STOP THE TROLLEYBUS !

Robert Goodwill being interviewed this morning on ITV

Transport Minister Robert Goodwill gave evidence today to the House of Commons Transport Committee about the efforts the government is making to lessen the dangers to cyclists.

I was in Leeds on Monday cycling around the streets looking at some of the good things and bad things.

As a person who has enjoyed cycling for a number of years in North Yorkshire, and who for six or seven years has been commuting by cycle to Parliament, I hope people will appreciate that I am not just a Johnny-come-lately to the cycling fraternity.

It is important that truck drivers understand the problems that cyclists face and cyclists understand the problems that truck drivers face. Indeed, if you have driven a truck you will know how dangerous it is to ride down the inside of a lorry that is waiting at traffic lights. There is a blind spot on an articulated truck round about where the drive wheel is, where it is very difficult to see where people are. We can do more in terms of forward stop zones for cycles, and maybe also look at how we could have an advance signal so that cyclists can get away before trucks start.

I saw the roundabout at Lambeth where a lot of money had been spent putting a cycle path through the middle, but the signalling was so confusing that no cyclists were using it.

A good argument is the safety in numbers argument. If you have a lot of cyclists on the streets, drivers look out for them because they expect to see them. In Leeds, where I was on Monday, there were very few cyclists out on the streets, and therefore motorists and lorry drivers might be tempted not to look out for them all the time.

It has to be said that we have a lot to learn from the continent—places like Denmark and Holland; they have roundabouts in Holland that are particularly easy for cyclists to use. I hope that we can share some of the best practice we have seen on the continent to further build on that.

As you probably know, we are delivering a large number of infrastructure schemes—pinch-point schemes and major schemes around the country. We are spending three times as much as the previous Government did on road schemes. We are determined to make sure that where we deliver these schemes we make them cycle-friendly.

Certainly, as we deliver schemes up and down the country, we need to be intelligent in the way we ensure that not only do we not discourage cyclists but we put in infrastructure that will encourage cyclists to use it.

We have given Cambridgeshire county council permission to trial an early start signal for cyclists as an alternative way of allowing cyclists priority at traffic lights. Manchester is looking at a similar scheme. If the results are good, we would seek to spread good practice around the country.

Measures being considered include, as I think I mentioned, removing the requirement for a lead-in lane for cyclists at advance stop lines; making it easier for highway authorities to install advance stop lines at junctions; having new traffic lights to give cyclists a head start at junctions; options for joint crossings for use by both pedestrians and cyclists; options for bigger cycle boxes or advance stop lines, to accommodate the growth of cycling and make it safer for cyclists at junctions; and removing the requirement from traffic orders for mandatory cycle lanes and exemptions for cyclists such as “No right turn except cycles”. This will all make it easier for local authorities to install cycle facilities.

There is also the possibility of looking at Dutch-style roundabouts, where cyclists can circumnavigate the roundabout in a safe way.

I was at a meeting in Leeds with a lot of cycling groups and other groups on Monday. They were sharing best practice. A lot of local authorities were there from all over the country, learning from each other about what does and does not work. The Department has a part to play in disseminating that type of best practice.

You can read a full transcript of what Mr Goodwill said to the Transport Committee here. And you can listen to extracts of what he said here.