VOTE CYCLING
T
he Cities Fit for Cycling campaign at The Times has, since 2012, been calling for a rethink of the way we design Britain’s towns and cities. Our roads are clogged with traffic jams, trains and buses are overcrowded, the NHS is spending billions on an obesity crisis, and many people are priced out of transport by high petrol prices and rising rail fares. Investing in networks of safe cycle routes would encourage more people to commute by bicycle, thereby helping to address all of these problems. No other form of transport infrastructure is as affordable or cost-effective. Successive governments have consistently failed to ring-fence a significant annual fund for cycling provision from within the transport budget. The Times has been joined by the AA, British Cycling, the Commons transport committee and Top Gear’s James May in supporting calls for an annual budget of £10 per capita. We urge all parties to pledge this fund in their election manifestos. Britain leads the world in competitive cycling – it is time we did the same for our commuters.
In support of
Get Britain
Get Britain Cycling Cycling Summary & Recommendations
Summary & Recommendations
thetimes.co.uk/cyclesafety
John Witherow Editor
The PROBLEMS
1 Britain’s roads are clogged with traffic jams. A quarter of all car journeys in Britain are under two miles and 59% are under five miles
The SOLUTION The government must ring-fence an annual fund of £10 per capita for safe cycle routes from within the transport budget and allow councils to bid for it. This would:
1 Encourage people to make short trips by bicycle instead of by car, freeing up the roads for important journeys and deliveries
2 The NHS spends £5bn a year treating conditions relating to obesity and £10bn a year treating diabetes
3 The number of cyclists seriously injured on Britain’s roads has risen by 30% in the past five years
2 Boost public health by allowing people to build physical activity into their daily routine
3 Vastly reduce the death and injury toll for cyclists and reduce the perceived risks that deter people from cycling
4 High petrol prices and rising rail fares are making transport unaffordable for many
5 Pollution is reaching dangerous levels in urban areas – London’s nitrogen dioxide levels are above even Beijing’s
4 Provide an affordable alternative for communities cut off by high transport costs
5 Reduce emissions as people leave their cars at home
6 Public transport has become extremely overcrowded at rush hour
7 High street sales have slumped as retailers struggle to attract customers
6 Relieve the burden on trains and buses at rush hour
7 Allow for easy cycle access to high street shops and boost the number of short-stay customers
1 The EVIDENCE £4.3bn The annual cost of traffic congestion to the UK economy
1 A two-way, segregated cycle
route is to be built on London’s Embankment and will carry an estimated 1,000 cyclists per hour
£4.3bn
The annual cost of traffic congestion to the UK economy A two-way, segregated cycle route is to be built on London’s Embankment and will carry an estimated 1,000 cyclists per hour
This is equal to . . . – Four full Tube trains – 1,000 single-occupancy cars Cycle lanes cost between £100,000 and £1.2m per mile to build, compared to £13m per mile for dual carriageway This is equal to . . . roads and per Tube mile for HS2 –£130m Four full trains – 1,000 single-occupancy cars Cycle lanes cost between £100,000 and £1.2m per mile to build, compared to £13m per mile for dual carriageway roads and £130m per mile for HS2
3
Health experts told a parliamentary inquiry last year that the NHS could make £4 of savings for every £1 invested in cycling 2 If the UK matched Dutch levels of investment in cycling, Health a of this wouldexperts lead totold £1.6bn parliamentary inquiry NHS savings each year last year that the NHS could make £4 of savings for every £1 invested in cycling £1 Dutch£1 If the UK matched levels of investment in cycling, this would lead to £1.6bn of NHS savings each year
In 2004, 2,147 cyclists were killed or seriously injured, rising to 3,143 by 2013. In 2012, Times research found that 122 cyclists died. Of 3these, 16 were teenagers and five were children. A fifth were In 2004, 2,147 though cyclistsHGVs were killed by lorries, killed or seriously only make up 5 perinjured, cent of rising traffic.to 3,143 by 2013. In 2012, TimesChildren research found that 122 cyclists 4% died. Of these, 16 were teenagers and five were children. A fifth were Teenagers killed by lorries, 16% though HGVs only make up 5 per cent of traffic. Children 4%
£1
£1
£1
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The 2014 crisis in Iraq will add 4p per litre to the price of petrol, experts have warned. Rail fares have increased by 20.5% since 2010. 4 The average cost of commuting to work by train is The 2014 crisisand in Iraq willit is £2,440 per year by car add 4p per litre to the of £4,800. By bicycle, thisprice cost is petrol, aroundexperts £180 have warned. Rail fares have increased by 20.5%£180 since 2010. The average cost of £4,800 commuting to work by train is £2,440 per year and by car it is £2,440 £4,800. By bicycle, this cost is around £180
A car emits about 271g of carbon dioxide per kilometre per passenger. Travelling by bus, this falls to 101g of CO2. By bicycle, even factoring in 5the food you eat, this is just 21g per kilometre A car emits about 271g of carbon dioxide per kilometre per passenger. Travelling by bus, this falls to 101g of CO2. By bicycle, even factoring in the food you eat, this is just 21g per kilometre
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Teenagers 16%
271g pkm
101g pkm
21g pkm
£180
£4,800 The government’s Rail 2020 £2,440 report found: “There has been a steady but significant increase in the numbers of commuters, leading to regular overcrowding in the peaks”. 6 Providing safe cycle routes The government’s 2020 encourages people toRail abandon report found: “There has been alternative modes of transport, a steadyup but significant freeing space. If you build it, increase in the numbers of they will come. commuters, leading to regular overcrowding in the peaks”. Providing safe cycle routes encourages people to abandon alternative modes of transport, freeing up space. If you build it, they will come.
