Bike blog | The Guardian – Tagged "Politics" – Page 7

Business, Cycling, Environment, HS2, Infrastructure, Life and style, Politics, Rail transport, Transport, Transport policy, UK news - February 1, 2019

Scrapped HS2 bike path 'five times better value than HS2 itself'

Campaigners argue that the business case for the project was a ‘no-brainer’

A scrapped “emerald necklace” cycleway up the spine of the country alongside HS2 would have delivered a return on investment of up to five times greater than the rail project itself, an FoI request has revealed – but neither the government nor HS2 Ltd will fund it.

A 50-page report outlining the business case for the national cycleway, obtained by the Guardian, reveals health, congestion and economic benefits of between £3 and £8 per £1 spent. The return on investment of HS2 itself, meanwhile, is just £1.5-£1.7 per £1, according to the National Audit Office. Campaigners say completing the cycleway should have been a “no-brainer”.

Government will miss its cycling target by a mile. It's time to invest

Activists want 5% of transport spending to go on active travel, as happens in Scotland

It is possible a million or more people have cycled past the Houses of Parliament in the past 12 months, but you could be forgiven for thinking this has gone unnoticed by those on the other side of the black railings.

On Wednesday, as the cycle superhighway through Parliament Square whisked commuters to work, inside, the transport select committee heard the government would miss its cycling target. It is predicted to achieve just a third of the 800m hoped-for extra cycling trips by 2025, with much of that predicted growth restricted to London.

How London is aiming to become the world best big city for cycling | Will Norman

I reject the suggestion that the capital’s action plan contains nothing new

Two weeks ago, the mayor of London and I spent a morning cycling with the leader of Enfield council looking at their excellent new protected cycleways and secure bike parking hub at Edmonton Green station. Together we unveiled Transport for London’s new cycling action plan, which aims to make London the world’s best big city for cycling and to double the number of cycle journeys in five years.

The launch follows the publication of this year’s TfL business plan, in which Sadiq Khan demonstrated his continuing commitment to cycling by not only protecting the record level of funding for cycling, but increasing it from an average of £169m to £214m a year. This commitment is despite central government’s complete withdrawal of the £700m annual operating grant, which has left TfL in a tough financial position, compounded by the delay and increased cost of Crossrail.

London's new official plan for cycling is bold but has a major flaw

With no new infrastructure or funding, questions remain on how to genuinely democratise cycling in a big city

London has a new official plan for cycling. It’s full of bold statements of intent and has some interesting ideas. That’s the good news. Here’s the drawback: within the 59 glossy pages I could detect no new plans for cycling infrastructure.

This all might seem a bit niche, not to say London-centric. But there is a wider lesson here: if cities are to truly move ahead in making cycling everyday and for everyone, good intentions aren’t enough. It involves political boldness, and taking risks.

Who's behind the bid to get London's flagship bike lane ripped up?

A new group supported by the Canary Wharf Group property company and lorry, coach and taxi drivers is attacking one of the city’s most popular routes

Even on a wet, cold November night, London’s flagship cycle superhighway along the Embankment is thronged. Across the whole 24 hours, it is used by 10,329 cyclists, an average of seven a minute. But at this time of day, it is one every three seconds. In the rush hour, the bike track – which takes up one lane of this four-lane road – carries more traffic than the other three lanes put together.

It’s an extraordinary success, and it looks like a permanent fixture. But it might not be. Behind the scenes, a powerful property company, Canary Wharf Group, is working with a political lobbying firm and major road organisations on a campaign to get it ripped out.

Read more

Politics RSS

Scrapped HS2 bike path 'five times better value than HS2 itself'

Government will miss its cycling target by a mile. It's time to invest

How London is aiming to become the world best big city for cycling | Will Norman

London's new official plan for cycling is bold but has a major flaw

Who's behind the bid to get London's flagship bike lane ripped up?

Tags