Shopping
Shopping is an area where innovative methods of operating should be considered to help to reduce the amount of personal travel (4.18).
- The Government agrees with the Royal Commission. The retail industry is currently experimenting with a number of innovative approaches which could reduce the amount of personal travel, including various systems of ordering combined with home delivery; home delivery after purchase; delivery to decentralised collection points; and wider use of catalogue shopping. Another approach to reducing the need to travel, especially by car, is to provide more smaller, 'local', supermarkets. A number of major food store operators are considering how best to supplement their network of larger supermarkets with outlets in small towns and villages.
- The Government has encouraged closer partnership between local authorities and all the major retailers in their areas to identify appropriate measures funded by the private sector to reduce car dependency. The types of development to be covered and the measures to be taken would be proposed by the local authority as part of its consultation on the local transport plan.
Cycling
For it to become safe and pleasant to use cycles on a much increased scale, the following conditions will have to be met:
- reductions in the speed of other traffic in urban areas and measures to reduce pollution from vehicles;
- provision of networks of quality cycle routes of a standard approximating to that found in many continental cities, with special facilities for cyclists at traffic lights and roundabouts;
- provision by employers, colleges and schools of secure storage for cycles and showers for cyclists;
- secure cycle parks at shopping centres, rail and bus stations, and other key points.
People will not be encouraged to cycle more if cycle routes are established on the cheap (4.26, 4.27).
- The Government agrees with the Royal Commission's conclusions on the types of measure that are necessary to see cycling on a much increased scale. The National Cycling Strategy (NCS) published in 1996 has highlighted the potential of cycling as a flexible, relatively cheap and environmentally friendly way to travel with important health benefits for people of all ages. The Government agrees and has endorsed the NCS.
- The NCS encourages local authorities and others to establish local targets for increased cycle use. A number have already done so and the Government's New Deal for Transport envisages that targets will become more widespread as local strategies for cycling evolve. Where facilities are shared between cyclists and pedestrians, for example where cycle paths are incorporated on pavements, the safety of cyclists and other users, including disabled people, needs to be protected. Government has also endorsed the NCS' national target of doubling the amount of cycling by 2002 (against a base year of 1996) and of doubling it again by the year 2012. To enable highway authorities to set and monitor targets the Government will be publishing guidance at the end of 1998.
- To support cycling, Government is continuing to research innovative measures to improve the safety and convenience of cycling and will publish advice on good practice. The New Deal for Transport sets the framework for better provision for cyclists at their destinations, at interchanges, in the design of junctions and in the way road space is allocated. In particular, local authorities will be expected to :
- establish a local strategy for cycling as part of their local transport plans;
- institute 'cycle reviews' of the road system and carry out 'cycle audits' of proposed traffic schemes;
- prioritise parts of the road system for early 'cycle review';
- adapt existing road space to provide more cycle facilities;
- make changes to traffic-signalled junctions and roundabouts in favour of cyclists, giving them priority where this supports cycling;
- apply speed restraint more widely to support their cycling strategies and provide for cyclists when applying speed restraint measures;
- increase provision of secure parking for cycles;
- maintain cycle lanes adequately to avoid hazards to cyclists;
- use their planning powers to promote cycling through influencing the land use mix, layout and design of development and through the provision of cycle facilities.
- The Government understands that concern about road safety is a major reason for people not using their bikes for everyday journeys. Parents in particular see the dangers for their children of cycling on roads. In many areas radical changes are needed to create safer cycling conditions. Cycling promotion policies therefore need to mesh with those on road safety. The Government believes, however, that concerns about safety should be an additional incentive for action, not a reason for delaying priority measures for cyclists.
- The Government will also continue to help with the development of the National Cycle Network being co-ordinated by the transport charity Sustrans. Specifically, Government will provide cycle crossings at agreed locations in the national road network. By opening up opportunities for people to cycle more, the Network will help to create a culture that welcomes cycling as an activity.
Published 23 December 1998
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