Request ID: FOI-1305-2122 Date published: 06 October 2021
You asked
Hi
On page 12 of the Safety, Health and Environment Quarterly report
Quarter 1 2021/22 it states:
However, the risk of being killed or seriously injured per journey is falling for people cycling. This reflects a significant increase in the number of people cycling, and a change in where, when and why people are cycling in and across London.
Will Norman repeats this on the 19 Sept. Politics Show.
Can you please tell me the cycle volumes that are being used to make the calculation of rate and the source of the figures.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1305-2122
Thank you for your request of 21st September 2021 asking for information about cycling volumes in London.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“On page 12 of the Safety, Health and Environment Quarterly report Quarter 1 2021/22 it states:
However, the risk of being killed or seriously injured per journey is falling for people cycling. This reflects a significant increase in the number of people cycling, and a change in where, when and why people are cycling in and across London.
Will Norman repeats this on the 19 Sept. Politics Show.
Can you please tell me the cycle volumes that are being used to make the calculation of rate and the source of the figures.”
I understand that you wrote directly to our Chief Safety, Health and Environment Officer, Lilli Matson, in similar terms on 16th September 2021 and that my colleague, James Pickford Phimmai, responded on 24th September to say that:
“The ‘Casualties in Greater London during 2020’ factsheet here provides a summary of both the number of collisions resulting in injury to cyclists and the estimated number of kilometres cycled in London. This shows that the number of kilometres cycled in London increased by an estimated 46 per cent between 2019 and 2020, and there was a 12 per cent increase in the number of people killed or seriously injured whilst cycling.
Further information published by the Department for Transport can be found here under ‘Road traffic estimates in Great Britain: 2020’ tables. Specifically, table TRA0413 ‘Pedal cycle traffic (vehicle kilometres) by region and country in Great Britain’, reports that estimated levels of cycling increased from 0.65 billion vehicle kilometres in 2019 to 0.90 billion vehicle kilometres in 2020.”
I believe that you responded to specifically request data for Quarter 1 for 2021/22 (April-June 2021). I can confirm that TfL holds such data, and that we intend to publish it shortly. However, it has not yet gone fully through the processing required for this to happen. The information is therefore exempt from disclosure at the current time under section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act, which can apply where information is ’intended for future publication’. This is a ‘qualified’ exemption, meaning we have to assess whether the public interest in applying the exemption outweighs the public interest in immediate disclosure. In this instance we consider that the public interest favours the publication of this information in context and according to the pre-determined schedule, rather than in response to your request. With publication intended in a relatively short period of time (a matter of weeks) we do not see a compelling case to publish it outside of the planned process.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
