It is so hard keeping track of the cycling budget. We know that (up to now) whatever is claimed in Mayoral press releases from Boris is different to what has actually been spent.

It does feel like there has been a big expansion under this Mayor, but the reality is that in the first two years he spent around £8m less than the previous Mayor promised.

Much of that is because of delays in setting up the cycle hire and superhighways which the Green group had agreed with the previous Mayor as part of our budget deal.

Much of the gap between Ken’s planned expenditure and Boris delivery is explained by the cancellation of the LCN+. This was a big strategic scheme led by the boroughs to establish a linked up series of cycle lanes and facilities all across London.

The LCN+ was due to be finished by beginning of 2010. My analysis of the money provided to the boroughs in 2008/09 for the LCN+ showed that a total of 383 schemes had not been funded due to a budget cut, 260 of them in outer London boroughs.

And that is the key point. Boris has ignored cycling in outer London despite the fact that over two thirds of the planned expansion of 400% in the number of cyclists is meant to come from the suburbs.

The cycle hire scheme and the superhighways are a great, high profile boost for cycling, but where are the improvements in outer London? The flagship schemes like cycle hire where originally promised by the last Mayor as an addition to existing work such as the LCN+.

Some things have continued, like the mass bike ride (Skyride) and the expansion of cycle parking, but other projects have suffered budget cuts, like the Greenways initiative.

The best example of this is the Sutton smarter travel initiative which used £5m of Transport for london money to enocurage people to switch away from their cars. It led to an increase in cycling and Richmond are doing the next pilot scheme, but plans for both of these pre-date Boris.

The over all budget for smarter travel has fallen from £30 to £22m which means that the Sutton approach is now unlikely to be rolled out as a big Mayoral initiative.

The third year of Boris expenditure on cycling will be higher than before, especially if there is an additional £81m to help with the expansion of cycle hire, but this will be spent on the flagship, high profile scheme.

My concern is that shrinking budgets for things like bike parking, safety, training and cycle theft will leave many of London’s wanna-be cyclists feeling neglected.

Reader comments

1. Liberal Conspiracy

   When will London’s new cycles reach suburbs? http://bit.ly/9wljMO

2. morphiet

   When will London’s new cycles reach suburbs? | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/mg0iSCC

3. Dr Shibley Rahman

   Tube strikes -> go green -> ride a bike. it could happen? (inspired by @sunny_hundal) http://bit.ly/bnE3k8

4. Jenny Jones

   Liberal conspiracy: when will cycle revolution reach the suburbs http://bit.ly/96EDRF #londoncycling #cycling

5. prj45

   RT @GreenJennyJones: Liberal conspiracy: when will cycle revolution reach the suburbs http://bit.ly/96EDRF #londoncycling #cycling

6. Leon Green

   RT @GreenJennyJones: Liberal conspiracy: when will cycle revolution reach the suburbs http://bit.ly/96EDRF #londoncycling #cycling

7. liliana dmitrovic

   RT @GreenJennyJones: Liberal conspiracy: when will cycle revolution reach the suburbs http://bit.ly/96EDRF #londoncycling #cycling

8. Jenny Jones

   Liberal conspiracy: Boris spent less on cycling than Ken budgeted for in first 2 years. As LCN+ cancelled http://bit.ly/96EDRF

9. Tim Beadle

   RT @GreenJennyJones: Liberal conspiracy: when will cycle revolution reach the suburbs http://bit.ly/96EDRF #londoncycling #cycling