Promoting walking and cycling proposes solutions to one of the most pressing problems in contemporary British transport planning. The need to develop more sustainable urban mobility lies at the heart of energy and environmental policies and has major implications for the planning of cities and for the structure of economy and society. However, most people feel either unable or unwilling to incorporate travel on foot or by bike into their everyday journeys.
Author’s Foreword: Cycling on the Cusp of Greatness
I, like most professional transport planners, providers and researchers of my generation, have grown up thinking that cycling, though worthy, is of small significance compared with the great questions of cars, traffic and public transport, or the universal significance of walking.
Too many people in the UK feel they have no choice but to travel in ways that are dangerous, unhealthy, polluting and costly, not just to their own wallets but also to the public purse. Urgent action is required to address Britain’s chronic levels of obesity, heart disease, air pollution and congestion if we are to catch up with other countries in the developed world.
Cyclenation in collaboration with CTC would like the guidance contained in the appendices to this paper to be adopted as the national standard for cycle mapping in the UK. Cycle mapping has become far too diverse with many maps bearing little relation to the actual conditions for cyclists on the ground, with a unhealthy preoccupation with ‘facilities’. Now is the time to adopt a common approach to useful tool for all people using bicycles.
