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Get off your bikes, advisers to TfL tell staff
Last updated at 10:12am on 09.07.07
Jumpstart: a cyclist runs a red light in Buckingham Palace Road
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A firm hired to advise Transport for London on how to encourage people to travel by bike has banned its employees from cycling because of the dangers.
Jacobs Babtie, an engineering company with 36 offices around Britain, had landed itself in hot water for telling staff they must drive or use public transport. They can only cycle if they are working away from roads, such as on canal towpaths.
The firm, which advises local authorities on sustainable transport projects, was paid £6 million by TfL last year to monitor the impact of congestion charging and how many people have switched from cars to walking or cycling.
Ken Livingstone's green transport adviser Jenny Jones called on TfL to re-consider the contract. "It is hypocritical to offer advice on promoting cycling but at the same time ban your staff from using bikes."
TfL, which has a target of achieving a five-fold increasing in cycling levels by 2025, will host the opening prologue of the Tour de France in the capital this weekend.
A TfL spokesman said: "We find the attitude of Jacobs bizarre and we will be urging them to rethink this decision. Our serious investment in growing cycling has seen journeys by bike soar by 83 per cent since 2000. The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured has fallen by 28 per cent since the mid Nineties."
A Jacobs Babtie health and safety memo to all employees said: "The reason for this policy is to protect our employees from other vehicles on the road." The email admits it "could be construed as being at odds with our environmental policy and will not please our environmentally friendly clients".
Meanwhile, thousands of cyclists are endangering their lives and those of others by riding on pavements and jumping red lights, according to a major survey.
Almost half of the 2,000 questioned by insurer Cornhill Direct admitted riding on pavements.
The Standard reported this week that more than 5,000 cyclists have been issued with on-the-spot £30 fines for riding on London pavements in the past two years.
More than one in five admitted jumping red traffic lights and 16 per cent admitted having hit someone. Nearly one in 10 riders confessed they had damaged cars.
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