When I read the letter from D Lancaster (The Argus, March 21) claiming that the “Greens need to do more for hard-pressed cyclists” I thought it must be a joke.

Since the last council election, more has been done for people riding bikes around Brighton and Hove than ever before, and more than in almost any other city in the UK outside London.

Since last summer, I’ve been working for Transport for London on a study looking at which cities across the world are doing the best things for cyclists.

I had the privilege of cycling around Washington DC and New York City, using some of the excellent protected bike lanes put in by the city councils there.

My colleagues visited cities as wide ranging as Utrecht, Munich and Nantes, which are all taking cycling seriously as a mode of transport.

And when the Mayor of London wanted to look at which cities in the UK he could learn from when spending his £900 million cycling budget, his team chose to visit Brighton and Hove (and Cambridge).

Yes, that’s right – the city wanting to do the most for cycling in the UK came to our own city to see how they should be thinking about cycle tracks and lanes.

Some of the most innovative cycling measures now being considered in London were actually put into place in Brighton first.

Cycle bypasses of bus stops, early green lights allowing cyclists to move off before cars, Danish-style cycle tracks – all put in by Brighton and Hove City Council over the past three years and all only just now being done in London.

That doesn’t mean, of course, that the city should rest on its laurels. More cycle parking is definitely needed, as is dealing with abandoned bikes.

A few months ago The Argus ran an interview with me about two abandoned bikes outside my office – they’re still there.

But that’s a problem of success, not failure.

There a lot more that needs to be done before Brighton and Hove can reach the cycling levels of Denmark or the Netherlands.

But the city should be proud of what’s been done over the past few years for people riding bikes. The increased numbers of people cycling along Lewes Road show that good schemes lead to results.

Let’s keep on the same track in the future.

Mark Strong, Transport Initiatives