BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

LOWERING THE BAR? Are driverless vehicles being allowed to ignore safe driving standards, including stopping in cycle lanes? In the USA at least, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting this might be the case. Advocates in San Francisco say they are routinely pulling into bike lanes, which Waymo denies. One cyclist is suing Waymo for driving into a bike lane to drop off a passenger, who then doored them. While this is new technology, fixing errors that risk safety should surely be a priority.

NYC PAUSES WAYMO TRIAL. In the meantime, New York City has not renewed tech company Waymo’s license to trial the vehicles, which expired at the beginning of April. The city’s democratic socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, underlined that his city government was “committed to delivering for the workers that keep the city running…” including its taxi drivers. This is perhaps a jab at tech companies Uber and Lyft, which have in the past used loopholes to avoid paying its drivers the minimum wage.

WAYMO DRIVER PLOUGHS INTO CRIME SCENE. In another malfunction, a Waymo taxi was filmed driving straight through police tape at a crime scene in north London, late last month. The vehicle was apparently in manual mode at the time, i.e. a driver should have been in full control. The driver reversed out of the cordon after ‘a brief interaction’ with police officers, according to Waymo, who claimed had it been in autonomous mode it wouldn’t have happened. Which you can choose to believe or not. The robotaxis are set to be rolled out in London in September.

CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO STREETS. Our latest Streets Ahead episode features childhood advocates Tim Gill and Alice Ferguson, and their battle cry for children’s access to streets. After decades of warm words on improving childhood mobility close to home, too little has been done, they say. Their new report underlines that the dominance of motor traffic, and the risks it poses has eroded the ability for children to access their neighbourhoods. The stark implications for child health and wellbeing are well-known. What will end this century-long pandemic, as Gill puts it - and why haven’t we acted on the clear evidence of harm?

CAN THE US EMBRACE PUBLIC TRANSPORT? Cycling and public transport should go together like toast and butter. It’s no coincidence the world’s most cyclable places also prioritise public transport: see Paris, London, Helsinki, Ghent. In the US, a recent report found that it would take $4.6tn to bring the nation’s bus and rail services up to world-class levels. Aside from a few exceptions, new developments tend not to include non-car transport options. With global urban populations booming, and recent oil price shocks underlining the fragility of car-dependent urban planning, resilient multi-modal transport systems are essential.

OTHER HEADLINES

WHAT OF BIRMINGHAM’S ROAD SAFETY CONSENSUS? Why did Birmingham’s politicians recently disagree on the need for slower traffic speeds? 20mph has been a local Labour policy goal since 2012. The city administration declared a road safety emergency last year, after 80% of casualties were recorded on roads with a 30mph limit. As recently as 2024, the council asked the Department of Transport for permission to apply cost-saving signage for a default 20mph on residential streets. As I mentioned last week, that all changed at a recent hustings, when politicians failed to back 20mph. The evidence is clear: 20mph saves lives, cuts insurance premiums, helps boost walking and cycling, and people support it. Somehow that’s all been forgotten with local elections looming.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: Again, for those at the back: how 20mph reduced road casualties in Wales, vs England and Scotland. Source: https://research.senedd.wales/research-articles/what-impact-has-20mph-had-on-road-safety-in-wales/

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Balancing the needs of all users? Mark Philpotts, aka Ranty Highwayman, says this phrase sends shivers down his spine, as it usually means motor vehicle movements are prioritised. I agree. What we need instead, he argues, are minimum levels of service for those at the top of the transport hierarchy, i.e., walking and cycling - with parking for private vehicles considered last.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

CAR DEPENDENCY: MAPPED. People can access opportunities when they are close, and easy to get to. And while globally, car-centric design has improved access for some, it has bred car dependency - negatively impacting communities, particularly those on the lowest incomes. A study of travel times in European and American cities concludes that, for most, the car is still the quickest way of getting around. Only in Paris and Zurich is it easier to get around by public transport than by car. In Australia, meanwhile, the similar ‘Vampire index’ underscores the cost of car-centric neighbourhoods for residents as fuel prices remain high. Making walking, cycling and public transport more favourable takes strategic planning, it says.

SPEAKING OF PROXIMITY. A new paper by the father of the 15-minute city, Prof. Carlos Morenos, talks about the power of proximity in a new way. What he calls ‘proxilience’ is a hybrid of proximity and resilience, the idea that by having daily needs within a reasonable distance in cities, those cities are more resilient. This can be achieved by using buildings as multi-purpose shared - and flexible - space, allowing for adaptation over time. By having our needs within easy reach, of course, we can reduce the environmental impact of cities, improving their economies and the experience of living within them.

THE REAL URBAN CONSPIRACY? 15-minute cities don’t trap people in their homes - they make walking and cycling a realistic option. This Streetsblog piece argues that the real trap is car-dependency. The ‘hyperproximity’ pledge of Paris’ new mayor, who wants a 15-minute city, it says, mirrors how cities were originally planned: services accessible within walking distance. Today’s cities too often have hour-long commutes stuck in traffic. The piece thankfully stops short of claiming this is a coordinated attack on our freedoms, but it does underline that we pay for this model in our health and climate - and that plenty of money is being made in the car and roadbuilding sectors as a result.

CYCLING AND AGE. Just a thoroughly enjoyable piece written by cycling journalist Nick Christian, celebrating - and defending - the popularity of cycling among those of a certain age. While our performance may decline in other sports, he argues, with cycling it’s possible to remain fairly competitive far later in life. Not that cycling needs to be competitive of course - but it also means you can enjoy it and keep riding fairly long distances, should you wish, well into older age.

