Cycling push needs to go up a gear

Encouraging more people to cycle is one of the central goals of Environment's new transport strategy.

It has already begun to act by confirming a much-needed review of the seafront cycle path.

But the department has to change much more than just the infrastructure if it is to achieve a fundamental shift in how people travel.

There are ingrained behaviours and fears that need to be overcome and more widespread education is required too.

The strength of feeling from motorists who see bad cycling, and cyclists who feel threatened by bad driving, is evidenced by the letters printed in these pages and the debates on our website.

There are always bad examples on the extremes of both sides. Cyclists who ignore one-ways or traffic lights. Drivers who overtake at speed on blind corners. There is a simmering tension on island roads.

But the vast majority of drivers ride – and the vast majority of cyclists drive. So already there should be a good understanding of the frustration on both sides.

The department will spend £7 per head a year funding cycling improvement and promotion under its new strategy – a figure eclipsed by plans in London to spend £18 and by the Dutch government, which spends £30.

It wants to embed a cultural shift from a young age in schools, engage with business to increase the numbers commuting by bike, allow people to take bikes on buses and increase the number of contraflows. The plan is also to improve bike shelters and access to countryside routes and paths.

In the furore that surrounds paid parking, many of the other goals of the transport strategy –including this – have been virtually ignored.

It is approximately three months since the States approved what will be Environment's major policy of this term – one that will impact on the lives of all the travelling public. With cycling, it is pushing at an activity that is already on the rise.

It has a new board to try to drive through a vision with aspirations about which many remain sceptical. Soon it will face the pressure to deliver much more in the way of concrete action so people can see if it really can make a difference.