The proposals are for £500m to be spent on super cycle routes into the
city centre, not £400m as reported.
From Jenny Jones
Green Party representative on the Greater London Authority.
====================
Many of you may have seen the big article in Saturday's guardian on
the half billion pounds which will be spent on cycling in the next ten
years (the Guardian's £400m is actually an understatement). This is an
amazing announcement and it comes directly from the work that myself
and my colleague Darren Johnson have done over the last few years. The
formal launch is on Monday morning, where more of the details of the
cycling proposals will be outlined, along side the equally substantial
projects for promoting walking in London.
One of the little noticed items in last years budget agreement with
the London Mayor was his promise of a review of how TfL would meet its
targets for walking/cycling for 2025. The Mayor's announcement comes
directly from that review which I initiated. I have kept a watching
brief on the work of the TfL policy team during the last year and I
welcome the ambition of their recommendations. I also want to formally
thank those of you who had an input in to this review at the early
stages, such as members of LCC, CTC and Sustrans.
We have come a long way since TfL was planning to cut the tiny £8m
cycling budget in 2001 and LCC members, along with myself, had to
pressure the Mayor to step in and keep it all going. The key
acheivement of this new announcement is that cycling and walking are
now being recognised as part of the transport infrastructure of
London, with big ideas attracting big budgets. Along with the shift
towards default speed limits in boroughs and a reassessment of all
large one way systems, cycling and walking should now have a central
role in creating a sustainable transport system to go with a
sustainable city.
I have issued the following quote in support of tomorrow's launch:
"These plans for promoting cycling and walking are more ambitious than
anything which has been tried before in this country, but they are
exactly what we need to persuade large numbers of Londoners out of
their cars. Both the bike hire scheme, and the setting up of the
Legible London guides, are big new initiatives which build on the
existing projects and complement other proposals, such as 20mph
default limits and getting rid of big one-way systems. A year ago, I
asked Transport for London to come up with a plan that would transform
the experience of cycling, walking and everyday living in London. That
is what they have delivered"
====================