|
The
National Cycling Forum has published this leaflet for cyclists
and cycling groups. It explains what central and local government
and the Forum itself are doing to encourage cycling. It is intended
to assist cyclists and cycling groups to work in partnership with
their local authority to develop successful cycling schemes.
The state of cycling today
There are more than 20 million bicycles in the United Kingdom,
and more people now own a bicycle than ever before. Recent statistics
show that the steady decline in cycling that has been witnessed
in the United Kingdom since the 1950s appears to have been halted.
The benefits of cycling
Cycling is beneficial for the economy, the environment, health
and welfare. Given the right conditions and support, the main
target of the National Cycling Strategy of quadrupling the number
of cycle trips by 2012, can be achieved. The help of those with
a strong interest in cycling is an essential component in making
things better. The gains are:
- Safer
roads and traffic
- Reduced
congestion
- Improved
health and fitness
- Improved
access to employment, leisure or retail facilities
- Reduced
social exclusion
- Reduced
air and noise pollution
- Reduced
greenhouse gas emissions
- Invigorated
rural economies
When
seeking to persuade a local authority or other organisation to
improve facilities for cyclists it is important to focus on the
benefits to that organisation. The references listed at the end
of this leaflet can help you to make these points effectively.
In particular, Cycling - the way ahead for towns and cities, published
by the European Commission Environment Directorate, provides many
useful statistics that demonstrate the benefits of cycling.
Government
policy supports cycling
In its White Paper, A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone,
the Government recognises that cycling can play an important part
in a national integrated transport system - it is a flexible,
relatively cheap, environmentally friendly and healthy way to
travel. But we need to make it easier and safer.
Both the Speed
Policy Review and Tomorrow's Roads - Safer for Everyone address
the safety issues.
The Government has also published Transport 2010:The 10 Year Plan.
This is an investment plan to modernise Britain's transport system.
Cycling is an integral element of the plan and all modes of transport
will benefit from greatly increased public and private funding
over the next ten years.
In addition, the Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation strategy stresses
the importance of environmental influences on health and the importance
of routine physical activity in people's daily lives. In particular,
cycling is recognised as being beneficial for increasing fitness,
lowering the risk of heart disease, shedding excess weight and
reducing stress.
Local Government is responsible for delivering improvements
To support the
National Cycling Strategy, the Government wants to see better
provision for cyclists. It requires local authorities to establish
a local strategy for cycling as part of their Local Transport
Plans (LTPs).
LTPs have to be produced by all local highway authorities in England,
except in London where the Mayor has a responsibility to produce
an integrated transport strategy, consistent with national policy
objectives. London Boroughs will have to produce local implementation
plans to put the Mayor's strategy into practice. Separate arrangements
apply in Scotland and Wales.
LTPs are strategy documents drawn up at local level in partnership
with the community. They do not require comprehensive coverage
of individual schemes, but there will be enough information for
those assessing plans to understand how they translate into action.
There should also be opportunities for people to comment on progress
in implementing the LTP.
As part of the LTP process, local authorities are required to
produce a report containing an assessment of existing levels of
local road traffic, and a forecast of expected growth.The report
should also contain targets for reducing the level of local road
traffic or its rate of growth, if they consider targets are appropriate.
Both LTPs and Road Traffic Reduction Strategies can be viewed
at your local authority's offices.
Local Transport
Plan and Cycling Strategy
Your local authority's
plans for cycling will be described in its LTP. Local authorities
are expected to ensure that all relevant aspects of their LTP
(including road safety, planning and social policies) work together
with policies to promote cycling.
Local cycling strategies should contain a statement of the percentage
increase in cycle trips which the authority expects to achieve
by 2012. They should also contain a clear statement of the actions
to be taken by March 2006 to put growth on course to support the
national target for increases in cycle trips.
Examples of "minimum requirements" and "desirable requirements"
are given below:
Strategy to encourage cycling
Minimum requirements
-
A discrete strategy for encouraging cycling, which establishes
a clear target that contributes to the national targets for
increasing cycle use.
- Evidence
that cyclists have been given a high priority.
- Evidence
that encouraging cycling is part of all transport policies,
including road safety strategies.
- Evidence
of interaction with local planning authority to ensure that
land use and development planning allows and encourages people
to cycle.
- Evidence
that there has been a review of the road network, to establish
where improvements to assist cyclists are needed.
