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Cycling czars tell government to stop wasting money on painted cycle lanes

Chris Boardman, Will Norman and colleagues call for investment in high quality infrastructure instead

Six cycling and walking commissioners representing millions of people across Great Britain have urged the government to stop wasting “hundreds of millions of pounds” on painted cycle lanes and  instead invest in high-quality infrastructure.

The appeal is made in a letter sent to transport secretary Chris Grayling ahead of a national summit today, which calls on politicians to implement five measures to encourage people to choose active travel.

The letter, signed by Chris Boardman (Greater Manchester’s cycling and walking commissioner, Dame Sarah Storey (Sheffield City Region), Shanaze Reade (West Midlands), Will Norman (London), Lee Craigie (Scotland) and Simon O’Brien (Liverpool), calls on the government to:

Commit to long-term devolved funding

A political commitment to minimum quality levels

Enable the local retention of fixed penalty notices to fund road danger reduction measures

Enable us to innovate by keeping road traffic regulations under review

Transport investment decisions should account for the true cost of car use to society

Boardman, who is currently developing Greater Manchester’s Bee Network of walking and cycling routes, said: “It’s tragic that hundreds of millions of pounds of government money have been spent on sub-standard cycling and walking infrastructure.

“If national government were to adopt these asks we’d be on a winning streak and could truly transform Britain’s towns and cities, not to mention massively improving air quality and health.

“We need to make decisions based on evidence and we’ve got evidence that this is the right thing to do for our society. It’s not a quick win, it’s a 10-20 year evolution, but we can’t afford not to do this and we simply cannot go on as we are. This is a no brainer.”

London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman, added: “Where towns and cities are investing in high-quality walking and cycling infrastructure the benefits are clear – helping tackle our inactivity crisis, helping clean up our toxic air, and making our streets more welcoming places to spend time.

“But for people truly to reap the benefits across the UK, government policy must not continue to hold us back.

“In London we’re investing a record £2.3 billion in Healthy Streets to enable more walking and cycling, with innovative new quality criteria improving the standard of new infrastructure in the capital.

“But for the benefits of walking and cycling to be felt across the country, it is essential we now have a genuinely national commitment led by the Government.”

The commissioners’ appeal has the backing of British Cycling whose policy manager, Nick Chamberlain, said: “Places like London, Manchester and Scotland have been absolutely instrumental in driving forward the cycling and walking agenda over the past decade, sparking a national conversation about how we change the way we move and the types of places we want to live and work.

“The six commissioners possess a wealth of insight, knowledge and experience, and today’s announcement should send a really clear message to the Department for Transport on what is required to achieve the goals set out in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy - and the level of support required from the Treasury - as we approach the next Government spending review.

“At British Cycling we are proud to be working closely alongside the six commissioners, and hope to encourage other cities and regions across Britain to adopt the five policy asks themselves in the coming years.”

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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6 comments

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Shades | 5 years ago
1 like

It's a good point but they have to make sure this doesn't play into the 'anti-cycling' lobbys hands; ie they argue that if infrastructure isn't 100% fit for purpose and there aren't the funds, then it shouldn't be built.  Sum total is that nothing happens when perhaps some 'moderately OK' infrastructure would have helped in the short term and led onto better infrastructure in the future.

If you're 'glass half full' then you could say that cycling is 'gaining ground' when new cycle superhighways send the motoring lobby apoplectic, blaming them for causing congestion.  There's a Sunday Times article (16/6) where people are moaning about e-MTBs (New Forest - what a surprise!) claiming they should stick to byways and bridleways (duh...like they're supposed to).  Motorbikes and 4x4s have been tearing up byways for years and nobody does anything.  We're not going to get Dutch style infrastructure overnight but if cycling is 'getting in people's faces' more, it's potentially making progress towards it.

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burtthebike replied to Shades | 5 years ago
1 like

Shades wrote:

It's a good point but they have to make sure this doesn't play into the 'anti-cycling' lobbys hands; ie they argue that if infrastructure isn't 100% fit for purpose and there aren't the funds, then it shouldn't be built. 

There are funds, many billions, but national and local government choses to spend it on schemes with a much worse benefit:cost ratio, which usually make the problems worse.  The latest being electric cars, with proposals for a huge network of charging points, at the taxpayers' expense, but they won't solve congestion, climate change, road danger, obesity etc.

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growingvegtables | 5 years ago
1 like

A letter.  To Grayling.  

 

To Failing Grayling, FFS. 

 

The Government Minister who doors cyclists ... and doesn't give his details [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/transport-secretary-chris...

 

The "Transport Minister" who thinks (that may be me overestimating his ability) that "Cyclists don't count as road users" [https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/12/cyclists-dont-count-as-....

 

We know where this will end, sadly. 

 

Fair play on "the cycling and walking commissioners representing millions of people across Great Britain" ... you gotta try.

Avatar
burtthebike | 5 years ago
2 likes

If only they had listened to the endless campaigns by CUK about high quality infrastructure.

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 5 years ago
7 likes

I hope that for once, the Government will listen to the facts and actually commit to improving people's lives and surroundings.
Excellent work by the commissioners anyhow.

Avatar
brooksby replied to hawkinspeter | 5 years ago
7 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

I hope that for once, the Government will listen to the facts and actually commit to improving people's lives and surroundings. Excellent work by the commissioners anyhow.

  

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