The route to securing cycling investment

A strong business case was behind the £913m investment in London’s cycling infrastructure, says Helen Fallon, principal strategy planner on Transport for London’s cycling strategy team.

At Cycle City Active City she will highlight the key elements in planning and delivering the Mayor’s Vision for Cycling in London.

She will also explain how methods of calculating the value of cycling have been improved. “The business case is structured around a clear narrative that sets out the wider benefits of cycling for London, giving rise to a positive benefit to cost ratio,” says Fallon.

Fallon will also discuss the tools and models used for identifying cycling potential and predicting future demand. “Targets for growth in cycling in London are challenging,” she says. “So a transparent monitoring programme and benefits strategy have been established to measure the success of the programmes, assist with prioritising interventions and ultimately feed back into supporting and providing the evidence for continued investment in cycling.”

Meanwhile, principal technical specialist Paul Lavelle will explain how TfL is studying international best practice in cycle infrastructure to make cycling a more attractive prospect for Londoners. Lavelle says: “Drawing from international practice, TfL has trialled a number of cycle-friendly innovations off- and on-street, including cycle-specific traffic signals, methods of separation and new crossing types. Some of these have already found their way into TfL’s design guidance and into emerging schemes; others are still in the trialling phase. The aim is to make London one of the world’s leading cycling cities and to make use of creativity and innovation in doing so.”