Bike blog | The Guardian – Tagged "Environment" – Page 15

Cycling, Environment, Life and style, Politics, Robert Winston, Science - March 18, 2019

Should cyclists be licensed and insured?

Labour peer Robert Winston has asked about regulating cyclists. An imagined transport minister responds

On Monday, the scientist and Labour peer Robert Winston is to formally ask a question in the House of Lords about what assessments ministers have made “for requiring adults riding bicycles in city centres to have a licence and third-party insurance”.

Below is the entirely imagined response I would like the government to make to him.

How to get more women cycling in cities

To cut greenhouse gas emissions we need to increase cyclist numbers and that means getting more women on their bikes

So much of the world around us is designed for men; from the mundane (public toilets and smartphones) to the potentially deadly (stab vests and crash test dummies). My own research, recently launched at the C40 Women4Climate conference, revealed similar trends in how we design cities and formulate transport policy, with devastating consequences.

Transportation accounts for up to one-third of greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s biggest cities and traffic is the largest source of toxic air pollution. To create sustainable, healthy and liveable cities, we need to increase the number of cyclists on our streets, and that means getting more women on their bikes. In San Francisco, only 29% of cyclists are women; in Barcelona, there are three male cyclists for every female cyclist; in London, 37% of cyclists are female.

London’s cycle network overhaul has come to a standstill

Sadiq Khan’s claims to have built 140km of cycling infrastructure are simply false

Among the more amusing frauds of the energy company Enron was the time, in 1998, when it decided to create an entire fake trading floor at its Texas HQ – complete with TVs, computers, and shirtsleeved guys shouting down phones – to fool Wall Street analysts visiting for its annual general meeting.

Now, however, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, appears to be aiming for something even more ambitious – an entire fake cycle network. I am in south-west London, in an alley about six feet wide, wedged between a railway line and the back garden fences of Southdown Road. According to Khan, this is the Wimbledon to Raynes Park Quietway, part of the 140km of cycle infrastructure, which he claims to have built since taking office.

Bike theft affects the young and poor most – why is it not taken seriously?

National cycle crime strategy set to launch after survey finds 50% of victims feel police don’t take the offence seriously

For many people a bicycle is the only transport they can afford and the only exercise they get. These people are often among society’s most vulnerable, and the impact of the loss of their bike can be devastating. So why is cycle theft so often seen as a minor crime?

According to the police, 96,210 bikes were stolen in 2018, and about one in 50 bicycle-owning households are victims of cycle theft each year, but it’s a crime disproportionately visited on the young and the poor.

'We need more people to go by bike': meet Amsterdam's nine-year-old junior cycle mayor

As the world’s first junior cycle mayor, Lotta Crok wants to draw attention to the obstacles kids on bikes face – and inspire other children to cycle

During Amsterdam’s chaotic rush hour, nine-year-old Lotta Crok cycles to a very busy junction. “Look,” she says. “There’s traffic coming from everywhere. Four trams from four different directions. For a child on a bike that’s really confusing!”

Lotta is the first junior cycle mayor in the world and her working area is the Dutch capital. It is her mission to inspire children to cycle every day and draw attention to the obstacles that kids on bikes are facing.

A city that’s good for an eight-year-old is also good for an 88-year-old

Read more

Environment RSS

Should cyclists be licensed and insured?

How to get more women cycling in cities

London’s cycle network overhaul has come to a standstill

Bike theft affects the young and poor most – why is it not taken seriously?

'We need more people to go by bike': meet Amsterdam's nine-year-old junior cycle mayor

Tags