Lewisham Council and Cycling

Introduction
Lewisham's Cycling Policies
Facts and Figures
What is Lewisham council doing for cyclists?
Lewisham needs a dedicated cycle officer – now!
Room for improvement
Summary
Contacts

Facts and Figures

How many cycle trips in Lewisham?

Using Census information it is possible to roughly work out the proportion of all trips made by bicycle by Lewisham residents (3). According to data presented by Lewisham Council, approximately 2% of all trips were made by bicycle between 1971-1991(4). LATS data for 1991 and 2001 showed a 20% decrease in the number of cycle trips for Lewisham, although cycling for both Home to Work Trips and Home to Education Trips remained steady at 2% and 1% respectively between 1991 and 2001(5).

Table 1. Western screenline counts, Lewisham 2001-04. Averages taken from 2001 base. Source: Peter Stunell, lead contact for cycling, Lewisham Council.

More recently available data from annual screenline counts taken between 2001-2004 (see Table 1) shows a 14% average increase in the number of cycle trips, with a 37% peak increase in 2004 (6). This suggests that the number of cycle trips is beginning to increase, and is certainly a step in the right direction. However, the long-term significance of this increase is not yet clear, especially with the LATS figures being so low for 1991-2001. Is the increase really enough to ‘quadruple' the number of cycle trips by 2012? It is too early to say. One would have to see quite dramatic year on year increases in cyclist numbers to reach that goal. Will the numbers snowball or plateau?

In summary, the number of cycle trips in Lewisham has remained consistently low over the last few decades. The figure of 2% of trips made by bike is in line with the UK average, however, Lewisham lags behind other London boroughs where more steady increases have been noted over the past two decades (7). The number of cycle trips has not been completely static: there was a negative dip in the last decade, and a more recent upturn beginning in 2003. It is not clear whether the increase is the direct result of Lewisham Council's actions and its cycle strategy, or due to the introduction of the Congestion Charge that significantly increased cyclist numbers throughout Inner London.

If Lewisham aims to quadruple the number of cycle trips, they are aiming for between 7-8% of all journeys to be made by bicycle in 2012. Presumably at the same time they would like to see a simultaneous shift away from car use. Is Lewisham doing enough to get people out of their cars and onto bikes? Can the target realistically be met to quadruple the number of cycle trips by 2012?

How much does Lewisham spend compared with other boroughs?

The table below compares the combined cycle budgets for Hackney, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. Thankyou to the Cycling Officers and contacts in each Borough for providing this information. The figures incorporate the sums for LCN+ funding and generally smaller budgets for non-LCN funding, usually for schemes such as cycle training and cycle parking (8).

As the chart shows (fig.1), spending was down in 2004/5 for most Boroughs, but has now risen back to 2003/4 levels. However, the spending on cycling for Lewisham is consistently lower than other Boroughs.

Taking the average per capita spend on cycling (fig.2: average spend divided by 2001 population), we can see that Southwark, Hackney and Lambeth reached between £1.34 and £1.42 per head. Lewisham's spend is disappointing : trailing behind at only £0.74 per head. That's well below the national average of £1 per head (9). It seems that Lewisham has a lot of catching up to do!

Figure 1 : Average per capita spend on cycling 2003-2006. Bromley data – awaiting figures for 2003-5 spending. Population sizes for each Borough taken from 2001 Census.

 

Figure 2 : LCN+ and non-LCN funding for cycling combined for each financial year between 2003-2006. Data for Bromley 2003/4-2004/5 not yet provided.

And the good news… TfL has allocated £214,000 for the LCN+, and £65,000 for non-LCN+ cycling initiatives to Lewisham for 2005/6. Extra funding has apparently been secured for cycle training and cycle parking. This effectively doubles the earlier budget for cycling provisions, although it still falls short of what is required, and does not address the low level of funding over previous years. Let's hope that the money is spent effectively (10), and that more is on the way. Of course, it's not all about money, and there isn't a direct link between increased number of cycling trips and cycle spending. Other factors can play a role, such as demography, income groups, distance to places of work, number of hills in the borough, and public perceptions of cycling and road safety. However as argued below (Room for improvement) there are many aspects that would clearly benefit from targeted increases in spending, that could make cycling an attractive alternative for many people.

(3) The Census question on travel asks for the main mode of transport to get to a place of work. This does not include using a bike for part of a longer journey by public transport. Figures are available from the Census in 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001. The figures do not necessarily relate to people cycling in Lewisham only, as many Lewisham residents cycle through neighbouring Boroughs, such as Southwark. 94)

(4) Interim Local Implementation Plan (ILIP) by Transport and Engineering, Lewisham Council 2002-3, chart on p13. http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/transport/documents/ILIP2001.pdf (Accessed on 13/2/05)

(5) LATS figures utilise only 1% of the population as a sample, and are accordingly not seen as being the most accurate guide to trends. Source: Peter Stunell, lead contact for cycling, Lewisham Council.

(6) Additional note from Peter Stunell: “ the table above is likely to underestimate the total number of pedal cycles…[as] a bridge which is used by a large number of cyclists each day is not taken account of in the Lewisham western Screenline”. Nevertheless, screenline counts are seen as more accurate than LATS data.

(7) Recent figures from the London Cycle Campaign – from unpublished research into cycle trips by London Borough between 1981-2001. Hackney, Islington, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth, Camden have all seen steady increases over the last 20 years, whereas a number of London Boroughs have remained static or fallen below national averages. Lewisham has remained fairly static.

(8) If anyone requires the original source data for this chart, please contact me and I will happily provide a breakdown.

(9) Philip Darnton, National Cycling Strategy Board (NCSB), “ Straying from the path: Britain falls behind Europe in the cycling stakes” Jonathan Brown, Independent 07 February 2005

(10) For a rough guide to the cost of cycle related projects and infrastructure, see the Department for Transport Local Authority Cycle Grant Toolkit (accessed on 12/2/05)

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