British Cycling has welcomed Boris Johnson's vision for cycling in London as a significant demonstration of political leadership which will go a long way to establishing a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Above: Thursday March 7, 2013 - Mayor of London Boris Johnson and British Cycling's Chris Boardman launch "Crossrail for the Bike", a new vision for cycling in London. (Photo: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)
The Mayor’s ‘Vision for Cycling in London’, written in consultation with British Cycling, has been created with the objective of making cycling a normal part of everyday life and a compelling choice for all Londoners. This will be achieved with a quantum leap in investment in cycling which won't just be good for those who cycle, it will make London a better place to live for all Londoners. The capital will pioneer the kind of changes which British Cycling wants to see across the whole country as it ensures that cycling is firmly established at the heart of its transport policy.
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Key elements of the Mayor’s cycle network plans
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British Cycling’s Chris Boardman, Olympic gold medallist and Tour de France stage winner, joined the Mayor for the launch this morning.
He said: "This is the most ambitious cycling development and promotion plan in the UK in living memory, perhaps ever. I'm delighted to have been involved and look forward to the great changes it will bring to London."
“As a nation we've become world class at winning bike races. But we needed to start asking ourselves questions about whether we were truly committed to making ourselves world class in terms of getting people on bikes in the way our friends in other European countries have.”
Boardman added: "It was great to hear Boris state to the press that he will look very carefully at restricting HGVs coming into the city."
The announcement of the Vision comes after British Cycling urged the Mayor to use the world beating successes at London 2012 as an inspiration to turn London into a true cycling city like Copenhagen. British Cycling challenges, supports and advises policy makers and is pleased to have kick-started this debate - contributing to proposals that have resulted in increased financial investment and positive policy changes for cyclists in London.
Martin Gibbs, British Cycling Policy and Legal Affairs Director, said:
“For the first time we have a major announcement that is committed to transformative policy change in the approach to cycling of the kind we have called for in our manifesto. The Mayor has fulfilled his promise to appoint a Cycling Commissioner to drive these policies forward and committed to the ongoing involvement of British Cycling as policies are developed. We look forward to working with him.
“The most important aspect of this announcement is the commitment of significantly higher levels of spending on a range of policy measures that will make a tangible difference to the cycling environment in London.
"It was great to hear Boris state to the press that he will look very carefully at restricting HGVs coming into the city."
Chris Boardman
“We welcome the focus on normalising cycling, on spending significantly more money re-fitting London's worst junctions, the measures to ensure that all new transport projects have cycling designed into them from the start and the Mayor's commitment to create three 'Mini-Hollands' in outer London to show what can be achieved with concentrated high levels of investment. Inspired by the London Cycling Campaign's Go Dutch campaign, we believe these measures will be a game changer which other boroughs and cities and towns across the country will want to copy.
“There's always more to be done and we welcome the Mayor's commitment to look at the measures which Paris and Dublin have put into place to restrict HGV movements. We hope to be able to persuade Transport for London that such measures can be replicated in London.”
Read 'The Mayor's Vision for Cycling in London' (PDF document)
