CYCLING in Oxford has increased 18 per cent since 2001, according to the 2011 census figures released last week. It sounds really impressive – you’d be forgiven for thinking that Oxford is the cycling capital of the UK.

And while Oxford should be the cycling capital of the UK, we have been pipped at the post yet again by the “Other Place”.

The census figures only tell us about people’s journeys to work, so they don’t include people who work from home, like me, in Oxford so we don’t count.

Even so, the figures are very encouraging. The average numbers of those choosing to cycle to work against using the car or bus have risen considerably.

In 2001, 8,927 of 60,000 journeys to work were made by bike. In 2011, 12,270 of 70,000 work journeys made were by bike.

That means that, in real terms, cycling to work in Oxford rose 18 per cent in the past 10 years.

The percentage of those taking the bus to work stayed at 18 per cent and those using their car fell by five per cent from 43 per cent in 2001 to 38 per cent in 2011.

That means there are now less than twice as many drivers using their car for work as there are bike riders.

It certainly doesn’t look or feel that way in some parts of Oxford but – especially in the city centre – bike volumes far outweigh those of cars.

So how do we compare with Cambridge?

The number who choose to commute to work by bike has risen five per cent in Cambridge, from 29 per cent in 2001 to a whopping 34 per cent in 2011.

That’s an actual increase of 16 per cent in cycling to work, slightly less than the increase here, but from a much higher base.

Cambridge has done better in terms of getting drivers to leave their cars at home: driving to work fell seven per cent in Cambridge, from 44 per cent in 2001 to 37 per cent in 2011. So while Oxford drivers outnumber commuter cyclists two-to-one, in Cambridge they are nearly level pegging.

Nationally of course, the picture is quite different. The census probably came a little early to reflect the massive spike in cyclist numbers in London, and across the UK as a whole the percentage of drivers has risen fractionally.

What’s so different between Oxford and Cambridge? What’s stopping Oxford being THE number one city for cycling in the UK?

The answer is – not much. Not much more money and a little more political commitment would set Oxford on the cycle-superhighway to national status of cycling capital of the UK.

Oxford City Council is leading the way with its Cycling City project, with a £300,000 budget to spend on cycling infrastructure.

It is a modest sum in the scheme of things, but it will make a difference by chipping away at obstacles to cycling. There is no reason now except relatively small amounts of funding that Oxford can’t build cycling, parking and safer on-road routes to rival everywhere in the UK, with no route too scary for novice adults or children on their way to school.

Come on, dig a little deeper. Oxford cycling capital of the UK – let’s do this!