Cycling: Infrastructure

Monday 10th December 2012 Lords Chamber

Question

14:37

Asked By

[Lord Berkeley]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the Highways Agency’s budget is allocated to infrastructure for cycling.

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the Highways Agency works with cycling organisations to provide parallel routes, safe access and crossing points to the strategic route network. These schemes are funded within the agency’s portfolio of small improvement schemes, on which the expenditure is approximately £50 million each year across the portfolio. Provision for cyclists is also a consideration of the agency’s major schemes. The specific investment relating to cyclists is therefore difficult to disaggregate.

[Lord Berkeley]

I am grateful to the Minister for that Answer and I congratulate the Government and TfL on the investment they have recently announced for cycling infrastructure. However, does he agree that possibly there is a need to go further? There is a poll in the Times today, coincidentally, which shows that 25% of the respondents think that segregated cycle lanes would make people cycle more. It also shows that only 2% of journeys in this country are by cycle compared with a figure of about 25% to 35% in Belgium, Holland and Denmark. Does he agree that it is time to look at reallocating space on the roads for cycles and providing much greater investment alongside that?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the views of respondents to any survey are obviously important. We should not disregard them. We should take account of them. Segregation has its benefits because you will be able to reduce the number of accidents far more effectively. However, there is the issue of economic use of the road space and the business case if you want such a scheme. In London, these are matters for Transport for London.

[Lord Taverne]

My Lords, does the Minister accept that the bicycle is the most efficient machine ever invented for converting energy into motion and that the bicycle could be accurately described as a green car that can run on tap water and tea cakes and has a built-in gym? Does he therefore agree that it makes sense to base policy for private urban transport on the motto, “Two wheels good; four wheels bad”?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I agree with my noble friend. One of the most important aspects of the use of the bicycle is the health benefits. That is why the Government support cycling and why the previous Government did exactly the same thing.

[Baroness King of Bow]

My Lords, we are all aware of the dangers of cycling, especially if you live in Tower Hamlets where, on Friday, the 14th cyclist to die in London this year was pronounced dead on Commercial Road. I want to ask the Minister about another danger facing cyclists. I refer to the high levels of exhaust fumes and particulates that they inhale. Can the Minister hazard a guess as to whether, say, a half-hour commute on a bicycle in rush-hour traffic is the equivalent of one cigarette a day or 20 cigarettes a day? If he is not sure—because I am not—would he be willing to write to me with the latest research evidence and government guidance so that cyclists can be assured that their healthy lifestyle is not, in fact, a fast track to lung cancer?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the noble Baroness will be aware that the previous Mayor of London introduced a lower emissions zone for London to tackle the level of emissions. I accept that they are too high, but everyone is working to reduce the levels.

[Lord Quirk]

“Two legs good” is by all means better than “Two wheels good”. Can we not have some guarantee of the safety of pedestrians on the pavement as well as of course support for the need to protect cyclists?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, although the Government support cycling, we do so only where it is legal. It is important that cyclists do not ride their cycles on the footpath. Enforcement is an operational matter for the police.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside]

My Lords, although we must do everything possible to encourage the safety of cyclists, does the Minister agree that cyclists themselves can do much to help their own safety? For example, in the evening, when it is dark, one hardly sees the bicycle light flashing. Furthermore, cyclists seem to wear the darkest of clothes, which makes them almost invisible. Should not something be done to educate them, first, to have decent lights and, secondly, to wear fluorescent jackets so that they can be easily seen?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the Highway Code advises cyclists to wear appropriate high-visibility clothing all the time and make sure that their lights work. The noble Lord is right. Cyclists can do a lot to make themselves less vulnerable.

[Baroness Gardner of Parkes]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that, in London, a great many of the fatal accidents occur when people are dragged under as large vehicles turn left, particularly cement vehicles and waste disposal vehicles carrying skips? The front wheel hits a person, but it is the back wheel that kills them. If a bar was put along the side to prevent the bicycle being dragged under the vehicle it would save many lives. Is there any thought of the Government encouraging that?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, there are already regulations in place that require side guards to be fitted to the majority of heavy goods vehicles. However, construction vehicles are exempt. The European Union is looking at the regulation of side guards and will probably reduce the number of exemptions.

[Lord Davies of Oldham]

My Lords, following on from the previous question, is the Minister not concerned that the accident rate for cyclists is increasing alarmingly, especially in London? Cyclists have a particular problem in coping with large roundabouts where there are no regulated lanes. Several of the deaths have occurred at such roundabouts. Why do the Government not take up the programme that the Times has launched, “Cities fit for cycling”, in which it says that in order to get dedicated cycle lanes and improve our safety record we need £100 million a year spent on cycling?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I assure the noble Lord that we are paying close attention to the Times campaign for the very reasons that the noble Lord points out. This is of course a Question about the Highways Agency, which has a range of local network management schemes to make improvements where cycle routes cross the strategic route network or there are segregation problems.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall]

My Lords, given that most people driving on the roads probably took their tests quite a long time ago—I have to say that I certainly did—is the noble Earl confident that the current methods of testing young drivers take sufficient account of the dangers to cyclists that drivers represent, particularly in view of the fact that no matter how much investment is made in cycling routes, cyclists will have to share the road with drivers for at least some of the time?

[Earl Attlee]

The noble Baroness makes an extremely important point. I can assure her that the Driving Standards Agency adjusts the test to make sure that it properly reflects the needs of cyclists. In addition, I should point out to your Lordships the need regularly to read the Highway Code because its contents change, particularly in respect of road markings relating to cyclists.