Open letter to local authorities from senior council officers to consider cycling

David Bishop, Director of Planning, Transport and Sustainable Development, Bristol City Council has signed an open letter on behalf of Cycling City encouraging all Local Authorities to get serious about cycling.

The group of Chief Executives and Transport Directors from councils involved in Cycling England’s Cycling Demonstration Towns programme are urging other local authorities to consider cycling when drafting their local transport plans, and recognise that cycling is a relatively low-cost solution to a number of policy concerns with a high benefit to cost ratio. In the open letter the 20 co-signatories cite the recent results of the six original Cycling Demonstration Towns, which show a significant increase in cycling levels in the first three years, as evidence that cycling should be seen as an integral part of the planning process.

Investing in cycling is money well spent.  In the cycle demonstration towns on average cycling trips are up by 27% and, importantly, the numbers of people cycling have increased - it’s not just the same people cycling more. Levels of cycling to school at least once a week in ‘Bike It’ schools in the six Cycling Demonstration Towns have more than doubled, and there has been a significant increase in measures of physical activity – of particular note is a decrease in the numbers of people in the towns classed as ‘inactive’. It is clear that cycling is contributing to improvements in general health. Research has also shown the programme to provide a good return on investment - for each £1 spent the increase in cycling levels has generated benefits valued at around £3.