Just been sent letter too.
"
Dear Minister for Transport,
As you will know, there has been a recent surge of interest in cycling in all its forms
and I know that there is a strong desire from the cycling community to see the
Scottish Government's target being met, with 10% of journeys made by bike in 2020.
The Cross Party Group on Cycling met in June and our main discussion was on the
refresh of the Cycle Action Plan for Scotland. I have attached a list of the members
of the CPG
The group asked me to send a summary of key points to you as a contribution to the
CAPS process. There is significant concern from across cycling groups that the
current plan, while it has many positive features, is unlikely to be enough to achieve
the 2020 target.
Some of our member organisations have submitted views to you individually, but
here are the overarching points discussed by the CPG.
� The CAPS would benefit from interim targets. As with Scotland's carbon
targets, this would give an indication of the trajectory we are on and the
impact and merit of different policies.
� The CAPS would be stronger with numbers or targets attached to the stated
aim of increasing the number of 20mph streets, and to the aim of increasing
the number of children receiving on-road cycle training. Xhe Scottish
Parliament voted unanimously in March in favour of a target of 100% of
school children being able to access on-road training by 2015.
� More organisations could be brought on board and given a sense of
ownership of the CAPS. There are clear opportunities for alignment with the
National Walking Strategy and a clear relationship with the National Cycling
Interest Group.
� The issue of strict liability could be key in addressing road safety fears, and it
was felt that work on this area could be sped up.
� Local authorities would benefit from greater incentives to play their part in
delivering the plan and committing their own funding to cycling improvements.
It is clear that there are leaders and laggards among Scottish councils and
more should be done to address this mixed picture.
o Cycling targets could be included in local delivery targets
o CAPS could require every council to have a dedicated cycle officer
o In terms of political leadership, the Minister could convene a regular
meeting of the 32 councillors with portfolio responsibility for transport to
monitor and encourage progress.
� The existing design guideline documents for cycle infrastructure would benefit
from peer review and input from successful cycle friendly countries. The
Danish and Dutch Cycle Embassies exist for this purpose. More could be
done to ensure that every time roadworks are required for utilities or other
work, cycle infrastructure is improved on streets and at junctions.
� The target for 2010/11 of 8 businesses benefitting from loans for cycle friendly
infrastructure such as bike parking and showers does not reflect the scale of
the change needed and could be far more ambitious in future years.
� Overall, there were a number of organisations and representatives who felt
that the CAPS needed to be more of an evidenced plan to get us to the 10%
target, with the funding to match. Each action in the plan should be assessed
for the expected level of difference it will make, based on experience and
evidence from elsewhere in the UK and other countries.
I hope this is a useful contribution and we look forward to your comments and seeing
the refreshed plan for action.
Yours sincerely,
Alison Johnstone MSP and Jim Eadie MSP
Co-convenors
Cross Party Group on Cycling