AHEAD OF THE KERB? ‘Current parking policy in Scotland imposes avoidable costs on public health, the environment and housing affordability, while reinforcing patterns of car dependency’. That’s the assertion of a new report, Beyond the Kerb. Written by active and public transport campaign group, Transform Scotland, it asserts that the harm of parking Scotland’s 2.6 million cars can be reversed - not least that caused by the growth in SUVs. With one in four Scots having no access to a car there’s a case to be made. It highlights best-practice solutions, including Scotland’s pavement parking ban, Lambeth’s kerbside strategy in London, parking charges by size and weight in Europe, and Nottingham’s workplace parking levy.

OTHER HEADLINES

NO COURAGE FOR BRUM 20MPH. It was disappointing this week to see the lack of political will now in Birmingham for safer streets. Only one candidate (after quite a pause) backed 20mph limits on residential streets. This is perplexing because it’s been Birmingham Labour policy since 2012, data shows 20mph has cut serious injuries by 8-17% and the city declared a road safety emergency. You can’t tackle road danger without tackling speed in residential areas - and 20mph is popular with residents.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: The balance of car-dependency in European and American cities. Blue means it’s easier to get around by public transport, red is by car, and white is neutral. Key public transport corridors are clearly visible in Milan, Stockholm, Vienna, Berlin, etc., but otherwise cars win out. Source: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.01019

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Car dependency index. The extent to which residents in a given area are dependent on cars. This is a useful metric as it makes it possible to map places that are better or worse for non-car transport options - and hopefully allow for targeted solutions.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, speciali

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

WALKING AND CYCLING REPLACE CAR TRIPS. As fuel prices rise, so does active travel, but women could be left behind, according to research by Cycling UK. In a YouGov survey of more than 2000 adults, almost 30% of drivers are walking or cycling more - and 15% more are considering it. However, more women than men are considering cutting back on leisure activities or trips to green space. Most stark is the fact 7% of women had bought a new bike in response to fuel prices vs 13% of men. Cycling UK says financial support to buy bikes, as well as safer roads and tax incentives are needed to correct this inequality.

HOW TO GET RIDING AGAIN. This thoughtful piece - one of a growing number to help people get back on a bike as fuel costs rise - tackles motivational issues and the kinds of thoughts that might deter someone from getting on a bike. Tips include cycling part of the journey, rather than all the way; storing the bike somewhere accessible at home; and forgetting preconceptions of what a ‘proper cyclist’ might be. It also suggests online maintenance videos to help keep maintenance costs down. The links relate to Australia but the template is a good one.

LONDON’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL STREET? If a brief video about the history of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods sounds like your bag, well, you’re in luck. The title is grabby but, luckily, the content is also good. Its presenter, Evan Edinger, looks at the recent Tower Hamlets LTN court battle through a wider lens. He pans back as far as the 1970s where nearby De Beauvoir town in Hackney was similarly ‘filtered’ to through running traffic after drivers hit a lollipop lady and a child, sparking protests. As with today’s measures, collisions dropped dramatically. Improvements, however, aren’t a guarantee of a scheme’s safety. Today’s communities sometimes have to fight for change, just like those in the 1970s. Worth a watch.

A TALE OF FOUR CITIES. Research looked at cycling in London, Berlin, Paris and New York, pre and post-Pandemic. All four cities initiated COVID-era cycling infrastructure, and have continued expanding cycle networks since. All four differ in density, climate and makeup and car-ownership status of residents. As a result, their cycling outcomes differ. Cycling rates rose most dramatically in Berlin over the period, with Paris second - and while safety improved in Paris and Berlin, post-pandemic, in New York and London it stagnated. The report authors note cycling improvements haven’t been felt evenly, with inequalities on access persisting - and there’s gaps in the networks. There’s also the risk of political shifts that reverse support for active travel, as in Berlin where speed limit reductions have been reversed, post-pandemic.

SPEEDING = FINES. It may seem obvious in the road safety community, but more drivers speeding would tend to mean more drivers being penalised for speeding. It’s worth pointing out, though, that countering the ‘cash cow drivers’ narrative often surrounding speed limit enforcement. The BBC’s Holly Hamilton has done just that, via FOI data obtained by IAM RoadSmart around speeding-related penalty points. This data suggests people are breaking speed limits more regularly, while camera technology has improved detection.

OTHER HEADLINES

NOTTINGHAM’S NEW BRIDGE OPENS SOON. A new walking and cycling bridge connecting Trent Basin and Lady Bay in Nottingham will open to the public on 2 June. Bridges are crucial for local active journeys, saving people potentially miles of detours, and hills. As mentioned in November (#188), the bridge will connect a regenerating Trent Basin area, with its new homes and schools, and the Lady Bay/West Bridgford area with their sports facilities, including Trent Bridge cricket ground. Local people, including cycle campaigners, Pedals, have been asking for the bridge for the past 12 years, apparently. The new bridge will connect to local cycle networks and the NCN.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: Cycling growth in four major cities, pre- and post-Covid. Those who invest in routes reap the cycling rewards. Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/15568318.2026.2649315?needAccess=true

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Stopping distances. Slower speeds reduce the kinetic energy of a vehicle, in a collision, increasing survival rates. However, they also reduce stopping distances, reducing the likelihood of collision in the first place. At 30mph, it takes around 11m longer for a driver to stop - around three car lengths - than at 20mph.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

CYCLING BACK IN THE HEADLINES. Australia is one of the most car-dependent nations on Planet Earth. In this Guardian Australia piece, readers are reminded of the power of their bicycles to ditch the car, save them money and bring the joy back to everyday journeys. Alan Vaarwerk offers some helpful tips on bringing a bicycle back into service - as well as how to find routes, build confidence and even meet other riders in your area. Latest calculations are, an e-bike is 140 times cheaper per mile than a petrol or diesel car.

AND IN COUNCILLORS’ INBOXES? Local people should not be the ones delivering safe cycling and walking routes - after all, it wouldn’t happen for road or rail infrastructure - but this is the situation we find ourselves in. My podcast co-host, Laura Laker, has produced a helpful campaigners’ toolkit, sharing some of the expertise of successful rural campaign groups. She also reveals that landowners are holding up around 300 miles of community-driven path campaigns, and 117 miles of council paths, preventing delivery of safe alternatives to driving.

