Londoners asked for their views on big cycle schemes

Londoners are being asked to share their views on the capital’s big cycling initiatives in a new survey.

The survey has been set up by the London Assembly Transport Committee to assess the initial impact of schemes like Barclays Cycle Hire and the cycle superhighways, looking at how any problems are being addressed and the potential for expansion and extension.

There will be a public hearing on the matter next month, but in the meantime Londoners are being encouraged to share their views by completing the survey.

Chair of the committee Val Shawcross said, “It’s early days but we want to make sure the cycling schemes are working well and look at what improvements are needed, especially as there are proposals to expand them.

“A big part of our investigation is hearing from Londoners themselves about hiring bikes or cycling on the superhighways and I hope people will share their experiences with us through our survey.”

Boris Johnson has called 2010 the Year of Cycling and has made a commitment to increase the 500,000 daily trips currently made by cyclists in London to 1.5 million by 2026.

The three main cycling initiatives are:

• Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme
• The Barclays Cycle Superhighways
• Biking Boroughs – launched in January in outer London to encourage local cycling initiatives

The Committee will gather monitoring data from Transport for London and Serco (which administers the cycle hire scheme) as well as views from Londoners and cycling and sustainable travel organisations in advance of the public hearing on 12 October 2010. The Committee’s findings will form the basis of further work next year.