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news
London cyclists at traffic lights (copyright Britishcycling.org_.uk).jpgSadiq Khan "to double" amount spent on cycling in London
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says that over the next five years, the city will spend almost twice as much on cycling as under his predecessor Boris Johnson.
The news comes ahead of the launch, this Thursday, of the Transport for London (TfL) draft Business Plan.
City Hall says the investment, which totals £770 million from 2017/18 to 2021/22, equates to £17 per person per head, which is well above the £10 that campaigners have called for as a minimum investment in cycling.
It adds that the investment negotiated by Khan “goes well beyond his manifesto commitments to increase the proportion of TfL’s budget spent on cycling,” which it claims will rise from 2.4 per cent to 5.5 per cent.
From 2012/13 to 2015/16, TfL’s actual spend on cycling was £302 million, with a further £155 million budgeted this year. Khan says the amount spent “in the last mayoral term” was £79 million per year. For the next five years, it is budgeted at £154 million.
Some of the money will be used to complete existing projects such as the North-South Cycle Superhighway from Farringdon to King’s Cross and Cycle Superhighway 11 from Swiss Cottage to the West End.
Funding will also be confirmed for Cycle Superhighway 4 from Tower Bridge to Greenwich and Cycle Superhighway 9 from Olympia to Hounslow, with consultations for both getting under way next year.
More Quietways are planned, and research that will be published in the coming months has identified essential links that are needed such as from Tottenham to Camden or East Finchley to Hoxton.
Money will also be provided for the proposed cycling and walking bridge from Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf.
“I said in my manifesto that I’d be the most pro-cycling Mayor London has ever had,” Khan said. “Today I’m delighted to confirm that TfL will be spending twice as much on cycling over the next five years compared to the previous mayor.
“Making cycling safe and easier can provide huge benefits for us all – improving our health, cleaning up our toxic air, and helping tackle congestion. By spending £770 million over the course of the next TfL Business Plan, we’ll now be spending the same per head as Denmark and the Netherlands – places famous around the world for their cycling.”
Khan and his Deputy Mayor for Transport, Val Shawcross, have criticised what they see as a flawed consultation process under Johnson that led to unnecessary conflict, and he said: “Unlike the previous Mayor, we will continue to focus on how we can minimise disruption and congestion as we push ahead with the construction of new cycling infrastructure.
He added: “With record amounts of money now committed for cycling in London, we will continue to work over the coming months developing further detailed plans for making cycling a safe and obvious choice for Londoners of all ages and backgrounds.”
London Cycling Campaign CEO Ashok Sinha said: “This unprecedented investment in cycling shows the Mayor is serious about meeting his promises to triple the extent of London’s protected cycle lanes, fix the most dangerous junctions and enable boroughs to implement major walking and cycling schemes.
“It will help make London a better, greener, healthier and less congested city.”
Matt Winfield, London Director of national sustainable transport charity, Sustrans, added: “The mayor is right to secure this record investment for cycling to tackle dire air quality and improve our health, while making more efficient use of our limited road space.
“It will help more Londoners get around in a way that’s easy and affordable, while making our city an even more attractive place to live, work or do business.”
It’s unsurprising the news has been welcomed by campaigners. It comes just a few months after former Green Party Assembly Member Darren Johnson claimed that funding for cycling in London was due to “fall of a cliff” and drop to £31 million in 2021/22 according to TfL’s last draft plan.
But his successors at the London Assembly will be watching closely to make sure the money is in fact spent, with its Budget Monitoring Committee demanding explanations in the past from the former mayor and TfL over shortfalls such as an actual spend of £73 million in 2013/14 against a budget of £111 million.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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17 comments
Not more Kahn b@llshit! The guy is a barefaced lier:
Ellection pledges missed so far:
"I'll plant 2 million trees by 2020" - thats was 10,000 a week and he hasnt planted any yet!
"London will have 100% green energy by 2050" - has now admitted he has no idea of what the percentage was when he started.
"Every new housing development will have 50% afordable housing" - now he says it's 35% and voluntary.
and the most outrageous:
"In 2020 Londoners wont pay a penny more for their travel than they do today" - apart from straight away you will if you buy a travel card!
So I trust Gilligan more on this one and his verdict is after Khan canceled the Westway cycle lane we are net minus 4 miles from when he took over...