A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR. I’m pleased to say that my agency Fusion has been appointed by Active Travel England to support the delivery of their Making Active Places Conference, which will take place on 22nd and 23rd September in Manchester. This is exactly the kind of work that sits at the heart of what we do as the Agency For Movers.

Bringing together the people shaping how our towns and cities move, the conference is an opportunity to turn ambition into action — and to make active travel a practical, everyday reality. Fusion will lead conference management, delegate experience and commercial partnerships. If your organisation is interested in exhibiting at the conference or sponsorship opportunities, do get in touch.

CYCLING AS A STRATEGIC TOURISM SECTOR. The European Cyclists’ Federation has seen cycle tourism included as a strategic sector in Europe’s Sustainable Tourism Strategy. This means the iconic Eurovelo routes are recognised - along with the need to improve and enhance them for local communities, sustainable travel and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Plus, of course, boosting cycle tourism numbers. Leisure is the biggest reason for making a journey here in the UK, too - above commuting - and cycle tourism is worth hundreds of millions of pounds. With the cost of flights increasing we might be wise to promote cycle tourism too.

WALKING AND CYCLING AS FRIENDS. Tensions between pedestrians and cyclists are not inherent to walking and cycling, but the product of street design. That’s what the author of a brand-new report: Cycling and the Relationship With Pedestrians, has said. With the bulk of streetspace allocated to motor vehicles, Alan Raposo says, everyone else is forced to share the remaining space, often on pavements. Even if physical conflict happens rarely, this setup undermines public perceptions of cyclists, who are seen as risks to pedestrians in shared space. The solution is to treat active travel - both walking and cycling - as proper transport, and not an afterthought. And keep pavements for pedestrians, ideally.

BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED RAILWAY. Work is underway on a new HS2 walking and cycling bridge in Warwickshire. Local connections and crossings in and around railway lines and roads are essential if communities are to have decent transport choices - so it’s great to see this being delivered in and around the HS2 line. A new bridge at Cambridge’s Waterbeach development officially opens next month, too - crossing the busy A10, traffic-free. The easier, and better connected a community is by walking and cycling networks, the more likely people are to use them.

OTHER HEADLINES

STORYTELLING AS A TOOL. Cycling can change lives - from improving health, to saving money, to making everyday trips more enjoyable, there are almost as many stories as there are bicycles. For a bit of inspiration, and knowing the power of storytelling to make change, the social media account, American Fietser, has asked people for their stories. From saving money to finding a community, to joyful school runs, to mental and physical health benefits, it’s all there.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: A diverse transport system is a resilient one. While there are pockets of good cycling, walking and public transport investment, elsewhere there’s little escaping car dependency, and with it the impact of fuel prices. The recent Better Connected transport strategy should help more people take public transport, but the promised change is urgently needed. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ywpv1d4geo

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Connectivity. A bit of a buzzword, as the UK government starts to try to knit together means of non-car transport. It even launched ‘connectivity metrics’ last year. This describes how easy it is for someone to reach employment, services and social engagements - and includes walking, cycling and public transport - not just driving.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

It also empowers local leaders to deliver - see the Peak District’s ‘Mini Switzerland’ public transport connection project. Meanwhile, there are valid questions around how we tackle drivers who kill, and the thinking underlying light sentencing.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

GOOD NEWS FOR WALKING. The Government has confirmed in its new “Better Connected” strategy that it will enable new simplified zebra crossings. These ‘side road zebras’ look like their more common relatives, only without the expensive flashing Belisha Beacons. Campaigners have, for years, advocated for this change. Motor traffic danger - much of it very short car trips - stops children travelling independently, and road crossings are a key danger point. By enforcing the priority already given in the Highway Code to pedestrians crossing side roads, with a simple zebra, walking and wheeling become a viable option for more people.

DRIVING UP CONGESTION? Deep in the Government’s new integrated transport strategy is a truth at odds with the rhetoric you hear in the media: driving a car has gotten cheaper in real terms, while public transport has gotten more expensive. The Government is also clear that this will mean more traffic and more congestion. Since 2006 train fares have increased by 32%, buses by 11% (from a pre-pandemic peak of 18%), while motoring costs have dropped by 4%. In less than a decade, the government predicts, road traffic will expand by 10%.

LTNs ARE POPULAR ACTUALLY. LTNs became a culture-war battleground but the evidence now is that people rather like them, says Times columnist Emma Duncan. LTNs have followed a now-familiar trajectory: from “Nazi experiments” and “climate lockdown” conspiracy theories to… actually quite popular bits of street design. Using Oxford as the case study, the piece cuts through the noise to show what’s really happened: traffic inside neighbourhoods falls sharply, it doesn’t meaningfully flood boundary roads, and the predicted collapse of local businesses never quite materialises. What does happen is quieter streets, safer walking and cycling, and kids playing out again. LTNs have been a useful reminder that if you let culture wars or endless consultation dictate transport policy, you’ll never change anything at all.

ALARM OVER DRIVING STANDARDS. Professor Sally Kyd is a leading expert in driving offences and sentencing. In this Guardian piece she underlines the fundamental flaws in the current system that allows killer drivers to walk away with short sentences and limited driving bans. Even when a driver creates multiple risks (driving under the influence while speeding and using a mobile phone, for example), their behaviour can be classed as ‘careless’, not ‘dangerous’, with lower maximum penalties. Kyd argues the concept fundamental to these offences, of a ‘competent and careful driver’, has no shared meaning, while the standard of driving appears to be falling - thanks in no small part to roads policing cuts. Add to that distracting in-car digital screens, and you’re asking for trouble, she says. Kyd argues to redefine driving offences, re-invest in roads policing and to reframe speed cameras and enforcement as life-saving measures, rather than inconveniences for drivers.