- Assessment
of the quality of existing cycle networks, to identify where
improvements are necessary.
- Programme
of measures to improve safety of cyclists and reduce conflicts
with other traffic, including pedestrians
Characteristics
of a good Local Transport Plan
- Adopts
a formal order in which planners consider the needs of different
user types, placing cyclist near the top.
- Partnerships
for action with health, education, commercial and voluntary
bodies.
- Plans
for improvement of physical provision to be based on methodical
application of Cycle Review guidelines (published by the Institute
of Highways & Transportation).
- Cycle
Audit all road and traffic schemes.
- Aims
to improve interchanges, and increase opportunities for combined
cycle and public transport journeys.
- Encourages
cycling through TravelWise, Travel Plans, Local Agenda 21
and School Travel Plans.
- Minimises
conflict between pedestrians and cyclists.
Bikeframe
(CTC/Bicycle Association) is a model cycling strategy that can
help guide the development of the LTP. You should also see the
DETR LTP guidance for local authorities referenced at the end
of this leaflet.
Authorities in rural areas should also be aware that cycling can
make a valuable contribution to reducing social exclusion and
isolation in the countryside. Many journeys in the countryside
are over distances that can easily be cycled. Measures that help
in making these trips safer may also attract leisure cyclists
who, in their turn, will contribute to the turnover of the tourist
industry.
Developing the plan
If you feel that your Local Transport Plan does not sufficiently
cover the needs of cyclists, your first step might best be to
talk to a local cycling user group who may be able to help you
with your query. Alternatively you could get in touch directly
with the local authority officer with responsibility for cycling.
Find out the reason for the deficiency and whether you are able
to help. Dialogue between the parties concerned can often resolve
issues and prevent many misunderstandings.
Targets and performance indicators
If the plan contains sufficient provision for cyclists but the
annual report submitted by the local authority indicates that
the targets and performance indicators are not being met, again
the first course of action is to talk to the local cycling officer.
There are often good reasons for apparent delay or failure that
can be easily resolved or addressed.
Cycle Audit and Cycle Review
One of the primary objectives of the National Cycling Strategy
(NCS) is to encourage planning and highway authorities to create
a cycle-friendly infrastructure. This can be done by making existing
roads more attractive for cyclists, and implementing new cycling
facilities where necessary. The NCS recommended that specific
procedures - Cycle Audit and Cycle Review - should be developed
for use by all highway authorities to ensure that cyclists were
properly considered in the development of the transport infrastructure.
Cycle audits examine new highway schemes during design and implementation,
to make sure that the needs of cyclists are taken into account.
Cycle reviews on the other hand, examine the existing transport
infrastructure for ease of use by cyclists. For both audits and
reviews authorities should consider the five general requirements
of a good cycling infrastructure, as described in Cycle-Friendly
Infrastructure (see references).These are; coherence, directness,
attractiveness, safety and comfort. This would mean, for example,
that a new cycle lane should be part of a wider network (coherence),
be part of a route favoured by cyclists (directness), be well
lit and signed (attractiveness), be designed to reduce the risk
of collision (safety) and be smooth and continuous (comfort).
Cycle audit and cycle review procedures seek to ensure that the
appropriate design solution is selected and that the following
hierarchy of measures, in order of preference, is considered before
the design solution is chosen: traffic reduction, traffic calming,
junction treatment and traffic management, redistribution of the
carriageway and off-road provision. Further information on these
principles is available from Cycle Audit and Review (Traffic Advisory
Leaflet 7/98), Issues for Traffic Engineers and Transport Planners
(an NCF leaflet) and Cycle - Friendly Infrastructure (IHT et al).
Seeking further assistance
In addition to dialogue with the cycling officer, it is also helpful
to contact your local councillor or MP and ask him or her to intervene
on your behalf, perhaps by bringing the matter to the attention
of the local authority transport committee. You can also contact
the relevant Government Regional Office for your area (see addresses
on back page). This office has no statutory powers to intervene,
but can make use of local information when assessing the Local
Transport Plan. The secretariat of the National Cycling Forum
welcomes feedback from cyclists, as it provides useful intelligence
on what measures are successful and those that fail. The information
can be used to develop better guidance on what constitutes best
practice and so can assist local authorities to improve the quality
of their provision.
|
