IGF – Interessengemeinschaft Fahrrad - Love London, Go Dutch

Love London, Go Dutch – The Big Ride

How to get the election campaign back in context, especially to topics which are important for one? And how do we make sure, that the promises made during the election process are defined precisely and linked to future projects? The London Cycling Campaign has shown with its ‘Love London, Go Dutch‘ campaign one way how to do this.

A few days before the mayoral election the London Cycling Campaign – LCC – has organised ‘The Big Ride‘ to remind everyone of the needs and requirements of cyclists in the city, and their campaign ‘Love London, Go Dutch‘. The campaign is basically a ready-made promise with a precise programme for implementation for the improvement of the conditions of cycling. LCC has lobbyied, put on pressure and … won!

The Big Ride

‘The Big Ride‘ cycle demonstration took place in London. It rained, but no-one cared. The participants cycled to raise awareness of noise and air pollution, for the future independence of children and adolescents and in general the freedom to get around the city unharmed by traffic. London should go Dutch, at least with regard to the conditions for cycling. The demonstration of cyclists; women, men and children seemed endless. Despite the inclement weather endless batches of cyclists rode by. Even the police officers had fun. The demonstration train always stopped at crossings to accommodate pedestrians. It took half an hour for the first and last cyclists to pass under the Golden Jubilee Bridge.

The aim of the campaign is to ask the mayoral candidates to prioritise cycling and pedestrians in the future and to commit to the three key points of the campaign:

Implement three flagship Love London, Go Dutch developments on major streets and/or locations.
Make sure all planned developments on the main roads that they control are complete to Go Dutch standards, especially junctions.
Make sure the Cycle Superhighways programme is completed to Love London, Go Dutch standards.

The campaign’s petition still continues, at the time of writing 37,000 people have signed. On Friday, 27 April, one day before the ‘The Big Ride‘ Boris Johnson also declared his commitment to this campaign. His competitors did that much earlier. LCC has reached its goal, now we will see if and how quickly the new mayor will put all this into practice.