Bike blog | The Guardian – Page 17

Cycling, Environment, Life and style, Police, Transport, UK news - May 9, 2019

The UK's feral roads deter cycling – we need enforcement, not calls for respect

Our public space is increasingly out of reach for all but the fit, the brave, and those in motor vehicles

Almost 90% of cyclists experience a “close pass” – an overtake within 1.5m – at least weekly, and 70% say conditions on Britain’s roads haven’t improved in the last five years, according to a new damning survey from British Cycling.

Of 15,000 respondents, 66% said they were concerned about their safety while cycling on Britain’s roads, and almost 40% said they experienced a close pass daily.

If you build them, they will come: record year for cycle counters

New superhighways and better networks are helping cycle lane usage boom across the UK

Cycle lanes are one of the most efficient and healthiest ways of moving people. A single bike lane can transport five times as many people as a motor traffic lane, without the air and noise pollution. This is good news for everyone, whether you drive, walk or cycle – or breathe.

What’s clear from the data, though – despite occasional bizarre claims to the contrary, and attempts to have lanes removed – is that to reap cycling’s benefits you have to build proper infrastructure. But if you build it, they will come – and the cycle counters prove it.

Read more

Cycling, Environment, Life and style - April 2, 2019

Should we stop using the word ‘cyclist’?

A recent study found many drivers see people who use bikes as less than human. Part of the problem is the language we use

As the repair man rummaged around in my gas oven, I tried to explain something to him about cyclists.

“We ‘cyclists’ are no more a homogenous group than you ‘vannists,’” I said.

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.

Read more

Bike blog | The Guardian RSS

The UK's feral roads deter cycling – we need enforcement, not calls for respect

If you build them, they will come: record year for cycle counters

Should we stop using the word ‘cyclist’?

Should cyclists be licensed and insured?

How to get more women cycling in cities

Tags