RESEARCH |
TfL International Cycling Infrastructure Best Practice Study | TfL
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In 2013, Urban Movement was appointed to lead a small team undertaking a study of best practice in providing for cycling in cities across Europe and elsewhere. The cities visited were Amsterdam and Utrecht (Netherlands), Copenhagen (Denmark), Berlin and Munich (Germany), Stockholm, Malmo and Lund (Sweden); Seville (Spain); Nantes (France); Dublin (Ireland); New York, Minneapolis and Washington DC (USA); Christchurch (NZ); and both Cambridge and Brighton & Hove.
The cities were chosen to provide a variety of lessons. They range from places with existing very high levels of cycling, through those that have had particular recent success in growing cycling, and others (like London) that have low current cycling levels but are committed to growing them significantly. The key objectives of the study were to bring clarity concerning what techniques work best for enabling cycling in different circumstances, and also to explore how these techniques can best be applied in the London and broader UK context (including identifying any technical, legal and/or regulatory constraints). In each city, we spoke with local practitioners, and sometimes also politicians and campaigners, and typically rode around 50km over two days. Where possible, our team members (usually just one or two for each city) were accompanied by TfL officers having cycling somewhere in their portfolios. The study findings were a key input to the development of the new London Cycling Design Standards (LCDS, currently subject to public consultation), and the study report itself is due to be published in July. In addition to a series of illustrated fact-sheets for each of the study cities visited, the report presents its findings under the following main headings: general Observations + Lessons; Common Techniques and Common Conditions. A total of 34 Common Techniques are covered under five headings: Links; Junctions + Crossings; Network/Traffic Management; Interaction with Other Users; and Miscellaneous. Where necessary, different options relating to certain techniques are considered and appraised, and for each technique/option there is a section considering their ease of application in the UK context. The Common Conditions are the distillation of our findings concerning the background to the provision of the best urban cycling experiences. They include the importance of high-level political and technical buy-in to the desirability of growing cycling, and the need for cycling to be considered as an ordinary, main-stream mode of transport for all ages, not merely a leisure or niche pursuit. |
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