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A formal partnership between Transport for London (TfL) and British Cycling will see the duo work together more closely in order to get more people into the saddle, and promote enjoyable, safe and responsible cycling.
It’s been a strong summer of cycling in the capital. TfL saw the highest levels of cycling activity during a four week period in July/August on its roads, 20 per cent higher than the same period last year. On the TfL Road Network there has been a 173 per cent increase in cycling since 2001.
Barclays Cycle Hire has helped and recently hit a record for total hires in July with 1.18m hires. The scheme also had the busiest weekend ever during Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 August, as part of its fourth birthday celebrations.
A key focus of the partnership will be to help new cyclists gain confidence by offering guided cycle rides, aiming to triple this activity by offering almost 10,000 places on guided rides across London in 2014 and building on the 3,500 participants in 2013.
The partnership will also aim to encourage people from all backgrounds into cycling, including women, disabled cyclists and black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups. It is expected that British Cycling’s diverse membership will help TfL to tap into a number of groups traditionally under-represented in cycling, as well as more experienced club cyclists.
Leon Daniels, TfL’s Managing Director for Surface Transport, said: “We are looking forward to working even more closely with British Cycling over the coming years. We’ve already worked together on some fantastic events and we are pleased to be pooling our expertise to inspire more people to start cycling.
“This cementing of our relationship comes at a time when we are seeing more and more people using pedal power in London on some of our main roads, with the highest levels of cycling activity ever recorded on our roads.”
British Cycling’s Director of Recreation and Partnerships, Stewart Kellett said: “British Cycling and Transport for London share the same goal of getting more people riding bikes and this partnership will help us to build on the progress of the last few years.
“Britain is now one of the most successful elite cycling nations in the world and almost seven million people in England are now regularly riding bikes for fun, for sport or as a form of transport. We want to use this inspiration to go even further. As a world leading governing body, we are in a great position to work alongside TfL to help build people’s confidence on the roads, introducing them to a new way of getting around the capital.”
