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British Cycling has welcomed The London Assembly Transport Committee's 'bold' report today, the culmination of a five month examination of cycling in the capital. The investigation aimed to understand the issues facing current and prospective cyclists, examine the plans proposed by the Mayor and Transport for London to promote cycling and improve the cycling environment.

The investigation, which British Cycling has been closely involved in from the start, including giving oral evidence in July and submitting a written report in August, resulted in seven key recommendations to the Mayor and Transport for London to help realise the vision of a true ‘cycling revolution’.

“British Cycling welcomes this bold report which calls on the Mayor to follow the cycling successes at the Olympics with an Olympic legacy of a genuine step-change in the road space given to cycling."

Martin Gibbs

In her foreword, London Assembly Transport Committee chair Caroline Pidgeon wrote: “This is a crucial time if the Mayor wants to get more people cycling. The Mayor has an opportunity to capitalise on the growing interest in cycling to make it a major mode of transport. We have heard that many Londoners do not think London is an inviting place to cycle, and they want to see the Mayor and TfL build infrastructure that offers physical protection to cyclists.

“Our report finds that cycling has remained at the political and financial margins of decision-making about London’s roads. In the Netherlands and Copenhagen, city leaders took bold decisions in the 1970s to create safe and attractive places for cycling. In contrast, London has been left behind and has failed to reap the benefits of lower air pollution, improved health and reduced motor traffic congestion. This has to change.”

The London Assembly Transport Committee’s Recommendations Recommendation 1 - The Mayor should establish a far more ambitious target for cycling, bringing forward his target of 5 per cent cycling modal share from 2026 to 2020. He should also establish a new target of 10 per cent cycling modal share by 2026. The Mayor should appoint a Cycling Commissioner to help realise this target and produce a biennial ‘London Bicycle Account’ to report on progress. Recommendation 2 - The Mayor and TfL’s new business plan, due to be published in December 2012, should commit to doubling the amount of funding for cycling, setting out the resources it will require to transform cycling in London to match the levels seen in leading cycling cities. Recommendation 3 - The Mayor and TfL should commit to introducing fundamental cycle safety improvements to the junctions included in the junction review, based on high quality Dutch/Danish planning and design principles.  Recommendation 4 - The Mayor and TfL should reassess the space allocated to cycling in the design of cycle route and junction infrastructure. Recommendation 5 - Where there is existing provision for the Mayor and TfL to use innovative road design and technological solutions to improve cycle safety, they should do so. Recommendation 6 - HGVs - The Mayor and TfL need to revise the Road Safety Action Plan to reflect the forthcoming independent review of construction vehicle design and operation. The Mayor and TfL should also report discussions with the EU Commissioner for Transport on retrofitting HGVs with cycle safety equipment. The Mayor and TfL should also work with the five London boroughs to ensure they sign up to the Freight Operators Recognition Scheme and make HGV safety training a condition of planning and development consent for all borough and Mayoral planning schemes. Recommendation 7 - TfL should report back to the Committee on the steps it is taking with the Metropolitan Police on cycling safety, including increase enforcement of 20mph limits and improved driver awareness.

The Assembly’s recommendations resonate with many of the calls that British Cycling has made; In May, British Cycling reminded The Mayor of his pre-election promises to appoint a Cycling Commissioner and to make infrastructure improvements based upon Dutch standards.

Prior to the investigation, in April, we asked our members what the new Mayor needed to do and out of 1471 respondents we heard that 52% felt that more dedicated space for cyclists on the roads is a key issue and a quarter felt that the mayor should focus on improving road conditions.

Responding to the report Martin Gibbs, British Cycling Policy and Legal Affairs Director said:

“British Cycling welcomes this bold report which calls on the Mayor to follow the cycling successes at the Olympics with an Olympic legacy of a genuine step-change in the road space given to cycling. We wholeheartedly agree that with strong political will and investment could and should be the turning point for cycling in London. As the report says, we need political will to make cycling a mainstream form of transport that is supported by high quality, safe cycling routes.”

Related:

London Assembly Listens to European Cities' Experts on Cycling Provision

British Cycling urges London to 'make the choice that it wants people to cycle' 

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