The Transport Select Committee has today echoed British Cycling’s calls for national government to create a clear budget for cycling and to increase spending to at least £10 per head.
British Cycling’s Choose Cycling action plan, launched in February in Parliament, named increased and sustained spending on cycling as a top priority. On the same day as the launch of Choose Cycling, Chris Boardman gave evidence to the Transport Select Committee to also make the case for strong political leadership and a commitment to redesign roads in Britain’s towns and cities to accommodate the needs of cyclists.
Today the Transport Select Committee has published its own report echoing these comments.
British Cycling’s campaigns manger, Martin Key, said:
“British Cycling fully supports the Transport Select Committee’s call for a clear annual budget line for cycling. Every country and city that has successfully grown levels of cycling has created a strategic and long-term plan, backed by meaningful levels of funding. Without this, we will fall short of the ambition to make Britain a true cycling nation.
“We are pleased that MPs on the Transport Select Committee have agreed with many of our recommendations and we look forward to seeing how these are taken up by the government.”
The report also recommends that:
- Cycle training should be available to all primary and secondary school children
- Mutual respect should be at the heart of road safety awareness
- Safe cycling should be integral to all new infrastructure projects
- Closing the loopholes which allows certain HGVs not to fit safety equipment
The report follows a six month long inquiry by the Committee into cycle safety. Chris Boardman gave evidence to the Committee alongside Edmund King The AA’s president and Roger Geffen The CTC’s policy and campaigns director.
The Transport Select Committee is chaired by Louise Ellman MP and exists to check and report on the work of the Department for Transport. The inquiry into cycle safety will require a response from the government.
