So for the second year running, we have proved convincingly that it is faster to get about by bike in Merton!

And not just in Merton: cyclists in other boroughs and indeed across Britain will today, National Bike to Work Day, be making the same point: it is invariably faster, in today's rush hour traffic, to get from A to B by bike.

Not only is it faster, but because we have chosen to use our bikes today, the roads are a little less congested, less polluted, and less dangerous. We are not only doing ourselves a favour, we are doing everyone else a favour too!

Even official government statistics show that on average a cyclist in central London will do a 2.5 mile journey in just 18 minutes - it takes the average car driver doing the same journey 33 minutes!

The Bike Week theme this year is: You can do it - get on a bike! Certainly many commuting journeys are short and easily cyclable: three quarters of all journeys are less than 5 miles long! If these journeys were done by bike, pollution would plummet, congestion would collapse, and we would have a fitter, healthier, and happier population in Merton. Our Commuter Challenge has shown that, wherever you are commuting in gridlocked Merton, you'll arrive faster on a two-wheeled congestion buster!

So why don't more people do it? Well, the surveys show that they would like to, but are afraid of the traffic. So they take refuge - in their cars!

Somehow this vicious circle must be reversed. Local highway authorities like Merton now have a statutory duty, under the Traffic Reduction Act, to set targets for reducing traffic levels. There are many strategies available to achieve this goal, but cycling must be at the top of that list as a realistic mode of transport. More people would cycle if the roads were safer, so let's have more 20mph zones, more cycle lanes, enforced bans on car parking in all cycle lanes, advanced stop lines at all junctions, one-way streets opened up to two-way cycling, more cycle parking provision, and generally a transport policy that puts pedestrians and cyclists first!

This is the kind of approach taken in York, where 1 in 5 of all journeys are made by bike. This is the kind of approach that has worked in Holland and Germany for years: they own more cars than us per head of population, but drive them less. In some Dutch cities, up to half of all journeys are by bike. Why not in Merton too? With a council committed as I believe this one is - look at all those new gas powered Merton vans! - we could strive towards these goals and become a pace setter in Britain as the government's long-awaited new transport policy emerges.

The government 's Transport White Paper, the first for 20 years, is now expected next month. It was going to be in May, but I believe they are waiting to see the results from Merton today before they commit themselves fully to the cycling solution…

The new policy must be radical. Everyone understands the need to cut traffic levels, that argument has been won. Now we need a policy to achieve that. It is what the people want, as a survey to be published next week on ETA National Car-Free Day will reveal: 75% of drivers would like to see less congested and polluted town centres, and would be happy for restrictions to be placed on car use. The dilemma is that none of them wants to take the first step, as they believe that their fellow drivers will go on driving!

That is why events like this today are good at highlighting the issues and raising awareness, but achieve little in terms of permanent modal shift - the fact is that most people did not cycle to work today, and even among those that did, many will switch back to their cars tomorrow. Cynical? No, that is reality, and we know it.

Conclusion? The time is ripe for a new radical transport policy. All eyes on John Prescott: will he grasp this nettle?

I would like to thank all those that have helped us to organise this event today:

• Nick Greenwood and the council teams from Street Management, Going for Green, Local Agenda 21 and Environmental Health, who commuted in today from Colliers Wood, Lower Morden, and Mitcham.
• Piers Simey and his Merton & Sutton Health Authority team who came in from Wimbledon Park.
• And of course to fellow cycle campaigners who have helped organise this and other National Bike Week events, and have commuted here today from Raynes Park.
• Lastly, a big thank you to Roger Casale MP, whose support for our efforts could not be greater.

Richard Evans, 10 June 1998