Cycling

This is the full independent report that was commissioned to evaluate the results from the 'Sustainable Travel Towns' - Darlington, Peterborough and Worcester. These towns implemented packages of 'Smarter Choice' measures, which resulted in increases in cycling, walking and bus use, and decreases in car use. The evaluation was led by Transport for Quality of life Ltd, with a team involving TRL, University of Aberdeen, AEA and the University of the West of England.

Designing Streets is the first policy statement in Scotland for street design and marks a change in the emphasis of guidance on street design towards place-making and away from a system focused upon the dominance of motor vehicles. It has been created to support the Scottish Government’s place-making agenda and is intended to sit alongside the 2001 planning policy document Designing Places, which sets out government aspirations for design and the role of the planning system in delivering these.

This is a useful website that outlines Road Casualties in Great Britain. Factsheets include: Road Accidents, Fatalities, Pedestrian casualties, Pedal cycle casualties, Child casualties, and Motorcycle casualties.

In 2008, 115 pedal cyclists were killed and 2,450 reported as seriously injured on Britain’s roads, accounting for 9% of all killed or seriously injured (KSI) road casualties. The Government is committed to reducing road casualties for all road users, including cyclists, and has a national casualty target of reducing by 40% the number of people KSI in road collisions by 2010, compared with the baseline average for 1994-98. Whilst there is no specific target relating to cyclists, in 2004 the number of KSI had fallen to 38% below the baseline average. However, the number of KSI has increased steadily since then and in 2007 and 2008 was 31% below the baseline average. The Department for Transport commissioned research to assess the causes of collisions involving cyclists. This report investigates the key causal factors relating to accidents involving cyclists. The work involved an international literature review and a detailed analysis of cyclist casualties in Great Britain, drawing on both national and in-depth databases of road collisions and cycling. The main source of the casualty data was the national STATS19 injury accident data for 1994-2007. Contributory factor data has been recorded nationally as part of the STATS19 system from 2005 and is also reported. The main source of cycling activity data was the National Travel Survey (NTS)

There has been much debate in the literature and elsewhere regarding cycle helmets and their potential to prevent injury. This cycle helmet safety research report was commissioned to provide a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of cycle helmets in the event of an on-road accident, building on previous work undertaken for the Department for Transport (Towner et al., 2002). The programme of work evaluates the effectiveness of cycle helmets from several perspectives, including a review current test Standards; a biomechanical investigation of their potential limitations; a review of recent literature; and finally an assessment of the casualties who could be prevented if cycle helmets were more widely used. This report focuses on understanding whether cycle helmets reduce the frequency and severity of injury in the event of a collision. It does not include detailed consideration of whether wearing (or not wearing) a helmet influences the likelihood of being involved in an accident, either through behaviour changes in the rider or in other road users. The project concludes that in the event of an on-road accident, cycle helmets would be expected to be effective in a range of real-world accident conditions, particularly the most common accidents that do not involve a collision with another vehicle and are often believed to consist of simple falls or tumbles over the handlebars.

In 2008, 115 pedal cyclists were killed and 2,450 reported as seriously injured on Britain’s roads, accounting for 9% of all killed or seriously injured (KSI) road casualties. The Government is committed to reducing road casualties for all road users, including cyclists, and has a national casualty target of reducing by 40% the number of people KSI in road collisions by 2010, compared with the baseline average for 1994-98. Whilst there is no specific target relating to cyclists, in 2004 the number of KSI had fallen to 38% below the baseline average. However, the number of KSI has increased steadily since then and in 2007 and 2008 was 31% below the baseline average. The Department for Transport commissioned research to assess the causes of collisions involving cyclists. This report is a technical annex to the main report which investigates the key causal factors relating to accidents involving cyclists. The work involved an international literature review and a detailed analysis of cyclist casualties in Great Britain, drawing on both national and in-depth databases of road collisions and cycling. The main source of the casualty data was the national STATS19 injury accident data for 1994-2007. Contributory factor data has been recorded nationally as part of the STATS19 system from 2005 and is also reported. The main source of cycling activity data was the National Travel Survey (NTS).

This issue of Current Topics includes over 75 abstracts of reports, conference papers, books and journal articles which focus on the area of highway safety auditing. Subjects include audits of junctions, the vicinity of schools, cycling facilities, accident locations and traffic signs, as well as of entire highways. Several papers consider audits from the perspective of particular road user groups such as pedestrians and motorcyclists. Software and instructions developed to assist in road safety audits are described. These items have been selected from the material added to the Transport Research Laboratory's Library Database between 2005 and 2009. Much of the relevant English language published literature from the UK, USA, Australia and Europe is included; some of the non-UK literature is included courtesy of the OECD International Transport Research Documentation (ITRD) database.

Sustainable travel initiatives have the potential to add real value to the next round of Local Transport Plans (LTP). This guide seeks to complement statutory LTP Guidance by providing support for developing a sustainable travel business case based on the latest evidence and good practice from around the country.

To promote healthier journeys to work and to reduce environmental pollution, the 1999 Finance Act introduced an annual tax exemption, which allows employers to loan cycles and cyclists’ safety equipment to employees as a tax-free benefit. The exemption was one of a series of measures introduced under the Government’s Green Transport Plan. The following guidelines clarify how organisations can take advantage of the exemption to implement a Cycle to Work scheme that encourages employees to cycle to work and allows employers to reap the benefits of a healthier workforce. These notes are for guidance only and reflect the tax position at the time of writing and the law as it relates to the provision of consumer credit. The tax exemption refers to cycles and cyclists’ safety equipment loaned to employees by employers. However, where salary sacrifice arrangements are used, Cycle to Work schemes must be regulated hire agreements between the employer and the employee. The terms ‘hire’ and ‘loan’ are therefore both used in these guidelines.

The CTC (Cyclists Touring Club) has for nearly 10 years worked with Local Authorities across the UK to establish best practice for cycle infrastructure. This site showcases best practice projects for all kinds of cycling infrastructure.