The Times Cycling Campaign

Back to the serious business of actually campaigning for something tangible.

I wrote to my MP and asked them to get onboard with the Times Campaign (I don't agree fully with where they're going with it but the benefits of a big broadsheet national debate are obvious).

My MP replied with this

Dear TSK,

Thank you for contacting me about cycling safety and The Times’ ‘Cities Fit for Cycling’ campaign.

Lots of constituents have contacted me in support of the campaign and as a cyclist myself I am very supportive of it. This week I’ve signed the Early Day Motion on the campaign. Unfortunately this afternoon I’m going to be travelling back to Sheffield for a meeting tonight which means I’ll be unable to attend the debate, however it has my full support. If you’re interested you’ll be able to watch the debate live from 2.30pm at http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Live.aspx Cllr Julie Dore, Leader of Sheffield City Council, has also given her full support to the campaign.

We need to get more people cycling and so I completely agree that much more needs to be done to improve safety for cyclists. It’s worrying that the number of cyclists injured or killed on the roads has started to rise again in the last year. I am also concerned that the Government’s decision to cut road safety budgets, to end national targets to reduce road accidents and to cut local authority funding by 27% over the next 4 years could further hinder efforts to improve cycle safety. Plans put in place by the Labour Government to create a new cycle hub at Sheffield railway station have also been dropped.

Labour is now looking seriously at each of the excellent ideas that have been proposed by The Times and the Shadow Transport team have immediately backed three specific proposals that could make a major difference to the safety of cyclists.

First, a proportion of existing government funding for roads should be set aside to be spent on building new cycle ways, improving junction design and installing traffic light phasing to give cyclists a head start.

Second, the government’s trial of longer HGVs should be axed and income from the proposed HGV road charging scheme should be used to support the road haulage industry to upgrade and improve safety measures and training.

Third, the national targets to reduce deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads, axed by the government, should be reinstated.

These measures are a start and to discuss these issues further Maria Eagle, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, has organised a Cycling Summit in March. It will bring together cyclists, cycling organisations and representative from motoring organisations, road hauliers and road designers to discuss the Times’ manifesto and what else should form Labour’s approach to cycling and improving safety.

If you have any other specific issues or ideas about improving cycling safety that you would like me to pass to on to Maria Eagle ahead of the Cycling Summit then please let me know.

tl;dr? Labour are making the right noises and are soliciting more input, which is nice.

I think that one issue that's important here that wasn't picked up by the Times cycling manifesto is to stop this cycle that we have now of poor planning and road design/management and trying to fix it later on. We should make sure that anything that we do new from now on needs to incorporate cyclists needs and safety without fail. Obviously changes to planning policies, local implementation policies and so on aren't sexy or captivating and you can't proclaim success by cutting a ribbon for a photo op. However, if we have a continuous practice of building and then retrofitting then for some people it will be too late and it's Bow/Kings Cross/Blackfriars all over again.

Am I a) wrong and/or b) is it even possible to have a national standard of policy in design and implementation that would work.?