Transport for London has unveiled a massively revised plan to make cycling in the capital safer, which includes new technology trials to tackle lorry danger and a decision to increase cycle skills training for adults.
Today TfL opened its latest Cycle Safety Action Plan to public scrutiny. The plan outlines a new number of wide-ranging safer cycling initiatives. These include trialling quiet vehicle technology on lorries so deliveries can be moved to off-peak times and so reduce interaction with cyclists, and installing cyclist detection equipment on buses.
TfL will also work with manufacturers to investigate how lights and reflective materials can be integrated into frames to make the bike more visible. TfL also said it would double the number of adults put through advanced cycle training courses and ensure that 10,000 HGV drivers a year are given safety training.
Andrew Gilligan, The Cycling Commissioner for London, said: “The Mayor [Boris Johnson] is spending hundreds of millions of pounds on better bike infrastructure to cater for the vast growth in cycling on London’s roads. This document aims to see that those projects are delivered to higher standards. We do not expect perfection, and the best must not be the enemy of the good. But as the Mayor has said, everything we pay for must be done at least adequately, or not at all.
“At the same time, we know that TfL and City Hall have no monopoly of wisdom. The standards will be consulted on before they become final by the end of the year. We welcome ideas, and we know that many of the ideas that people liked most in the cycle vision were pioneered in the London boroughs.”
A total of 32 new actions have been added to the revised Cycle Safety Action Plan that was produced in 2010. It can be seen on the TfL website. The consultation is open until 25 July. Some of the plans will start to be implemented before the end of the year.
