This Thursday, we’ll be meeting with Keith Brown, Transport Minister. When we announced this we asked you what you thought we should be asking him and we’ve had some great responses via email, twitter, facebook and the site. We’re not sure we’ll have time to ask him everything but here’s a flavour of what people have suggested:

  • Ask him to commit 5% of transport spending on cycling, or at least to commit extra money. We need sustained increase in cycle funding over time, both capital and revenue and both in real terms and as a proportion of the transport budget, with consistent funding to the cycling bodies so that they can attract and retain the best staff
  • Ask about the quality of the routes built and getting guidelines adhered to rather than being ignored when it gets too difficult: routes should be direct and go where needed. There should be safe cycling corridors along all the major commuter routes into every town in Scotland and safe cycling and walking routes to every school, including rural ones. Why are existing cycle paths so poorly designed and a waste of money? Can we insist that the people who design junctions and infrastructure have riden bikes – or driven HGVs?
  • Ask why new roads can’t have quality cycle paths built into them on each side.
  • Ask how national priorities will translate at the local level: commit to helping councils to pursue 20mph speed limits across the country in residential and retail areas, and reduce bureaucracy around traffic orders and allow councils to innovate with different solutions
  • Ask if he will consider following the Welsh government’s lead
  • Ask if he will support enforcement against dangerous driving and pavement parking
  • Ask if he will focus on HGVs, including banning them from areas such as residential streets
  • Ask him how the strict liability review is going
  • Ask him about a single seamless cycle hire scheme
  • Ask him to come for a ‘typical’ daily bike ride along with us and as many of his fellow politicians as possible
  • Ask him to talk with his Dutch counterpart about what can be done

What would you ask? There’s still time to let us know, so please do – leave a comment, tweet us, or post on our facebook group, or just send us an email at hello AT pedalonparliament DOT org

Ask the Minister