Just don’t tell these guys central London may become a 20mph zone.

The City of London has just approved an investigation in to the benefits of applying a 20mph speed limit across the whole of the Square Mile. This follows similar moves by Islington council and Camden council.

The idea is that the lower speed limit will create safer streets for everyone. It will also encourage more people to walk, cycle and use public transport, rather than travel by car.

In the past few days a report has also been hitting the news about the need for the government to promote cycling as a means for reducing inactivity. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellent claims that inactivity is now the cause of as many deaths as smoking.

From the article on the BBC:

Dr John Middleton, vice-president of the Faculty of Public Health, said cycling and walking needed to be made an “easy option”.

Indeed a 20mph speed limit seems like an easy win, especially as there’s a constant argument thrown around that there “simply isn’t enough room in London to create separate cycle lanes”.

But how likely is this to happen?

There’s a big difference between releasing the budget to create a report and any action actually been taken. TfL and the Mayor of London have always moved at a snails pace, which is always exacerbated by the Department of Transport.

Cycalogical has a great blog post on the London Assembly’s investigation in to safe cycling in London. The London Assembly was created to hold the Mayor of London accountable. Unfortunately, it has few actual powers and cannot force the Mayor to do anything.

This is a shame, as the report has some excellent common sense suggestions:

Double spending on cycling infrastructure in London

Create a protected cycle network and aim for 10% of journeys to be made by bike

“There could, and should, be more segregated cycle space in London”

The Committee’s chair, Caroline Pigeon, rightly remarks:

Many Londoners do not think London is an inviting place to cycle, and they want to see the Mayor and Transport for London build infrastructure that offers physical protection to cyclists.

With all this progress in thinking being made and impatience by cycling campaigners growing, surely its only a matter of time before Boris Johnson and TfL really commit to a cycling revolution in London. Boris Johnson are you listening?