'Cycling revolution' for outer London boroughs
Issued on: Thursday 11 February, 2010
Outer London boroughs have great potential for increasing levels of cycling says sustainable transport charity Sustrans - part of a partnership that has launched guidance this week on how to make it happen.
Currently, around half of all car journeys in the outer London boroughs are less than 2 miles, a distance that could easily be walked or cycled by most people.
'Delivering the benefits of cycling in outer London' published by Transport for London, Sustrans, London Councils and the London Cycling Campaign, will give local authorities in outer London advice on how to give people more choices about how they make those shorter journeys.
Carl Pittam, Director of Sustrans in London, said: 'The short distances that make up such a large proportion of journeys in the outer boroughs are perfect for cycling and walking, yet levels of physical activity in outer London are currently lower than inner London.
'That needs to change, which is why we have targeted local authorities in the outer boroughs with this new guidance. If we can help them encourage their residents to be more active on everyday journeys then the benefits for the local environment and the health of individuals could be significant. Not to mention the potential savings to London Primary Care Trusts, which currently spend at least £105 million each year dealing with the effects of physical inactivity.'
The guidance includes ways of encouraging a broader range of people to cycle, as around 70 per cent of cycle journeys in outer London are done by men under the age of 40 [note 1].
Developing cycling in outer London, where there is a high proportion of school, shopping and leisure journeys, will help other groups - especially children and women - to benefit from cycling. Sustrans is already working to help achieve this through developing greenways in outer London. Greenways are ideal for those who are new or returning to cycling, or families with younger children, as they are quiet and attractive cycling and walking routes to and within green spaces that link up to family-friendly destinations.
The guidance also highlights the benefits of working directly with schools to develop cycling as a way of travelling to school, through projects like Sustrans' Bike It. In the last five years Bike It has been active in 20 of London's 33 boroughs and has significantly increased the number of young people cycling to school in those areas. In the London Borough of Havering, for example, the numbers of children regularly cycling to Bike It schools increased from 5 per cent to 24 per cent after the project was introduced.
Download a copy of Delivering the benefits of cycling in outer London (pdf)
Further information about Sustrans, including other news releases and detailed online route mapping, is available through our website: www.sustrans.org.uk
/ends
For further information please contact the Press Office
Telephone: 0117 927 7555; Fax: 0117 930 4149; E-mail: press@sustrans.org.uk
Press and PR Manager - Gill Harrison 0117 915 0108
Senior Press Officer - Wendy Johnson 0117 915 0128
Press Officer - Anna Simms 0117 915 0109
Connect2 Press Officer - Emma Page 0117 915 0123
School Travel Press Officer - Carly Rudrum 0117 915 0127
Out of office hours - 07802 986728
Photo Librarians - Jonathan Bewley & Chandra Prasad 0117 915 0120 photos@sustrans.org.uk
ISDN line available for radio interviews
NOTES
1. LTDS 2005-08 data, Policy Unit Analysis
Sustrans is the UK's leading sustainable transport charity. Its vision is a world in which people choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment. It is achieving this through innovative but practical solutions to the UK's transport challenges.
This year Sustrans ismarking the fifteenth anniversary of the National Cycle Network.On9 September 1995, an award from theMillennium Commissionenabled Sustrans to embark on thefirst 2,500 miles ofa 6,500 mile National Cycle Network. TheNetwork now extends to just over 12,000 miles and carries one million walking and cycling journeys every day.