Request ID: FOI-1882-2122 Date published: 22 December 2021
You asked
I would be very grateful if you could confirm the total amount TfL have spent constructing all the cycle lanes & schemes since 2010 to date.
Clarification received 25/11/2021: If this makes it easier I just require the total amount TfL have spent on building/constructing every cycle lane & superhighway to date.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1882-2122
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request of 18th November 2021, as clarified on 25th November 2021. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
You asked to know the “total amount TfL have spent on building/constructing every cycle lane & superhighway” from 2010 to date.
I can confirm that we hold the information you require. However, it is not possible for us to source the information within the costs limit for responding to FOI cases as set out under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 12, TfL is not required to provide information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if that information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract that information from elsewhere. This is calculated at a cost of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work. In this case the exemption applies because the requested information has not been collated before, and there is no quick or efficient way of doing so. The “building and construction” costs for “cycle lanes and superhighways” cannot be easily separated from other costs associated with those projects, or spending on cycling related projects more generally, without a detailed review of individual records. We do not believe this is possible within the costs limit. In order to bring your request within the costs limit you may wish to reframe it to focus on the information that is of most importance to you - for example, by focussing on a specific scheme rather than all such projects over such an extensive period.
However, notwithstanding the above, note that some related information can be found in the public domain already. For example, the response to the following Mayoral Question gives data for spending on “cycling highways and other facilities in the Capital” since 2016:
