The Department for Transport (DfT) and the Department of Health (DoH) have published their Active Travel Strategy, which now incorporates the National Cycle Plan (both will apply to England only). It promises to launch a "Decade of Cycling".
At the end of last year, CTC asked cyclists to tell us what they thought should be covered in the National Cycle Plan and we compiled a report on the results to submit to DfT.
The Strategy notes that cycling currently accounts for less than 2% of trips in Britain, a very low proportion by comparison with many of our continental neighours, and sets out to significantly increase this. We welcome the Strategy's recognition of the benefits of cycling, and particularly the acknowledgement that, compared to its health benefits, "The actual risk of cycling is tiny". The Strategy then notes that "There is one cyclist death per 33 million kilometres of cycling, while being sedentary presents a much greater risk. Over 50,000 people die in the UK each year due to coronary heart disease related to insufficient physical activity, compared to around 100 cyclists killed on the road. Research suggests that safety risks are outweighed by the health benefits by a factor of around twenty to one."
We are also pleased that the Strategy cites the findings of a recent Cabinet Office Strategy Unit report on Urban Transport. It showed that, in terms of economic impact, the annual costs of congestion (£10.9bn), road casualties (£8.7bn), air quality (£4.5 - 10.6bn) and physical inactivity (£9.8bn) were all of a similar magnitude. CTC believes that, for several decades, urban transport planning has been dominated by attempts to tackle congestion through increased road capacity, at the expense of the other three issues. We are therefore pleased that the Strategy recommends more effort to promote walking and cycling as a solution to all four.
The Strategy is accompanied by the publications evaluating the successes achieved by the Cycling Demonstration Towns (CDT) and the Sustainable Travel Demonstration Towns (STDT) programmes. Among the first tranche of CDTs, there has been an average increase in cycling of 27% and a 10% reduction in the proportion of their populations who are classed as physically inactive. The programme's health benefits alone outweigh the costs by 2.59:1. Meanwhile the STDTs have increased cycle use per resident by 26-30% and reduced car trips per resident by 9%. Darlington (which is both a CDT and a STDT) has increased cycle use by 113% in 3 years.
The Active Travel Strategy aims to build on these successes and notes that “fewer cars and more pedestrians and cyclists can make the roads safer for all users”. Key measures include:
- Getting the built environment right
- More 20mph schemes
- Promotion of cycling through schools and colleges
- Joint work with the health sector
- More cycle training
CTC welcomes these aspirations, but notes that the Strategy contains no new actions, and no new funding (n.b. the £12.5m for child cycle training referred to in the Government's press release was part of its 3-year £140m budget for Cycling England, announced in 2007). Funding announcments will have to await the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review, which won't be till after the next election. See CTC's press released response to the Strategy.
We therefore want to make sure that, whatever the outcome of the election, there is strong cross-party support in the new Parliament for an Action Plan to deliver substantial increases in walking and cycling, Hence we will shortly be launching our Vote Bike campaign, where cyclists can press their prospective parliamentary candidates to support our Vote Bike manifesto.
In addition, we will soon publish guidance - Cycling: A Local Transport Solution - for local authorities on giving cycling the place it deserves in their Local Transport Plans (LTPs).
