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news
London cyclist in traffic (picture copyright Simon MacMichael).PNGInvest in cycling to ease the misery of gridlocked roads urges new infrastructure report
The UK’s National Infrastructure Commission has urged the government to invest in cycling to ease the misery of gridlocked roads.
Lord Adonis, who heads the commission, said that the country needs "alternatives to the private car, upgrading and expanding rail and metro systems, better facilities for cycling and walking and improved bus networks."
It’s all part of the National Infrastructure Assessment, which aims to prioritise "alternatives to the private car, upgrading and expanding rail and metro systems, better facilities for cycling and walking and improved bus networks.”
Speeds on inner London roads have fallen 9% between 2012 and 2015 and overcrowding on the capital´s commuter trains increased 45% between 2011 and 2016, he said.
He added: “We cannot afford to sit on our hands – ministers must act now to tackle the three Cs of congestion, capacity and carbon if we are to have infrastructure fit for the future, supporting economic growth across the country.”
The document warned that "new public transport, cycling and walking infrastructure is vital to tackling urban congestion and promoting healthy growth.”
Cycling UK policy director Roger Geffen told BikeBiz: ”The National Infrastructure Commission rightly calls for more investment in high-quality cycle networks. Investing in more monster motorways would only worsen the congestion and pollution which is throttling our towns and cities. Instead we need a massive shift of transport funding priorities towards simple local solutions.
He added: "Good cycle schemes are an incredibly cost-effective way to deliver clean air, safe streets, people-friendly town-centres and the freedom for young and old alike to get around easily without relying on cars. It's a magic cure for so many ills, and Ministers really need to prescribe it for everyone's benefit."
Air quality across the UK was highlighted as a particular concern, with calls for more investment in public transport and cycling services marked as vital for easing traffic congestion and cutting pollution levels.
A Treasury spokesman said: ”We are investing record amounts in our transport networks to boost capacity, clamp down on congestion and speed up journey times.
"Cutting our carbon footprint is also a key priority, which is why we committed £1bn to bolster the take-up of ultra-low emission vehicles."
Latest Comments
- Cugel 7 min 10 sec ago
The point is that there's no need to create more "infrastructure" dedicated to cyclists if the worst and dangerous offenders on the road are...
- stonojnr 23 min 44 sec ago
True, fwiw they're half decent round my neck of the woods, but I appreciate having travelled around the UK via train, it ain't always so good...
- PRSboy 25 min 19 sec ago
"Mitigating on behalf of the defendant, and addressing her failure to stop, Foster’s barrister said: “This is a young woman who was in shock by the...
- Legin 1 hour 11 min ago
The tory party will oppose anything that might restrict their tanks rolling at the next election.
- EraserBike 1 hour 17 min ago
I'm sure this (and other 3D printed models) are made where labour costs are cheap also. Nobody is making these in Europe. There's only so much ...
- mdavidford 1 hour 42 min ago
Especially since the similarly priced Tickr X did have that functionality.
- anke2 2 hours 22 min ago
CX is brutal in terms of forces acting on the chain. A single, technical kick at 40 RPM by Iserbyt with a small chainwheel might put more load on...
- Andrewbanshee 2 hours 59 min ago
I experience this quite often when out running. I follow the guidelines, running towards traffic and keep hard right. I am very visible too but...
- mctrials23 3 hours 13 min ago
Not enough to warrant having the role exist at all would be my guess.
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22 comments
it should have ads with "if you drive like a cunt, then bubba is gonna use your asshole as a cunt, drive safely"
Capture.JPG
The report created in the early 60s suggested cycling improvements to reduce congestion.
Of course the government of the time never followed it through, and they also axed rural railway lines etc despite clear conflict of interests.
Even if the report and evidence is conclusive, I would rather trust Sweeney Todd to trim my beard than trust the government to implement it.
One way lanes for motorised vehicles into and out of towns and cities, the other lane for people on bikes in both directions, priority for turning for people on bikes at all junctions with lots of paint and back up of law would transform the UK literally overnight into a place people could feel safe to cycle everywhere.
also removing free parking of any sort in town and city centres, except for Friday after 7pm forcing large supermarkets whether in town or on the outslirts to have bicycle parking that is secure and covered, afterall most big chains can afford to cover their trolleys and tarmac acres of land for motors so there are no excuses.
Outside of towns and cities we could give motorists special lanes that they have to use no matter if they don't go where you want all the time and take you the long way round, let's call them motorways.