SELF-DRIVING SURGE. If you’re looking to cut congestion, then ushering in vehicles that are, by their nature, constantly circulating on the roads, is a bad idea. CityLab’s David Zipper has warnings, in the face of America’s Autonomous Vehicle (AV) boom (also on the cards here - taxi licensing laws permitting). As Waymo’s and Zoox’s vehicles fill San Francisco streets, trends are emerging. People are willing to pay more to sit in one, i.e., they prefer it; they also mind less if congestion worsens - they aren’t driving. AVs also tempt people from public transport, walking and cycling - replacing them with single-occupancy cars. Last week saw traffic jams in China when 100 AVs malfunctioned en masse. Zipper advocates for road pricing to help prevent this gridlocked future - before it manifests.

OTHER HEADLINES

HOW LONG IS AN ACTIVE SCHOOL TRIP? Research, encompassing data from almost half a million children globally, has established how far children will travel by cycling or walking. Across a number of studies, researchers identified mean walking trips of 1km (14 minutes), and mean cycling journeys of 2.7km (13 minutes). This is useful because it helps establish school journeys that are achievable by active means, and can potentially switch from driving. Of course, distances will differ, family to family, and between contexts (climate, culture, infrastructure) but it’s a useful benchmark.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: Claims there’s a war on drivers fall flat when we remember just how much driving costs all of us. We all subsidise this mode of travel with fuel duty freezes among other things, which is why costs haven’t increased where other transport modes have, and our absolute reliance on cars does more harm than good in congestion, health and the economy. It also leaves us vulnerable to fuel price shocks. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/better-connected-a-strategy-for-integrated-transport

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

“Dangerous” or “Careless” driving? By law, the distinction between careless and dangerous driving is driving that falls either ‘below’, or ‘far below’ the standard of ‘a competent and careful driver’. What competent and careful means, as Prof. Sally Kyd points out this week, is wide open to interpretation and needs clarifying - not least because our ‘motornormativity’ means we accept much riskier behaviour when we are behind the wheel.

Correction: Last week’s deliberate (ahem) April 1 mistake was of an order of magnitude. The London Cycling Campaign’s eagle-eyed Tom Bogdanowicz correctly pointed out that Paris has 1,500 new kilometres of cycle lane since Anne Hidalgo’s inauguration, not 15,000km.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

CASH FOR CYCLING. Building safe routes is essential, but so is helping people use them. Not everyone has the confidence, knowhow or equipment to get on a bike, so community and school cycling programmes are key to unlocking the potential of cycling. That’s why a £100m boost for the Bikeability Trust, Cycling UK’s Big Bike Revival, and Living Streets’ Walk to School Outreach programme, and Modeshift’s STARS programme, among others in England, is a good thing. This multi-year funding will help give the certainty to plan ahead and deliver more, to help more people.

TIME TO EMBRACE GREEN TRANSPORT? With the US and Israel’s war on Iran ongoing, and fuel prices jackknifing wildly, providing alternatives to fossil-fuel based transport seems sensible. Australia is one of the world’s most car-dependent nations, and in its big cities most trips are still driven. Two thirds of Aussies want to cycle more, but access to public transport and safe cycling routes are patchy. Since fuel prices have spiked, however, more people are trying these options. To help, two states have made public transport free and others are reducing its costs. The federal government meanwhile, is doubling down on a clearly volatile resource, by halving fuel duty - while New South Wales sees public transport subsidy a waste of taxpayers’ money. They might all do well to build more cycle routes.

NATIONAL GREENWAY ROUTES FOR AMERICA? A bill to expand federal funding for a national network of greenways is being proposed in the States. If enacted it would kickstart a competitive grant programme to improve or build safe, wheelchair accessible greenway paths across the US. These would be of national or regional significance, while reducing the need for cars by connecting communities with each other, with public transport services and with recreational opportunities. It’s a bold move by nominating Democratic House Representative LaMonica McIver. It reminds me of calls made last year for national network planning in England’s CWIS3 strategy.

CHAPEAU, ANNE HIDALGO. Anne Hidalgo achieved an astonishing amount in her 12 years as Paris’ mayor. Facing down misogyny and outrage over her plans to cut car traffic and reclaim the streets for people and nature, she held firm on her course. Now, the Left Bank of the Seine, once an urban freeway, is a city beach. 15,000km of cycle tracks line the streets, pushing cycle traffic volumes above that of cars, and helping halve the city’s air pollution, with the help of national and EU policies. Paris streets, once lined with parked cars, are now green traffic-free oases, giving residents, not least children, places to breathe and enjoy the outdoors. This interview celebrates one remarkable leader’s achievements, as she steps down.

PARIS’ LOVE OF CYCLING CONTINUES. Happily, Paris’ newly-elected mayor, Emmanuel Gregoire, pledges to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps. Cycling around the city with supporters straight after winning the votes was a good sign. Gregoire, Hidalgo’s former deputy, has pledged to continue her work. On the shopping list is completing the citywide cycle network, transforming the ring highway into a boulevard, introducing 1,000 new pedestrian streets, and 300 hectares of parkland. He’s even pledging to end the use of chauffeur-driven cars by Paris officials.

OTHER HEADLINES

CAN ROAD DANGER BE ELIMINATED? Vision Zero is the target to eliminate road deaths and serious injuries. In London that target date is 2041, which isn’t long away given how far there is still to go. In the latest episode of Streets Ahead, Laura and I talked with London’s walking and cycling commissioner, Will Norman, about this ambition and the challenges the city will face in meeting it. We explore falling casualty rates, the city’s growing network of cycle routes, the role of 20mph, the question marks over Waymo’s ‘safer’ driverless cars and some forthcoming political headwinds.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

A picture, this time. The cheapest petrol is the petrol you don’t use.