Why cant people see he will be dreadfull for cycling in London? Why cant people see thorugh him?
He can't be any worse than the guy who was immediately before him - Boris.
The Boris who managed to get his name on Ken's bike scheme.
Well Mr Gilligan isn't convinced and I am inclined to think this is more "soundbite Sadiq" rather than substance.
The solution in my mind is national minimum standards for infrastructure or it doesn't get built and to massively expedite the planning process so that every obtuse man and his dog doesn't get to object. Think pollution, health, activity. Is it suitable for a 9 year old child to use ?
This is what people need to lobby their mp's for if you want a national roll out. It can be done as Blackfriars to parliament square has shown (not the shared bit to the east).
Strong leadership is required (why I have my doubts about Sadiq) but it needs to come from central government as well, hence the need to correspond with MP's. We might have put 2 million children through bike ability courses but it's sweet fa use if there's nowhere safe to ride. Above all else, policy must stop pandering to the self entitled and that goes right to the heart of traffic legislation. Start with getting rid of "vital to drive for my job defence" (really ? You should have driven as of it was vital for your livelihood in the first place). The rest is gestures and my fear is we get more half baked not fit for purpose infrastructure as a result.
As for London, I am pretty sure cycling will increase its modal share even if the mayor did nothing as it's an expensive nightmare to get around any other way. Sorry to not be more enthusiastic
Actually it isn't.
this isn't China you know....have to consult everyone before actually doing something..........
As long as this is new money spent on cycling contruction not consultation and is not simply the redesigstion of other projects as cycling projects then it is a good thing. Would hate to see the cycling budget being gobbled up by endless rounds of public meating with NIMBYs or there to be little real new development for cycling as a means of transport.
Finally a large Yeh! to those who are saying what about us! Whilst I cycle through London about six times a year, the fast majority of my riding is done on other roads in other pards of the country. At present the Southwest is by far the worst provider a good condition and safe cycling network.
This is very good news, although we still need strong, effective campigning from the likes of the LCC to make sure it really happens.
Marvellous news. I'd rather like it if they could use some of the extra millions to erect a huge effigy of a cabbie being mounted by a goat over the Westway at Westbourne Park. It's probably about as likely as that money ever translating into tangible improvements instead of being consumed fighting NIMBY appeals through the courts. But I live in hope.
The proof is in the pudding on this one. We have heard all this "were putting a million billion into cycling" stuff before but its action on the ground that will speak.
With that much money they ought to be able to do a bit more than triple the protected lanes. But then there is going to be a limit to what TfL can do without taking control of more roads.
Tentativly hopeful on this though.
Well that's a breath of fresh air then !
What about the rest of us proles out and about up in the Northern Poorhouse though?
And down here is the South West as well. All the councils have fantastic pro-cycling policies, but they never fund them and just build more roads.
Could you mention some by name so I can check them out online? I spend quite a bit of time in the Midlands and the local council cycling policies are complete rubbish (eg, the laughably named and woefully unambitious Choose How You Move). I'm asking them to do better but it would be great to have some decent examples to present to them.
A while back I researched several London borough council policies - most were just as ill-funded and lacking in ambition, and invariably any money they'd earmarked for cycling initiatives came not from local taxes but TfL grants.
It's the growing weight of numbers driving these changes in transport policy, not progressive leadership from City Hall. Local London politicians have to consider the cycling electorate now. Maybe that is a key difference compared to other parts of the country?
You need to organise! Nothing to stop places outside London being more pro-cycling - they just don't want to be or see the benefit of it. They don't get such generous funding as London, admittedly, but even a smaller cake could still be divided differently.
NB Greater Manchester has its draft spatial framework out to consultation at the moment (incase that's where you are).
Having a plan is not the same as having the funds !
No, and GM has both: www.tfgm.com/Corporate/media_centre/Pages/News.aspx?articleId=890
No, but if you don't ask you won't get. London is only now seeing this level of activity - or promised activity, even - thanks to massive, persistent, persuasive, co-ordinated, talented campaigning by a large group of people. Yes, other areas should get more funding. But population density means that London has both the largest problems to solve and the largest number of people who stand to benefit, and if it can be made to work in London it should be easier to make the case (and face down the usual "it'll make the traffic worse" opposition) everywhere else.