Simply put we have to making getting around by motor vehicle as difficult as possible, restrict use in towns and cities massively with really only the disabled having access at all times.
Monumental change needs to happen and happen fast, waffling about small changes doesn't solve shit.
You could go further in any area with a grid pattern, alternate streets for cycles and cars. Half the space available to motor transport and create sade routes for active travel at a stroke. But you also need to get to the towns and thay is a lot harder.
It's more than just cycling infrastructure. 20 years ago I could cycle the 1.5 miles from my house to the town centre mostly on a segregated cycle path and do most of my shopping. The town centre had greengrocers, butchers, Halfords, Currys, etc. Today there are more cycle paths, but the town centre is mostly coffee shops, charity shops, bookies and phone shops. The shops I used to visit have moved to out-of-town centres with no cycle parking and accessed via dual carriageways and a million roundabouts. Even if there were cycle paths I'd have to cycle about 25 miles to do the same shopping that I did 20 years ago.
Sure. Better infrastructure would be great. But it will take a long time to build and cost a lot of money. My point was more that there are plenty of other things that can be done for little or no cost, which haven't been done, and won't be, because deep down, the politicians are too short-sighted, too scared of Mail headlines and too in thrall to the motoring lobby.
Of course you're right.
I can't remember seeing so many social and political ducks lined up, ready for a single solution to be blasted at them, as there are now, with 'more cycling'. And ministers are either not seeing that, or wilfully ignoring it.
We shouldn't be surprised. There are any number of social problems with glaringly obvious solutions that are ignored or made worse by changes that purport to solve them. The current housing situation is one obvious example I can think of. Created entirely by government policy and continually made worse by government policy that is supposed to fix it. Thinking about it, when you have an entire generation screaming for something to be done about housing and mostly ignored, why are we surprised that a few people who ride bikes get the same treatment? Depressing.
it seems a very similar case to that of smoking
it used to be that tobacco advertising was everywhere, and the money that went with it also contributed substantially to both the political parties and the economy
the turnaround that now makes smoking seem a bit shameful and embarrassing was quite phenomenal, and I don't know the figures, but I imagine the government/economy must've taken quite a hit
this strategy has been proven to be effective, so I think it should be applied in this case too
There are plenty of things they could do at the stroke of a pen that don't involve lengthy infrastructure builds.
- No VAT on bikes. Put a threshold on it if worried about just making stuff cheaper for "wealthy MAMILs".
- Presumed liability and suitable sentences for shitty driving that injures/kills cyclists. Most people who don't cycle say it's because the roads aren't safe. You don't need infrastructure to make the roads safer; better attitudes would go a long way, as would banning lorries from entering city centres during peak times.
- Legislation to oblige companies to provide secure cycle parking and somewhere to get showered, at a suitable ratio for the number of people they employ.
Let's also be honest with ourselves as a country - the reason most people jump in a car rather than hop on a bike is because they're lazy. Driving a car in London is a miserable experience at the best of times, yet I cycle past thousands of people sitting in queuing traffic every day, going nowhere fast. I don't know how they can stand driving in rush hour, to be honest. But stand it they do; if being that miserable and progressing that slowly won't get them out of their cars, I don't know what will.
I think you had it earlier in your post: presumed liability.
Every now and then I drive into work, and I remember one day there were two real whammies of news stories in the morning. IIRC four studies had been published around the same time (something like 6 million people don't even get 10 mins exercise per month, 40,000 people die prematurely due to air pollution, regular exercise adds years in terms of quality of life, and people lose years to traffic jams) - real 'no shit, sherlock' stuff, but two were published on the same day, and made the morning's headlines, and I listened to them on my car radio as I queued and looked around at all the other single-occupant cars, and was happy that I'd be on my bike again the next day.
No matter how much the dots are drawn and joined for them, no matter how unsustainable car transport is, no matter how much others might be 'nudged' by C2W or whatever, no matter how much people are told that they're killing themselves and wasting their lives and killing their kids and costing the NHS, the vast majority are incapable of synchronising their priorities with those of society.
We need to redraw the road hierarchy with pedestrians at the top of the tree, bikes next, and fatties who jump in their car to drop their kids in the classroom or collect a takeaway firmly at the bottom, with them subsidising the healthy and socially acceptable choices that the others are making.
people I’ve talked to who drive everywhere love being in their personal space. For some people it is precious, rare time on their own in a world that is not family, and not work, but a strange kind of freedom. There was a very good film a few years which explored some of this, ‘L’Emploi du temps’ / ‘Time Out’ by Laurent Cantet. It’s very difficult Ibyhink to overcome this attitude, even though that bike commute can be, and is, also precious time.
it’s also necessary to overcome the macho / materialistic aspect of car use and ownership. I've watched young men in ridiculously expensive flash cars driving like lords, and women too. I imagine most of us have been there, young, free, driving like a nutter. It was great. Hard to get past that.