As fuel prices rise once again, it could be a good time to consider switching to an e-bike, as these ads at pumps in Bristol suggested. (Campaign by my agency Fusion for Specialized from a few years back)

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Simplified Zebras: a zebra crossing without Belisha Beacons. They’re pretty undefined because there isn’t the guidance surrounding them, but the principle is that they are on side roads where speeds are slow and they reinforce the pedestrian priority afforded in the Highway Code changes. The Government is being urged to permit them in England, following Wales’ example. Perhaps they will, soon.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

SAFER STREET DESIGN. Almost nine in ten women have felt unsafe walking at night, according to new research - and seven in ten have altered their walking route after dark, as a result. These are shocking statistics behind which are real people whose access to the streets, and opportunities, is being hampered. This week, to tackle the problem, the government launched council guidance on active travel route solutions, like improved lighting and visibility, CCTV and ‘natural surveillance’ (see word of the week). They’ll be holding workshops across the UK to help those working in transport to help tackle the problem.

…BUT NOT FOR CYCLING. As the London Cycling Campaign points out, there’s no mention of cycling. While traffic-free routes are scary on foot or pedalling, the solutions differ: a walker may choose a pavement alongside a busy road at night, whereas a cyclist will then potentially face traffic danger. As LCC points out, crime rates in Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are lower, and there’s potentially better ‘natural surveillance’ because people are on foot or cycling themselves, not rushing past in vehicles. The LCC’s Women’s Network has researched and reported on some of the issues, here. Hopefully the forthcoming workshops will tackle this issue.

INTEGRATE! Like other National Parks, the New Forest is hitting the limits of a transport system designed around the car. Visitor traffic, with a growing population, causes congestion, air pollution and road danger. A summit to explore the problems, and their solutions, was clear: integrate transport so people can travel car-free. People want to walk, wheel and cycle, but they need safe routes, including to bus and rail stations. Ebikes can boost the numbers of cycleable trips, but they need secure parking. Roads can be made safe by ‘filtering’ through traffic, speed limits reduced and cycleways built. Even in a National Park most journeys are short, and the car isn’t the best tool for the job - but it takes joined-up thinking to change behaviours.

NEW LIME BIKES DROP. Lime Bikes are incredibly well used, carrying countless riders in cities around the world daily. Popular as they are, however, the bikes can be heavy and cumbersome, and have given rise to what healthcare professionals have termed ‘Lime Bike leg’ - a particular kind of lower limb break. A new design has now seen that chunky down tube lowered, and fitted with smaller wheels, giving the bike a lower centre of gravity. Also lower is the basket, and there’s even a ‘modular rear rack’, which can be adapted for things like child seats. Walk Ride GM’s Harry Gray approves, for one.

CHANGING LANES. A personal tragedy sparked a community pushback - and an upcoming film details their struggle. When a teacher was killed in a hit-and-run collision in Brooklyn, a grassroots movement pushed to reduce a four-lane highway to two lanes, adding a cycle lane. Featuring music legend, David Byrne, and former transportation commissioner of New York City, Janette Sadik-Khan, the movie is aired in Los Angeles next month, and via Bicycle Film Festivals - hopefully in the UK. It takes a micro look at a widespread problem: how communities can help tackle road safety, despite loud opposition from vested interests.

OTHER HEADLINES

MONEY TO QUIT DRIVING. Young drivers in Malta are being offered an eye-watering €25,000 to quit driving, in a bid to cut car traffic on the Mediterranean island. Those under 30 who have held a driving license, and lived in Malta, for a number of years, will receive €5,000 installments for handing in their license, and for each year they abstain from driving. Malta’s roads are the second most congested in the world, with car ownership growing to ‘epidemic levels’: 20% of households have more than three cars. With little apparent political appetite to limit the harm by taxing drivers, this €25m giveaway seems to be the next best thing.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

The US and Israel’s war in the Middle East is devastating for people living in the region. It’s also hiking fuel prices globally. This in turn impacts travel choices, as seen on this graph, below. As Bloomberg journalist David Zipper put it, Trump may dislike green transport, but his actions are ‘a giant tailwind’ for cycling. Ultimately, when driving becomes more expensive, we do less of it. Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856424001940

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Natural surveillance. Designing spaces, including cycling and walking routes, so they are naturally overlooked by windows and other passersby, with good lighting at night. The idea is to increase the risk of wrongdoers being detected, creating a sense of security for users, particularly for women.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

A BOLD PLAN TO CUT TRAFFIC HARM. That’s the conclusion of the London Cycling Campaign, reporting on London’s Vision Zero action plan. It says the city is making good progress on cutting traffic deaths and serious injuries, with plans to go even further. Enforcing 20mph speed limits, more school streets and a pledge to double the city’s cycle network by 2035 are there, along with targeting work-related road risk, including from delivery riders. There’s a tantalising commitment to side road zebras on main roads, and for the police to make it easier to submit dash or headcam footage. The LCC’s initial summary is worth a read.

LONDON’S SUV TAX. This Vision Zero proposal - to charge SUV owners extra for driving in London - has made headlines. The rationale makes sense: larger, heavier vehicles with higher bonnets are more lethal in collisions - particularly for children - and cause more wear on the roads. It’s a shocking fact that a child under nine is three times more likely to be killed if hit by an SUV driver than someone driving a regular car. Larger vehicles also spill over parking spaces and can block narrow streets. Cardiff passed an SUV tax for parking larger vehicles, last year.

SPACE FOR CHILDREN. A lack of play space is making London unattractive for families, according to an investigation by the London Assembly’s Economy, Culture and Skills Committee. The number of children in London is declining, as is its birth rate, and the investigation found the cost of housing, and London’s built environment are driving the trend. Among key factors at play were air and noise pollution levels, a lack of access to green space and cycling safety perceptions. Play space minimums are not always delivered in new developments, according to Committee chair, Hina Bokhari.

