West Midlands Mayor Andy Street is demanding greater powers to prosecute motorists who park dangerously putting cyclists and pedestrians at risk.
As well as handing over beefed up he has also called on the Department for Transport to step up funding for cycle routes and schemes to an average of 拢10 per head by 2023.
His call came as the Government is consulting on a new 拢1 billion to encourage alternatives to the car. It wants cycling to be an obvious natural choice for shorter journeys.
Currently two major cycle highways are being built under the Birmingham Cycle Revolution project, which has invested 拢24 million in facilities and bikes over the last four years.
The highways, along the from Birmingham City Centre to Perry Barr and along the from Edgbaston to Selly Oak are due to open early next year.
Last year doctor after her bike collided with a lorry on Pershore Road.
A new bike share scheme is also being launched this summer.
But Mr Street wants to go much further and ensure that by 2023 at least five per cent of all journeys in the West Midlands are by bike.
A huge barrier is safety, with almost believing the city's roads are not safe for cyclists.
In a letter to road safety minister Jesse Norman he has asked the Department of Transport to support the West Midlands in increasing investment on cycling to 拢10 per head by 2023.
He has also asked that traffic enforcement powers be devolved directly to the West Midlands, making it easier to prosecute people who park recklessly and endanger cyclists and pedestrians, for example.
Cycle campaigners have argued that cuts to police has led to a reduction in resources for parking and cycle safety enforcement - meaning the roads are less safe.
Mr Street said: 鈥淲e have made some significant progress in the West Midlands over the last 12 months in terms of improvements in the cycling infrastructure and promoting walking and cycling.
鈥淭he most obvious examples are the progress being made by Birmingham City Council on the superhighway routes on the Bristol Road and Walsall Road, as well as the bikeshare scheme which will give people across the West Midlands the chance to hire bikes.
鈥淏ut we need to be looking to the next stage, to making sure these superhighways become part of a network, not pieces of standalone infrastructure.
鈥淎nd we need to make sure that the people who hire the bikes are able to use safe infrastructure."
He said he has asked the transport minister, Jesse Norman, for support.
鈥淲e need Government鈥檚 help to enable us to take this to the next level, making cycling and walking a safer and easier option than it is now, with beneficial impacts on traffic congestion and air pollution.鈥
The Government has been consulting over proposals to boost cycling over the next 20 years.
The Department for Transport has set aside 拢1 billion funding over the next five years, which will cover the costs of new cycle routes, Bikeability training for more than a million youngsters, road safety measures and improve cycle links to public transport.
West Midlands transport chief Roger Lawrence said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing an unprecedented level of investment in public transport in the West Midlands which will have a major impact on traffic congestion.
鈥淥ne of the most important ways we can do this is by improving the conditions for cycling and walking.
鈥淲hile excellent progress is being made, the call for evidence from the Department for Transport is an opportunity to push for even greater investment, powers and devolution to accelerate the work currently taking place.鈥
