walk your bike. The map covers the largest towns and villages in Oxfordshire, from Abingdon to Witney. It also shows routes between communities, but in most cases these are unsuitable for inexperienced cyclists.

Local input

This has been a huge labour of love with more than 60 people involved: campaigners and cyclists from across Oxfordshire have volunteered their time and expertise. It’s not yet exhaustive, as we’ve relied on people in local areas, but we think it’s a really useful tool.

Over the summer, Emily has used it to navigate from East Oxford to Woodstock, and to plan the safest cycle route to a meeting in Abingdon. Robin has used it to find the cycling route from the A44 cycle path through Begbroke Science Park to Kidlington. We know that cycle instructors are using it to help beginners, and new cyclists say it helps them plan how to get around. We’ve also heard from people doing the local mapping that they’ve learned about more routes in their own local areas.

Making cycling safer

We know that a key reason people don’t cycle more is fear of traffic, so this map aims to include the safest routes even if they’re not the most direct. Many of the routes contain notes from local cyclists, explaining that a certain path might be good in summer but boggy in winter, or OK during the weekends but too full of traffic to be safe during the week. 

we are aware that there are some safe routes already, which people just don’t know about

There’s a huge lack of safe rural cycle paths in Oxfordshire and there need to be a lot more if the county is to hit our targets on more people cycling more often — with all the health, environmental, and congestion benefits that will bring. But we are aware that there are some safe routes already, which people just don’t know about. This map is intended to help cyclists find those routes. We aim to update it annually. We have already covered 18 of the biggest 20 towns in Oxfordshire, but we’re keen to get as much mapped as possible – so do let us know (info@cohsat.org.uk) if you think we’re missing anything or if there’s a change in your local area.

Image credits

Robin Tucker