A bicycle "superhighway" from Balham to Victoria and bike-priority streets in Croydon and Richmond are among the £500million transport plan released by London Mayor Ken Livingstone today.

The proposals would also see more than 6,000 hire bicycles placed throughout the city in a bid to convince Londoners to make one in every 10 of their trips by bicycle, cutting 1.6million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

"The aim of this programme is nothing short of a cycling and walking transformation in London," Mr Livingstone said.

"We will spend something like £500million over the next decade on cycling - the biggest investment in cycling in London's history which will mean that thousands more Londoners can cycle in confidence, on routes that take them quickly and safely to where they want to go."

Mr Livingstone also wants to get more people walking, saying half the trips made by Tube in central London were quicker by foot.

He said new signs would make it easier for people to walk around and ease congestion on the underground.

The bike hire scheme will see docking stations placed every 300 metres throughout central London at a cost of about £75million over 10 years. The first bikes are expected to be on streets by 2010.

There will also be a series of bike zones in 15 suburban areas, including Richmond and Croydon, with cycle priority streets and 20mph speed limits.