What are the priority issues that need to be addressed to make London and other cities fit for cycling?

This is one of seven questions that people were asked at June’s Street Talk. The responses below are unedited and in no particular order. We’d welcome further comments/suggestions – comments will close on 2nd July.

• Ambitious and definitive cycling targets for +10/20 years

• Cycling provision (e.g. safe storage and showers) in planning regulations for new buildings, especially offices. – precedent for new San Francisco law

• Visible and quick changes when feedback/issues raised by cyclists (and accepted as justifying action)…

• Subjective safety: feeling that it is safe enough for children

• Safe enough for the 8 – 80 year old to be happy cycling.

• Investment, investment, investment – specifically stop the free travel for 60-64 year olds and invest in public realm (cycling and walking) instead. The Freedom pass costs wandsworth £56m or £560 m per annum – accept that this is controversial but for the benefit of their grandchildren

• Take a look at Bristol’s 1 hour street closure every afternoon after school!

• Get more people to run Saturday cycle clubs in schools. In Bromley the Saturday GoRide is so popular there is a waiting list and they can’t get enough club leaders. They are splitting it in two to give it to more kids but with less attention each.

• Make traffic law enforcement a priority.

• Road crime is real crime.

• Get more police on bikes.

• Recognise that some travel modes present more danger to the public and act accordingly in enforcement.

• Take on the Evening Standard and take on their anti-cycling stance.

• Congestion charge £25 a day

• Deliveries to shops before 7 a.m. and after 12 p.m.

• Obsession with motor-capacity: there is so often no excuse for motoring in cities

• 1000 Londoners killed in 10 years on our roads. How many speeding or driving carelessly tickets have been issued by the MET!

• Speed. Junctions. Lorries.

• Impose Congestion Charging – not referendai which people can gainsay

• Reduce speed – 20 mph as default speed i all residential and urban streets.

• Police ASLs properly.

• Policing of motorcyclists’ behaviour is needed. Encroachment by motorcyclists on cyclelanes/ASLs is now endemic.

• Address perception of road danger as well as actual danger, at source

• Congestion charging outside London

• Reduce parking – if you have to walk half a mile to get to your car you think twice before using it.

• A journey is as bad/good as the worst part of it – too often there are ok bits joined by seriously unpleasant barriers

• Subjective safety

• Home zones <10 mph

• Going Dutch

• 20 mph

• Rush-hour lorry bans

• Reform police/CPS/courts. Currently they don’t care.

• Get Boris to change the cycle prevalence target – 5% modal share by 2026 is too small and far too far away.

• Make roads less accommodating of car usage and let the rest take care of itself e.g. Hackney and permeability.

• Dutch-style infrastructure and road laws of course. Coupled with community cargo bikes!

• Proper punishment of death by careless and dangerous driving

• Making respect on the road the norm….less adversarial

• Enforcement!

• Discourage unnecessary overtakes – pinch points, 20 mph zones, narrow lanes.

• Easier to mix transport – leave bikes at rail station, take bikes on trains etc.

• Cycle storage (residential) on-street so that its as easy tp take the bike as the car.

• Shared spaces with pedestrians. Badly organised ones are creating a division that is stopping the debate getting beyond the ‘inconsiderate cyclist’ stereotype.

• Introduction of assumed liability as in many European mainland countries.

• Segregated facilities on main road networks

• Traffic calming more important than specific bicycle infrastructure.

• Speed and volume of motor traffic

• Cycle lanes that are fit for volume of bikes. Better roads with fewer potholes.