TACKLING CARS CUTS AIR POLLUTION. Cities that have introduced cycle lanes, encouraged electric vehicles and brought restrictions on polluting vehicles have slashed air pollution by more than 20%, research has found. Beijing and Warsaw topped the table of 19 cities, which includes London and San Francisco, that have reduced pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and particulate pollution by up to 45% since 2010. These cities’ efforts show that substantial improvements can be made within a decade and a half, given the right policies.

GREEN SHOOTS FOR THE CYCLE INDUSTRY? The cycle industry may be turning a corner, after a turbulent five years, a Bicycle Association report finds. Market and sales data suggests an increase of 5% year on year - the first growth since 2020. Sales volumes are up, although ebike increases of 2% are below mechanical bikes (6%). A revival in mainstream, recreational and family cycling are to thank, it says. I’d add, supporting safer streets is crucial - without them cycling won’t become mainstream in the UK.

OTHER HEADLINES

BIKE PROJECT HITS MAJOR MILESTONE. The Bike Project, which refurbishes and sells bikes - as well as donating them to refugees - has sold over 7,000 bikes since it launched in 2013. The project uses its bikes to help refugees and people seeking asylum in Birmingham and London who are living on as little as £9.95 a week. These bikes help people who have fled war and persecution access food banks, legal advice, and other vital services. The Bike Project currently has a spring sale on.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

Just a joyful video of a man and his son cycling - what fun!

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK: SUV Tax: A charge relating to the size and/or weight of a vehicle. This can be implemented via emission zones or through parking charges.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

E-CYCLES PROTECT FROM OIL SHOCKS. The war-induced fuel shocks are driving motoring costs up, and the AA and RAC have advised people to cut back on non-essential journeys to conserve fuel. Cycling costs aren’t at the mercy of such global events and Cycling Electric’s Mark Sutton points out in his usual thorough manner that not only do e-cyclists save money, but also their health and time stuck in traffic. Sutton concludes that there’s a strong case for e-bike subsidies, as there are for electric cars, to help more people reap the benefits.

LTN FEELINGS - AN HONEST ANALYSIS. It’s fair to say Low Traffic Neighbourhoods inspire mixed feelings. 528 of Oxford’s LTN residents filled in surveys, with 30 in-person follow-ups, and 15 journeys were undertaken with residents. Those 30 individuals’ responses revealed dramatic improvements to the local environment, safety, including for children, and feelings of community. Interestingly, the behaviour of drivers was commonly cited as a problem with the LTN, plus perceptions the schemes unfairly favoured people cycling. There was also a disabled resident who found driving harder after the implementation. The answer is surely to tackle driving issues more widely, and try to help disabled residents who drive.

HAVE YOU HEARD OF MASS TRANSIT? In case you didn’t already know: cars in tunnels aren’t the future of transit. This week, Elon Musk’s Boring Company has been boasting on social media about carrying around 82,000 passengers during a five-day expo in Las Vegas. This sounds impressive until you look at the wider context, and compare it with other underground transport systems. By contrast, in London the Elizabeth Line carries ~800,000 people per day. Even Victorian steam trains in 1860s London moved 3–4× more people per hour than Elon.

BEAT COPS BEATING FAKE E-BIKES. Illegally-modified or ‘fake e-bikes’ are a safety issue, on the roads and in the fires they are associated with. As well as that, there is a substantial reputational harm to the safe, regulated industry when what are effectively motorbikes are being confused with safe, legal e-bikes. With Operation Lexand, Metropolitan Police officers are being trained to distinguish between the two, and take the dangerous machines off the street.

SWINGS AND ROUNDABOUTS. There are concerns, separately, that replacing the Metropolitan Police’s dedicated cycle and motorcycle road safety units may do more harm than good. The Met says its new Road Danger Reduction Team will proactively enforce the most serious road traffic offences, taking on the functions of multiple specialist units like the Cycle Safety Team and the Commercial Vehicle unit - the latter being the largest of its kind in Europe. This specialist unit that investigates deaths involving HGVs and London buses being driven in the capital was also axed last month.

OTHER HEADLINES

HEART OF A 19TH CENTURY CYCLING CRAZE. In the 1880s the high street in Ripley, Surrey, regularly drew thousands of cyclists. This short radio piece from Radio Surrey describes the craze. At the time the road had been resurfaced and a new train line was introduced. This meant Londoners could cycle to Surrey on the new safety bicycle or tandem bike - the Penny Farthing was on the wane - on a day ride. More women could ride the new bikes, too, in the voluminous skirts of the day, with less risk of serious injury.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

Parisian street, sans voitures. Sometimes we need a reminder that things can get better as well as worse, and these images of a transformed Paris street are just one. You’re welcome.

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Mass transit. Public transport, especially in an urban area. Generally, one of the most efficient ways of moving a lot of people, using limited space.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

WOMEN HEROES NAMED ON LONDON HIRE BIKES. Ten inspirational women have been named on London’s Santander Cycles, to celebrate their role in paving the way for more women to ride. From grassroots leaders to healthcare professionals, to international adventurers, these ‘unsung heroes’ represent the diversity of cycling, in all its forms. Women are still under-represented in the nation’s peloton - for every girl cycling, there’s two boys, while men cycle three times as many trips as women. These heroes build community and broaden representation in cycling; they empower more women to feel cycling is a space they belong in.

BEING AN ADVOCATE. The Guardian’s Lucy Pasha-Robinson recently wrote about her horrifying experience of a man pushing her in the street. It was on an empty pavement, and he wanted to teach her a lesson, she concluded. Other women wrote to the newspaper detailing their own experiences of men pushing them - which the Guardian has labelled an ‘epidemic’. As with walking, cycling is still male-dominated, and while it’s often traffic most people are worried about, how welcome and ‘socially safe’ they feel is key. As a cycling industry, and community, we need to stand by women in their right to walk - and cycle - in safety, too.

