The background information on the cycling infrastructure programme in London, its impacts and potential benefits:
- By 2041, we need an average of 3 million fewer car journeys in London each day to achieve the MTS target for 80% of trips to be made by public transport, walking and cycling (compared to 64% now)
- 8.17 million daily trips made by motorised modes could be cycled (car, motorcycle, taxi or public transport) but we must invest in improving road conditions for cycling in order to encourage mode shift and raise safety
- Cycling is already a major mode of transport, with 730,000 cycle journeys per day in 2016 - equivalent to 10% of all bus journeys, or one fifth of all tube journeys
- Cycling has grown 7.2% in central London since 2014, with massive growth in cycling on the East-West and North-South Superhighways and Quietway 1
- Journey times for general traffic increased during Superhighway construction periods, before returning back to similar to pre-construction levels which are in line with modelled journey times Traffic must be considered in the context of all people using the road, not just motorised vehicles - sustainable modes make much more efficient use of our limited road space
- This has been demonstrated by the E-W and N-S Superhighways, with the cycle tracks shown to move 5 times as many people as a main carriageway lane and the corridors moving 5% more people per hour than before the cycle lanes
- Delivery of these segregated cycle lanes is strongly supported by many large businesses, who feel that they are good for employees, businesses, and London