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Local elections – ask candidates about cycling

Depending on where you live, you might have elections coming up for councils, mayors, and police and crime commissioners. These elections are a key opportunity to influence decisions about transport and cycling infrastructure in your area.

In the run-up to an election, you might receive campaign leaflets through your door, and transport issues may be one of the topics covered. You might also have candidates or party volunteers knocking on your door to ask for your support.

Whatever your political views, we’d encourage you to ask them what their plans are to improve cycling in your area, and especially for children. 

The more people ask about this, the more the political parties will realise it’s an issue that people care about.  

Here at Cycle Sprog HQ, we are keen campaigners for active travel provision for everyone, and particularly for children.

We have written about this in the past, check out our article on why kids cycling to school shouldn’t be rocket science. 

This is actually a good starting point for anyone who’s curious to know what we could do to get more kids cycling to school. 

Asking candidates for their view on cycling may also help you decide who to vote for.

people cycling on a traffic free path

3 questions to ask candidates

Here are some questions to get you going;

  1. Do you support School Streets?
  2. Do you support the implementation of (more) 20mph speed limits in all built up areas?
  3. What are your plans for improving the situation for walking and cycling in our area?

School streets

A School Street is a road outside a school with a temporary restriction on motorised traffic at school drop-off and pick-up times. The restriction applies to school traffic and through traffic.

The School Streets website is a very useful resource to find out more about school streets, including a map of current School Streets.

Mums for Lungs also have excellent guidance available on School Streets on the Mums for Lungs website.

20mph speed limits

A speed limit of 20 mph will reduce the risk of collisions, help people feel safer and benefit people’s physical and mental well-being. A child is 3 times more likely to die if hit by a car on a 30mph road than on a 20mph road.

Wales has introduced a 20mph speed limit on restricted roads in September 2023.

The 20 is plenty campaign website offers lots of useful information about 20mph speed limits and their benefits.

Local issues

If you have a local issue that you feel particularly strongly about; this is your chance.

Talk to your local candidate about that dangerous crossing near your kids' school or the lack of cycle lanes to local shops, sport club, or nursery.

Other topics to discuss

There are plenty of other things you could ask about such as:

  • Secure on-street cycle storage
  • (Cargo) bike loan schemes
  • Bikeability training for all children
  • Loans and grants to purchase cycles and accessories
  • Protected cycle lanes along all main roads
  • Low Traffic Neighbourhoods

Photo ID required

Don’t forget to vote and remember to take a photo ID to the polling station, as this is now a legal requirement.

Want to get involved in campaigning for safer cycling?

If you're interested in getting involved in cycling campaigning, you can get started with our article Biking safely: How to campaign for safer cycling. It includes tips on writing to your local decision makers to how to campaign for a School Street.

Kidvelo competition

Kidvelo competition

Cycle Sprog's most popular articles

Here at Cycle Sprog we help thousands of families each week find the information they need about kids bikes and cycling together as a family.

We've got hundreds of articles on the website, and we do hope you enjoy browsing them, but if you're in a hurry these are our most popular articles that will get you started.

Keep the family riding as the nights draw in

With half term behind us and the clocks gone back, the school run looks a little different now. Darker mornings and early sunsets mean it’s a good time to make sure everyone feels confident and visible on their bikes for the weeks ahead.

If you’ve been meaning to try cycling to school, there’s still no pressure to do it every day. Even once a week is a great way to keep riding through the colder months and stop it from feeling like a big deal.

Good lights, front and rear, are now essential for many journeys, along with reflective details on bags and clothing. Warm layers, gloves and waterproofs make a big difference to how much everyone enjoys the ride, and it’s worth checking tyres and brakes as wet leaves and frosty mornings arrive. Allow a little extra time, and stick to routes you know well while everyone gets used to riding in the dark.

Whether it’s the ride to the school gates, a weekend spin through crunchy autumn leaves or a festive lights ride as Christmas approaches, every journey this winter is a chance to stay active, have fun and make cycling part of family life.

Explore our guides to bike lights, winter cycling kit and route planning, and get tips to help your family keep cycling to school with confidence all winter long.

Our latest articles

Here at Cycle Sprog we're always publishing brilliant new articles, and here's a selection of our newest releases.

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