Grant Shapps backtracks on cycling and walking pledge

What an arsewipe.

Several factors come together: most people will never cycle unless they're forced to. They will have numerous excuses, about messing up their hair, or being sweaty, or shopping, or having to take children a mile to school etc. When it comes down to it, they may claim they would cycle, but never actually will. Even fewer people will cycle when it becomes wet, cold and dark, and that's even before these factors increase the danger. Then when you add in the attitude of the givernment, which is that they encourage cycling as long at it does not inconvenience the sacred motorists, and the attitude of the police which is that close-passing does not exist unless there's a lot of blood on the road, and that cyclists are 'more trouble than they're worth', and the present worsening situation is inevitable. It can only be improved by by a serious pro-cycling stance by the government and police and CPS and courts, as opposed to punishing the people who continue cycling through rain, shine, dark and frost for the perception that there aren't enough of them to deserve a pro-cycling policy. It's not our fault, honest!

Useless government performs another U-turn, except this time it was after initially getting the decision right 🤦🏼‍♂️
If you make alternative methods of transport more attractive people will drive less... And if you make driving more appealing there will be more traffic.

It is disappointing to see that Schapps is blaming traffic on cycle lanes when the reality is cars cause traffic.

But he has a point about poorly implemented schemes. We have often laughed (despairingly) at crap cycle lanes, and although there has been some good infrastructure installed, a lot has been poorly thought through.

For example, in Greenwich centre the council widened the pavement using plastic barriers in the road, which made it harder to drive and cycle, whilst also preventing pedestrians crossing the road (and somehow managed to spend well over £100k doing so).

Proper consultation is also required for LTNs as otherwise you risk unintended consequences and a lot of local push back, which can undermine the whole scheme (although I appreciate that there will always be some push back).

I live and work in the part of Hertfordshire for which the Schapps is local MP.  Welwyn village gets 1 way system and greater, protected space for residents to active travel to the local shops.  Shop keepers complain (inc fancy dress store which cited the measures as killer business - nothing to do with Covid stopping parties), council hold firm, Schapps intercedes and tells council to remove measures - measures removed.  The man is an utter cock-wobble.

“We are not prepared to tolerate hastily introduced schemes,......"

Wow!  This from the government which demanded, encouraged and funded hastily introduced schemes.  Hypocrisy doesn't cover it any more; what word could possibly sum up the utter clusterf**k that is this government.

What we need is for the government to make a legally binding commitment to active travel. Oh hang on that wouldn't work either.

Typical weak and wobbly gonvernment. The current government transport advice for  a Tier 1 areas is "You should aim to walk or cycle if you can". This is taken from the .gov website and surely that's the message that he should be sending. No wonder nobody cares what they say any more.

We know some people are obsessed with cars and driving. It's not surprising they criticise steps to improve conditions for active travel.

Shapps needed to show some courage, and stick to his guns. Instead, he comes across as spineless.

Well, who would have guessed. 

the emergency funding was supposed to encourage people returning to their jobs following lockdown to walk or cycle to their workplaces

Do they literally expect people to start cycling to work instead of driving? Just how exactly does the world look like from inside the heads of the people that come up with these ideas?

For example from inside my head when I look at a cloud, I see a white fluffy looking thing up in the sky. They must see pokemon or spare parts for a lotus cortina or somethin really fucked up.

Drivers cycling to work, REALLY!?

Dis-benefits to other road users.

I love the smell of noxious gases in the morning. It's the smell of victory.

in case anyone is counting, I make that at least the 16th article since July that the Telegraph have run that directly criticises the scheme.

Carlton Reid picked up on this earlier in a Forbes article.

The Telegraph article has cherry-picked Shapps' letter to give an anti-cycling bias although, having seen the full letter even Carlton is questioning where Shapps' clear messaging on the shift away from car dependency from earlier in the year has gone.

Ah well...