MIS- AND DISINFORMATION IN 20MPH ROLLOUT. “The claim that 20mph limits increase crashes flies in the face of even the basic physics of kinetic energy,” notes a new paper examining misinformation and disinformation in Wales’ 20mph rollout. While social media outrage is a regular feature of streetspace change, 20mph in Wales upped the ante. Most online content at the time amounted to misinformation, the paper concludes. There was also deliberate disinformation by scheme opponents, like the term ‘blanket 20mph’, and a widespread Facebook campaign by an English politician who supported 20mph in his own area. Arming residents with the facts ahead of rollout, framing the policy in positive terms, and holding in-person consultations rather than just online ones, would help, it says. Perversely, areas with the most ‘noise’ ahead of the 20mph rollout had the greatest compliance after it, and vice versa.

YOUNG WELSH AND SCOTTISH VOTERS BACK ACTIVE TRAVEL. Young adults want streets where they can walk and cycle: that’s the conclusion of two YouGov polls in Wales and Scotland. In Scotland 74% of 1,075 16-24 year olds want safer streets for walking and cycling, while nearly two thirds support allocating 10% of the transport budget to active travel. Similarly, in Wales, 74% of 1,092 16-30 year olds want streets redesigned for walking and cycling, and six in ten want 10% of the transport budget for active travel. As time goes on it will get harder to ignore this young majority.

WALKING AND CYCLING INDEX. The Walk Wheel Cycle Trust has launched its regional walking and cycling indices, detailing active travel changes in 22 UK areas. It’s a substantial piece of work, based on interviews and surveys from people living and working in each area. The insights are unique and influential. While cycling rates vary - cycling is 4% of trips in Greater Manchester, 6% in Edinburgh and 9% in Bristol - there is a general trend of increased walking. Across the UK the Trust reckons 56% of people support shifting investment from road building to walking, cycling and public transport. Meanwhile 36% of people use a car as they feel they have no other choice. National data will be published on 17 March.

OTHER HEADLINES

WOMEN PROTEST FOR SAFER CYCLING. In our latest episode of Streets Ahead, Laura goes out across London talking to women about their experiences of everyday cycling. Research last year by the London Cycling Campaign revealed 24% of the city’s cycle routes didn’t feel safe after dark. Women often face a choice between an isolated, often unlit traffic-free path or a busy main road with no protection from motor traffic - and a third choose not to cycle in winter as a result. The podcast examines what that means for women, and some of the solutions.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: The shocking disparity between men and women, in terms of trip number and length, by age. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-travel-survey-2024/nts-2024-active-travel#trends-in-cycling-trips

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Social Safety: The sense of security in a space or scenario. Relating to streets, paths, public space, etc., it means how physically safe someone feels from threat. It’s used to describe how people, not least women, feel about a particular path: rather than fear of a driver hitting you, it’s more about the threat from attack by another person, seen or unseen.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

SIGN IT. Margaret Calvert is a legend of transport design. If you’ve driven, or cycled or walked on Britain’s roads you’ll have been guided by her work. She’s the woman who, in the 1950s and 1960s, unified our confusing and incoherent road sign system to the simple, elegant form it takes today. As this celebratory piece in the Guardian explains, Calvert’s most famous font is simply called Transport. It upset traditionalists of her era but in 1965, after much testing, Transport became the ‘house style for Britain’. She describes her process as ‘human centred’, and she has a book out about her career, Woman at Work.

PARK IT. Parking is jokingly described as the ‘third rail’ of local politics: fatal when touched. In Copenhagen, a study of 3,869 people investigates attitudes around replacing parking spaces with cycling, vegetation and ‘space for street life’. While most are supportive, it depends on car dependency and attitudes around car use; age, disability, gender and whether a person has children. As seen elsewhere, those who felt they would lose out were least in favour. The authors say it’s important to communicate the liveability benefits of parking removal, while ensuring people have alternatives to cars, via planning policies. They also recommend piloting and co-creating trials with those most affected, noting you’ll never get unanimous support.

COUNT IT. Drivers can spend a lot of time cruising around looking for parking, and this is not factored into journey planners’ predicted driving times at the moment, making that time invisible. What if more realistic journey times, which included the time it takes to park, were included in journey planning? MIT researchers have developed a navigation system that takes into account parking time - to give drivers a more realistic idea of how long a journey will actually take. Knowing the real time it takes to drive somewhere helps people choose alternatives.

GRAPH IT. A 2024 study looked at global mode share (the percentage share of trips by car, public transport, walking, cycling etc) relative to city size in almost 800 cities in 61 countries. Perhaps one of the most stark things about it are the triangle graphs highlighting mobility trends by global region. US and Canadian cities are huddled in the ‘everyone drives’ corner, while East Asia tends more towards public transit and European countries towards walking and cycling. Larger cities generally see more public transport usage - outside of North America, that is. Thanks to Brent Toderian for bringing this to our attention.

PAINT IT. It would be ludicrous that the most dangerous roads have the flimsiest cycle lanes, but that’s what one study has concluded in America. A terrifying 61% of painted cycle lanes in the US are on ‘high stress’ corridors - fast, multi-lane arterial roads where few would brave cycling. Less than 40% are on ‘low-stress’ streets. Paint-only cycle lanes can be worse than no lane, safety-wise as they encourage passing drivers to close-pass riders, by hugging the white line. Researchers also conclude these poor examples of cycle lanes, by being so unattractive, can undermine support for wider cycling infrastructure.