Personally, I value my head space when I'm riding or running, or walking, more than when I'm driving, but yes - I think I understand. I remember when a car did represent freedom to me, but I think even then the idea and reality were pretty separate. And I think the selling of that expectation of freedom and the open road goes back to srchar's point about the power of the car lobby (and we're both relatively petrolheady, judging by the car thread).
I'd love car adverts to be tempered with a dose of reality:
for the relatively minute period of its life that you will actually use this Peugeot shitmobile, it will be largely to sit in traffic watching a VW belch fumes at you, not to drive routefucking66 or hit the Hawaii surf with your mates. Here's Sian with the weather.
... and a health warning. Maybe new cars should come wrapped in emphysema lung paper. If it's good enough for cigarettes...
Maybe even just a little bit of blurb like they have at the end of any ads for credit. You know, the breathless 5 seconds of chat along the lines of "introductory offer APR 4% rises to 33% APR after 2 years your home is at risk if you do not keep up repayments on your loan Swindle Loans ltd underwritten by FO Bank". How about car ads have "average speed of traffic in cities 9mph, dropping much lower during peak times, if you actually want to enjoy driving, like the man in this ad, book a track day" tagged on the end of them?
I'd quite like a jersey with the following text on the back:
"My average speed 18mph
Your average speed 9mph
Be patient"
Adverts for medicines are all over Californian telly, and they're more disclaimer than content. 5 seconds of showing an 'older' couple walking along the beach; 25 seconds of someone speedtalking about how viagra and getting jiggy could kill you and it'd really be your own fault, you dirty old perv, and you should be getting checked out by a doctor at your age, sir.
I used to think moves like this would help but now believe well-meaning incentives like cycle-to-work schemes, showers at work, etc are all utterly pointless. People (normal people, not the cyclists who frequent this site) are shit scared of cycling on the roads, or letting their loved ones cycle on the roads.
The roads have to be tackled. Infrastructure is the only answer. High quality, segregated, joined-up, well maintained, infrastructure with priority over side roads. It's the only thing which works.
If you have doubt it, pop to Holland. If you haven't time to go there, have a quick read: https://robertweetman.wordpress.com/2017/10/12/what-nobody-told-me-1/
No no no. We've been told that cycle lanes cause congestion.
/sarcasm
"ministers must act now to tackle the three Cs..."
he forgot to mention the fourth C***.
Milord Adonis can't make up his mind whether he's one of the good guys or one of the bad guys. Nice to see him on the side of the angels today.
Sadly I think Sir Humphrey's reply means "Fuck off, we're spendng all the money on cars, and signposts with LEZ written on them".
Knocking Adonis because he's changed is rather counter productive, surely we should be welcoming the sinner reformed?
What got me was the brush off from the Treasury:
"We are investing record amounts in our transport networks to boost capacity, clamp down on congestion and speed up journey times.
"Cutting our carbon footprint is also a key priority, which is why we committed £1bn to bolster the take-up of ultra-low emission vehicles."
So they have no intention whatsoever of implementing anything in this report, and will continue business as usual, with all the money going to massive ego schemes, HS2 etc, and building more roads for the low emission vehicles, and if cycling and walking get a crumb they should be grateful.
Funny how the Treasury is so unwilling to invest in high return projects but showers money on schemes with no economic case, it's almost as if they have some hidden agenda.
Never mind, even the Treasury has enough brain cells to realise that income from the tax on fuel will plummet if electric vehicles really become popular, so they'll start taxing power for cars.
Don't get excited - there's no hope of it all getting resolved before at least Tuesday week...
That would be Lord "if there is a cycle path then cyclists should be forced to use it so as to clear up space on the real roads " Adonis?
No.... Surely Lord "HS2" Adonis...?
Or maybe the other one: Lord "When I suggested tuition fees I didn't think everyone would charge them, and now it's obvious what an awful idea it was, I want to blame unintended consequences" Adonis...?
I heard a rumour about Lord "Britain would be a better place if I fucked off and left it alone, wouldn't it?" Adonis, but I don't think that one really exists.