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As English local authorities outside London start work on their 3rd round of Local Transport Plans (LTP3), CTC has produced a guide to good local authority cycling policy.
The full version of 'Cycling: a local transport solution' sets out our arguments for a cycle-friendly LTP and outlines some key policy measures, including:
- Commitment to cycling
- Infrastructure and the physical environment
- Information, education and marketing
- Partnership
- Resourcing the plan and
- Evaluation and monitoring
A summary leaflet is also available online and printed copies may be ordered by email.
LTP background
The current LTP round (LTP2) ends in April 2011, and councils will need to submit their new plans to Government by next summer, so most have already started work. However, unlike the previous LTP rounds, LTP3 will not last for a fixed 5 year period - from now on, local authorities will be able to renew their LTP whenever they choose. So this is our last chance for a concerted effort to make them cycle-friendy!
Another change from previous rounds is that LTPs will be split into a 'strategy' (intended to last around 15 years) and a 'delivery plan'. The latter is expected to last for 3 years, to coincide with the 3-yearly cycle of Local Area Agreements - although councils are not bound by this timescale.
The Government's guidance to local authorities stresses that LTPs should contribute to its 5 goals for transport policy, namely:
- Supporting economic growth
- Tackling climate change
- Contributing to better safety, security and health
- Promoting equality of opportunity
- Improving quality of life and a healthy natural environment
It is clear that cycling contributes strongly (and extremely cost-effectively) to all five objectives!
See the Department for Transport's webpages on LTPs for more.
Presentations and notes on two LTP training days held in September 2009 for activists are available on Friends of the Earth's website. They include material on carbon emissions from local transport; how to use the Freedom of Information Act for transport campaigns; the latest developments in Government thinking; and how local transport policy works. The days were run by FoE, together with the Campaign for Better Transport, CTC, Sustrans and CPRE.
