What journeys do you regularly make? Perhaps a daily commute to work. Maybe the school run. You might routinely take a dip at the local pool or nip down to the corner shop.

How many of these are local trips that could readily be made by bike? My guess is a lot of them are – 50% of journeys in London are under three miles.

But how many of you would feel safe and happy enough to make them by bike? If you are one of those millions of people who would like to cycle (or cycle more) but won’t because of the dangers, then the very idea of making these local trips by bike is forbidding. Even if you do cycle regularly, the chances are that you are still unhappy at how hazardous it is out there.



If so, then our Space for Cycling campaign is for you. In fact, it’s for everyone, because creating safe and inviting space for cycling in our neighbourhoods will lower road danger for pedestrians too, reduce air pollution, improve people’s health, increase footfall in local high streets and generally raise quality of life.

This won’t occur overnight of course. But it is entirely possible to create conditions in which people of all ages and abilities can cycle safely and enjoyably for their local, everyday journeys. And it's our local politicians who have the power to do it.

That’s why the campaign, born out of the terrible spate of cyclist deaths in London last year, is now contacting candidates in the 22 May local elections in cities across England including Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield, Bristol and Newcastle. In London, all borough council seats are up for grabs and we aim to reach out to every single one of the 6,000 plus candidates.

Our volunteer teams in each of London’s 32 boroughs (the City has no elections this year) have identified a single, site-specific, high priority measure that we will ask the candidates in each ward to support – that’s 624 individual measures in total. These range from installing protected cycle lanes to filtering out through traffic from residential areas; from creating safe routes to local schools to opening up green spaces to considerate cycling.

Hang on, you might think: why this sudden focus on the boroughs – isn’t it the mayor, Boris Johnson, who’s got the levers of power?

It’s true that creating high-quality long-distance cycle superhighways or ripping out and replacing London’s dangerous monster junctions lies principally within the mayor’s ambit; but the mayor and TfL actually control only 5% of London’s roads (albeit with a much higher share of the total motor traffic). To his credit, the mayor promised to meet in full the demands of our 2012 Love London, Go Dutch campaign. We now need London’s boroughs to also step up and help unlock the massive potential there exists for cycling – most of which will be realised in short, local journeys on their patch.

People often tell me that we can’t match the best of Europe, because London is much bigger than cities such as Amsterdam or Copenhagen. But London is famously a collection of villages – every single town centre can be its own Amsterdam. And just as splashes of ink on blotting paper spread and connect, so too will we grow space for cycling everywhere in London by seeding it in every ward in every borough. Indeed, we can do the same in all our great cities.

If the enthusiasm that has so far greeted Space for Cycling is anything to go by, it’s a popular call to action whose moment has come. For the first time a cycling campaign is being supported by a major retailer, Evans Cycles and a trade body, the Bicycle Association.

It will help address so many issues, from childhood obesity to local economic revitalisation. It’s a clear, simple idea and one of the best things that local councils can do for their citizens. Please give it your support.