§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will in future require cycling to be included in all traffic surveys where these are to be used to evaluate the case for government spending on new road schemes, and if not why not.
50WA
The Earl of CaithnessIt is the Department of Transport's policy to take the needs of cyclists into account from the outset when planning new trunk road construction or improvements. We do not however, in all cases, carry out surveys of cycling as part of the traffic surveys of the department's road improvement schemes. In most cases, given the nature of trunk roads and the availability of alternative routes, the level of cycle use is such that its impact on the design and benefits of a scheme would be negligible. Where road improvement schemes are anticipated to have significant impact on cycling, surveys of cycling separate from the main traffic surveys will often yield more useful data. In appropriate cases such surveys would be commissioned by the department. Where local authority road schemes are funded by the department from the local roads capital provision, the form of survey is a matter for the authorities themselves. It is made clear to them that one of the department's objectives is to make better provision for the needs of cyclists.