London Borough of Sutton - Winner
Over the last year the London Borough of Sutton has been in the spotlight for its achievements in sustainable transport. They include: smarter travel events attendance of 27,000 residents in a year; 481 car club members; 256 additional cycle parking stands installed; 75% increase in cyclists since Year 1 of the STS initiative; 16% increase in bus patronage since the start of the STS initiative; and 6% reduction in the mode share of the car since 2005/06. To ensure that these achievements are sustained, the council has adopted an action plan called Enabling Smarter Travel Choices, which sets out a five-year programme to deliver community-led sustainable transport projects.
Over the last year the council has implemented a number of innovative measures: A pocket sized staff travel guide which opens up to show a map of all council offices and how to travel between each sustainably; conversion of car parking space into covered cycle parking storage; a partnership with the Holiday Inn, allowing council employees who walk or cycle to use their shower facilities; a zero-carbon cycle delivery service has been commissioned to deliver all of the Members’ post and is also used by departments for deliveries to schools and workplaces within the borough; all staff have been offered an Active Steps appointment, an 8-week programme aimed at increasing physical activity by promoting walking and cycling as regular forms of exercise.
Since the start of travel planning activities in 1995 the mode share of car driver has reduced by 20% and has fallen by 14% in the last three years. The council has recently set an ambitious target to reduce single occupancy employee car use to just 10% by 2017.
The Borough supports information dissemination and exchange, and recently developed a ‘Lessons Learnt’ publication for other authorities delivering Smarter Travel programmes. The Council has also hosted a number of visits from guests from Sweden, France, Australia and South Korea.
London Borough of Lambeth
The London Borough of Lambeth has led a series of events over a sustained period to help encourage the levels of cycling. This was achieved by offering practical and safety advice on cycling related issues combined with a free bike service to enable participants to either keep cycling or recommence cycling if their bike has been out of action for a period.
The main objective of the Dr Bike programme was to tackle three of the major barriers to cycling, namely: Safety issues – fear of cycling in traffic; inclement weather and winter cycling – dislike of cold and visibility issues in the winter; maintenance problems which stop people from being able to use their bicycle – punctures, issues with gears etc . By dealing with these 3 issues Lambeth helped increase the levels of cycling in the borough and also helped reduce cycling related accidents.
The campaign consisted of the following elements: Dr Bike sessions; HGV awareness; Winter Wheelin’. The council’s sustainable travel team and road safety team collaborated on the campaign to target a range of cyclists – new, existing, occasional and assertive. The project was both practical, in terms of fixing up the bikes and creating roadworthy two-wheeled transport, and educational, providing road-sharing skills and winter riding advice.
London Borough Of Bromley
The London Borough of Bromley has been committed and proactive in its efforts to improve the way that its residents travel for over half a century. As well as encouraging walking and the use of public transport, cycling and cycle training has been a major focus.
From the earliest beginnings of National Cycling Proficiency Schemes, Bromley have been involved. In the early years all cycling training was undertaken in off- road areas, normally school playgrounds. For the past nineteen years, once initial control training has been completed, all training has taken place on the road with local traffic. In the last sixteen years cycle training has included adults and families as well as the standard training for school children. In the past, this training was conducted by Road Safety Officers and is now run by the Road Safety Unit’s in- house team of National Standard Cycle Instructors.
With a wholehearted launch of our Bikeability National Standards Cycling courses, 2008 was a momentous year for Bromley. In July 2008 the council ran their first National Standard Instructor Training Course for 8 instructors. With another 7 courses and 47 instructors already trained, more courses are planned for the rest of the year.
The council has been steadily increasing the number of people cycling in the borough and in the last 2 years, Level 1 training has gone from 800 to 1,200 children, a 50% increase; Level 2 has gone from 1,400 to 1,700 children, a 21% increase. Level 3 training has increased too from 0 to 50 children trained, a staggering 500% increase and Adult & Family training from 25 to 58 families trained, a 225% increase in the last 5 years.
