Is cycling in central London the preserve of young people in Lycra? Why do so many people think urban cycling is too risky? Despite a substantial increase in the number of people cycling on main roads (300% in the last 15 years and rising by 10% a year, according to Andrew Gilligan, cycling commissioner for London) many would-be cyclists are still too scared to cycle in the capital.

So what’s the answer? This spring the government will roll out the cycle superhighways scheme, which should offer safer, faster cycle routes around the city. But is this enough? How do we create safe pathways for all road users, and encourage more people to get on their bikes?

Discussing the issue at a Guardian Live event were Chris Boardman, Olympic cyclist and British Cycling policy adviser, Andrew Gilligan, cycling commissioner for London, Dr Rachel Aldred, senior lecturer in transport at the University of Westminster and Steve McNamara, Licensed Taxi Drivers Association general secretary. They were joined by Peter Walker, who writes the Guardian cycling blog, and cycling journalist Laura Laker, who chaired the event. Here are their suggestions:

The problem with the cycle superhighway is that it applies 24 hours a day Steve McNamara

1. Create space

Boardman said that although cycling’s statistically very safe, it’s not perceived as such and one way to combat the problem is to create more space for cyclists: “This will be the most painful part as the space has to come from somewhere.” McNamara said taxi drivers were all for creating safer pathways. “As road users, we think segregated cycling is the way to go,” he said, adding that taxi drivers were in favour of about 90% of the cycle superhighway, although they were troubled by sections of the Embankment.

Walker agreed, saying the key problem is infrastructure – particularly difficult issues such as blocking off rat runs that are taken over by speeding cars during rush hours.

2. Introduce timed segregation

McNamara said segregation had to take into account the way people move about the city. “The problem with the cycle superhighway is that it applies 24 hours a day. The numbers of people cycling in the morning and evening rush hours are massive, but go down there at half 10 in the morning, half two in the afternoon, eight in the evening, and there’s nobody there,” he said.

He advocated segregating certain lanes at certain times of the day. “That costs nothing – you just need a simple camera enforcement system and the rest of the day people can move around.” Not all the panel agreed – Aldred and Walker said the roads needed to be available all day to suit other cyclists, particularly those who are under-represented such as women and older people.

Most road users support some kind of segregation for cyclists. Photograph: Alamy

3. Start in the suburbs

One area the panel did agree on was the importance of introducing initiatives in the suburbs. “By starting in the centre and forcing the way out, we’ve encouraged this myth that the only people who cycle are wealthy white males who can afford to live in central London and cycle half a mile to work,” said McNamara. “We need to go into the suburbs, encouraging women, people going to schools, people going about where generally cycling is a lot safer anyway.”

Aldred said her research proved people wanted to cycle away from cars – in segregated lanes, through green spaces or through quiet residential streets. This was even more important for parents taking children to school, who needed to avoid rat runs. “It’s often politically difficult to take through motor traffic out of those areas, but it will be transformational for cycling, particularly in outer London.”

She pointed to Waltham Forest, where some rat runs have been transformed into quiet spaces where there are pocket parks, areas for people to walk. “That’s a really important selling point. If we do these things, we’ll create these much more pleasant local areas, and should also reduce injury rates for pedestrians. This is about creating better places for everyone.”

4. Make yourself heard (and not just on Twitter)

So how do we create these spaces? Gilligan said people needed to engage with local councils. “The reason we’ve made progress on the superhighways is because they’re our roads and we can decide what happens on them, but on the quieter borough roads it’s much harder,” he said. “I’d like to see everyone who wants a safe cycle route in their neighbourhood turning up at their council surgeries saying ‘we want this’, because at the moment they’re hearing from people who don’t want it.”

He also pointed to Waltham Forest, where there is strong support for cycling. “A big group of people are prepared to go to meetings and argue on social media, which is one of the reasons why the council is able to push through these schemes,” he said.

There aren’t enough cycle parking places in the West End Andrew Gilligan

5. Tackle the parking problem

Another problem raised was the lack of places to lock up bikes in central London. Gilligan said it was down to the councils. “We’re putting in 80,000 cycle parking spaces this year, but we can only put them where the councils are willing to allow us. There aren’t enough in the West End, and Westminster council has these big chunky lampposts that you can’t chain your bike around. We have some leverage with the councils but not that much.”

Parked cars were also raised as a hazard, especially for young cyclists. “We should be looking at areas where rates of motor ownership have gone down, but where lots of streets are given over to parking,” she Aldrer. “We should consider removing car parking on one side, and then you have space for something else – cycle paths, planting, and making sure children aren’t going to be invisible on that side of the road.”

The panel were unable to agree on the issue of a hierarchy of responsibility on the roads, or on driver liability, but all supported degrees of segregation, trialling inexpensive measures in the suburbs, and continued pressure on councils to encourage more people to get on their bikes in the capital.

This Guardian Live event took place at Kings Place, London. To find out about more upcoming events sign up to become a Guardian Member.

