Sassy traffic report warns of major delays...or six-minute cycle; Jeremy Vine spots Uber driver taking bike lane shortcut; Eating with tyre levers; Cycle path news; Josh Quigley fan club; Tony Martin bags fifth world title + more on the live blog

There are plenty of great female riders. But to become a professional, they need someone to pay them. At least with Bennett's withdrawal from the Worlds, Lefevre can return to bitching about his employees.

Buses are infrequent and not much use if you want to cross Bristol. Trains are pretty similar and traffic in central Bristol is extremely congested.

I was looking more stuff like the buses only run every hour, you need to take 3 buses to get to the city centre,it costs more than it costs to park,they take twice as long because of the routes they take, they arent reliable on route times, dont run after 6pm. Those kinds of things that make public transport impractical as a choice.

Sorry, I rarely get buses despite having a bus stop 2 minutes from my house which goes directly to the centre. I just walk or cycle instead (40 minute walk to the centre).

Dont apologise, I just wanted to understand the issue in abit more detail

I struggle to get 35s in an Hitachi hook.

Also no easy way to get your bike out if you're on the innermost hook and someone uses the outer hook.

Plus you have to book these superb 'facilities' in advance.

Anyone would think they simply didn't want bikes on their trains...

Oh, you old cynic, you!

I'm suprised the @roadcc folks haven't picked this one up.  Does seem there's a bit happening - in:

Milton Keynes: https://getaroundmk.org.uk/events/world-car-free-day

Harrow: https://www.harrow.gov.uk/news/article/10980/harrow-gears-up-for-world-car-free-day

London: https://londoncarfreeday.com/

And groups such as:

Living streets: https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/about-us/our-work-in-action/world-car-free-day

Shell oil! (Alright it's their "energy" company but seems legit). Hmm... https://www.shellenergy.co.uk/firsttelecom/the-utility-room/take-part-in-world-car-free-day

If you see a black Prius being driven shockingly badly in London, ten will get you one it's an Uber, but also under local London regs they have to display an Uber sticker in the front and rear windscreens when working.

Ubers are licensed as private hire vehicles, so will definitely have a plate on the back for that. Different councils have different requirements for PHVs, but in many areas they are required to identify the operator. Here in Southampton they have to have a large white sticker on the side of the car.

It is however legal for PHVs to operate in areas other than where they are licensed, and so there are Ubers licensed elsewhere which don't meet the local requirements and it may not be obvious that they are Ubers.

The vast majority of non-Uber PHVs are working for a large local operator and would have some advertising for them even if they're not in an area like Southampton that requires it. If you see an unbranded PHV, it's quite likely to be an Uber.

My wife and I were crossing the road yesterday, on our way back from walking the dog in the park. We had to jump out of the way of a white Prius Uber being driven on the wrong side of the road as the driver jumped a queue at a set of of traffic lights. He went round two traffic islands on the wrong side of the road before making a right turn. I wish I'd stopped and taken a photo of his reg plate now. It would've been more amusing still if I'd waited long enough for the traffic coming in the other direction to face the driver head on. That would've made for an interesting roadside discussion.

Kendalred wrote:

Taxi/Uber driver being a complete dick shocker! 

I presume the inscrutable Mr Vine will be reporting this dangerous nobhead?

He tagged Uber in the tweet - that might be the most effective form of reporting, if they bin the driver off the app (and they've been known to do that with much less cause).

Fursty Ferret wrote:

When I rule the world, riding lost distances on a warm day and then taking the train home will be banned unless the rider also has a change of clothes and some wet-wipes with them. 

What does "riding lost distances" mean?

When he rules the world it will mean whatever the hell he wants it to mean!

Typo. Riding *long* distances. Would have thought it was obvious?

If anyone has a journey which averages less than 10 miles per hour, it would likely be quicker and cheaper by bike, or e bike, I guess the problem is when people have driven 20 miles in half an hour to the edge of the city, then join the traffic, and I'm not sure the solution is building huge car parks around the edge of the city where people can park and then cycle the rest.

Maybe we shouldn't be building new car parks but we should definitely be making use of existing ones.

Most cities have stadiums or shopping centres on the outskirts which could be used for parking in the week allowing people to cycle the remainder of the way.

A bit of revenue for the owner of the car park, exercise and time saved for the commuter.

Win, win?

Many towns and cities have Park and Ride, just make it Park and Cycle.

Have been tempted in Cambridge before now.  Plenty of P&R and the car parking is free (as they expect you to pay for the bus).

However I long ago worked out that P&R becomes expensive when the number of occupants increases so family/group of 4 will cost £10+ to effectivly park (4 bus fares) yet I can park in the City centre for less for a couple of hours.  So for your averyage Saturday shoppers it is not always cost effective and even I will sit in the queues to park in the centre is I have a car full.

Ipswich has one of those http://www.suffolkonboard.com/cycle/Martlesham-park-cycle/ you have to apply for a free cycle locker to leave your bike overnight and I'm not sure how secure it would be even if Suffolk police HQ is notionally a neighbour.

In theory a good idea but in practice the scheme breaks down because the routes into Ipswich from there aren't that good or safe to ride on the road and there isn't anything approaching safe secure bike parking in the town, so unless you are commuting and your office has its own storage facilities, its a non starter really.

Plus I'd say 30minutes, even if their 10.7mph average speed calc is slow for an average cyclist, its beyond the tipping point of most people's just hop in the car reaction to it, and its slower than the park & ride bus,though regular buses often take twice as long on a similar route.

It's barely been advertised/promoted either so I suspect uptake has been minimal.

DoomeFrog wrote:

P&R becomes expensive when the number of occupants increases so family/group of 4 will cost £10+ to effectivly park (4 bus fares) yet I can park in the City centre for less for a couple of hours.  So for your averyage Saturday shoppers it is not always cost effective and even I will sit in the queues to park in the centre is I have a car full.

And the externalised costs of driving are hidden and subsidised for drivers, whereas the costs of bus or tram into the city centre a usually paid by the passengers. For mass public transport, it isn't a level playing field at all.

I am surprised that people need to travel in to a city centre from outside for the weekly shop (as a whole family).  But then I don't know Cambridge.  If it's for more occasional, disrectionary spend like clothing or entertainment, is it so frequent that the convenience of P&R is outweighed by the cost?