7 The addition of 101g cycle 21g 271g protected pkm pkm lanes pkm on 9th Avenue in New York led to a 49% increase in retail sales, 7 compared to a 3% The for addition uplift shopsof on protected other localcycle streets. lanes on 9th Avenue Cyclists tend to in Newless York ledvisit, to a spend per 49% increase in but visit more retail sales, regularly, leading to compared to a 3% a boost in sales. uplift for shops on other local streets. 3% 49% Cyclists tend to spend less per visit, but visit more regularly, leading to a boost in sales.
CINDY PRINS / GETTY
GOOD FOR BUSINESS Sir Richard Branson said: “Getting more people out of their cars and on their bikes could make a real contribution to the economy and businesses by getting people fit and boosting productivity.” John Cridland, director general of the CBI, said Britain needs a “major effort to expand a dedicated cycle network”. John Allan, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said getting more people to cycle to work would help “both the health of the high street as well as the nation”. House prices are boosted when they are close to cycle routes, Sustrans research found.
[An annual cycling budget] would bring tangible business and economic benefits by reducing congestion, absenteeism, NHS costs and by producing a more creative and active workforce EDMUND KING, PRESIDENT OF THE AA
Building cycle routes improves the public realm, says Phil Jones, a leading transport planner: “Places that are pleasant to visit and live near do so much for the economy.” Businesses like Deloitte, Barclays, Sainsbury’s and CitiBank have declared their support for cycle investment. Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer, said: “Improving the environment for walking and cycling reaches people from all socio-economic groups.”
THIS BUDGET SHOULD BE USED FOR:
The Department for Transport, along with devolved governments around the UK, must create a budget line worth £10 per head of population, creating a ring-fenced annual fund for cycling investment. This would create a £600 million national budget, with £400 million from the DfT (just 3% of the transport budget) for England outside of London. This would allow councils to bid for funding by presenting plans for approval.
A greatly expanded Cycling Towns and Cities initiative, funding local proposals to create safe cycle networks over time. A support package to create national standards for cycle-friendly design, amending planning guidelines to insist that all road and traffic schemes are “cycleproofed” from the outset. Improved cycle access and parking at rail stations and provision to take bicycles on public transport. Making Bikeability training available for all primary and secondary school children. A drive to compel hauliers and freight companies to fit extra sensors, mirrors and cameras to their lorries, as in London. Safer lorry cabs and restrictions on HGV numbers on urban streets must also be considered. Making 20mph the default speed limit on urban roads.
CHRISTOPHE ENA / AP
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If you’re just going a couple of miles down the road, it would be more beneficial to go by bike than sitting in a car in a traffic jam for two miles. You’d get there quicker, it would be cheaper for you, you might enjoy it and it would be part of your normal fitness regime as well
If we want to inspire a transformation in communities across Britain, making them happier and healthier, cycling needs to be prioritised. There has never been a better moment to do this SIR CHRIS HOY
CHRIS HARRIS FOR THE TIMES
DAME KELLY HOLMES
1 Appoint a senior official within the council with a target for increasing cycle numbers in the region.
HOW COUNCILS CAN USE THESE FUNDS
2 Examine the road network
in the local area, especially stretches of highway or junctions with high levels of congestion or high collision rates.
3 Ask planners to look at how the
section could be redesigned with cycle routes and safer junctions. It would not only allow motorists, cyclists and pedestrians to share the space more safely, but could also transform the area into a more pleasant public space
They then need to commission a number of designs and have an open process of consultation on those. It does not have to cost millions of pounds. A council can have a vision that it works towards incrementally, collecting money from developments along the way. Phil Jones
transport planning consultant at Phil Jones Associates
LE C CY OP SH
4 Install cycle racks on high
streets, in business districts, in residential areas, near schools and universities, at shopping centres, in parks and at leisure destinations
5 Bid for and set aside funding for cycle-friendly projects. Plot current cycle routes and draw up plans for a network to be delivered over time, as currently required by the Active Travel Act in Wales.
6 Ensure all schools in the area take up Bikeability training. Advertise safe routes and offer cycle training to residents.
REX
LONDON IS NOT BRITAIN’S ONLY CYCLING CITY Transport for London has committed £913 million to cycle provision over the next decade. Which equates to:
£91m
Annual spend for cycle provision in London
The government’s funding for cycling has only been handed out in irregular grants with no guarantee of future funding and no dedicated budget line, unlike for roads and rail. Authorities in the rest of the country cannot plan networks of cycle superhighways to rival those in the capital. They cannot plan ahead and schedule major cross-city routes or quietways between key destinations.
Compared with:
£74m
Estimated annual spend for rest of England combined
They cannot target collision blackspots and create a schedule to renovate them because there is no longterm funding. In the capital, more than half of the traffic on Thames bridges is made up of cyclists in rush hour. On some major roads, a quarter of the traffic is made up of bikes. Until there is a national cycling budget to rival the money pledged in London, other towns and cities in Britain will never catch up.
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The benefits to driving if people ride bicycles is that there is more space left for driving. I would say that the roads belong to everybody JAMES MAY, TOP GEAR PRESENTER