OTHER HEADLINES

CROSS IT. James Watt Queensway in Birmingham is a relic of an experiment that went wrong. This kind of car-centric infrastructure in city centres cuts off parts of the city from one another, slows down pedestrian journeys and discourages people from exploring beyond lower-traffic islands. Big roads and mega junctions have no place in busy cities and so, while it’s a good step to see plans to make crossing James Watt Queensway easier, a better one is to remove these relics altogether.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: The triangle of mobility. Source:

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Cruising for parking. An often invisible phenomenon in road transport driven largely by the cost of on-street parking. A phenomenon identified by the late great Donald Shoup, cruising for parking can be surprisingly predictable, and therefore manageable with good, i.e. charging, parking policies. Reducing cruising for parking helps reduce circulating motor traffic, goes the theory.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

DAILY EXPRESS’ WOMEN’S SAFETY CRUSADE. On Monday, the Daily Express’ front page called for better street lighting, for women’s safety. This is in response to money-saving efforts by councils that include switching off street lights at night. In the newspaper’s feature Cycling UK’s Sarah Mitchell has written about the calculations female cyclists make when choosing a route after dark. Too often it’s between a busy, potentially intimidating road and an unlit, potentially unsafe traffic-free path. Cycling UK’s campaign, My ride. Our right seeks to highlight and solve this problem. At the moment, men make twice as many cycling trips as women and ‘social safety’, as it’s termed, is one of the reasons why.

WHY DO PEOPLE RESIST CHANGE? Global Cycling Network (GCN) has taken a look at streetspace changes, and why they can be so controversial. In this 24 minute video, GCN’s Si Richardson looks at Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in Bristol, why they are being introduced and what the impacts are. In vox pops and interviews with politicians and experts, Si examines the opinions of some of those for and against the schemes. He also encounters the ‘hill of hysteria’, a behavioural phenomenon that describes the peak of outrage over streetspace changes, before the usual widespread acceptance once schemes bed in. He also encounters status quo bias.

WELCOME TO THE HILL OF HYSTERIA. One of GCN’s expert interviewees, Alexander Premm, has mapped the public reaction around motor traffic reduction policies. ‘The rise’ features familiar claims of harm around such policies from “small but vocal group of citizens defending the multi-generational narrative of car-centric planning” with protests and legal challenges. ‘The peak’, Premm says, requires strong political leadership not to back down under at times intense pressure. This allows ‘the descent’ from the hill, when people realise “it’s much nicer this way”. Ultimately, people don’t like change and while genuine concerns should be properly heard and responded to, much of the concern will turn out to be unfounded.

CYCLING INTERVENTIONS: WHAT WORKS? Cycle share schemes, e-cycle loans, secure parking and workplace interventions all help people cycle more. What’s more, large-scale, ambitious infrastructure improvements have far greater impact than smaller schemes. Those are just some of the findings of a research review published by Active Travel England. It looked at 28 studies across programmes to increase cycling. Among the barriers to cycling it identified were safety concerns, particularly for women and disabled people, a lack of infrastructure, cost and a lack of access to cycles.

RIGHT ARM IN, RIGHT ARM OUT. A US study has concluded that arm signals are the clearest form of communication cyclists can use on the roads, with drivers. In a simulation, ‘drivers’ were asked to interpret cyclist intentions from their actions, including road positioning and head movement. Arm signals were, by far, the clearest. By law, cyclists in the US must signal before turning or, curiously, before slowing down - which is challenging should you also need your hands on your brake levers. Drivers’ ability to interpret cyclist signals decreased during a simulated phone conversation, underlining the risks of distracted driving, which feels like the bigger finding…

OTHER HEADLINES

HOW CITIES CAN TACKLE SPEEDING DRIVERS. Speeding drivers are responsible for about a third of all crash deaths in the US, and small increases in speed substantially impact survivability of a crash. This piece, by CityLab’s David Zipper, outlines which interventions work - and which don’t, following a deep-dive into cities’ efforts to curb speeders. Zipper found physical interventions, like speed cameras, narrowing streets and removing ‘green wave’ traffic signalling that encourages speeding, ‘are effective, often to a striking degree’. Which then begs the question, why aren’t there more of these life-saving interventions?

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: The hill of hysteria, in graphic form. Source: https://wbrassociation.org.uk/why-changing-our-environment-is-so-hard/

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK: Status quo bias: a cognitive bias which favours the current situation, even if a new situation is potentially better. This phenomenon is often seen in proposed streetspace changes.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

WHAT’S HOLDING BACK CYCLE OWNERSHIP? Less than half of UK residents own a bicycle - the lowest level in Europe. This is according to Shimano’s State of the Nation report, a survey of 250,000 people that reveals cycling attitudes and habits across Europe. Just 87% of UK respondents said they’d ever owned a bike, and for many of them, the reasons were not feeling safe cycling in the UK, and a lack of access to cycle repair and maintenance services. One bright spot for the UK is the improvement in safety perceptions, with 47% saying cycling safety had improved in the past year locally. There’s a webinar on 18 March on this very topic, click to register.

BRITISH TRANSPORT POLICE HEED CYCLE THEFT CONCERNS. Last year cycle-rail commuters were horrified when the British Transport Police announced they would no longer investigate thefts outside rail stations where a cycle had been left for more than two hours or was worth less than £200. This position was problematic for multi-modal travel, which relies on a bicycle still being there on the return leg of a journey. Lobbying by MPs, including in the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cycling and Walking, and by campaigners like Cycling UK, has reversed the decision.

SIMPLE HACK FOR CATCHING THIEVES ON CCTV. As some in the tech space pointed out at the time, there are more efficient ways of identifying a theft that don’t involve hours watching footage of a bike rack. By repeatedly cutting to halfway through the footage to see if the bike is there or not, it is possible to track down the moment of theft in an hour’s footage, in around 10 seconds. The tactic is known as ‘binary search’, which blogger Toni Onodi points out sounds more technical than it is. But it couldn’t be less technical. He even created a tool to demonstrate it.

‘THE PROBLEM IS TOO MANY CARS’. Hammersmith Bridge was the site of protests last month, for and against its reopening to motor traffic, including replacing it with a new four-lane structure. The Times covered the event and campaigner Leo Murray, of climate charity Possible, had a few striking things to say. “Carrying round a two-tonne three-piece suite… with fumes that poison children that live locally, that’s not a God-given right,” he said. Murray also took aim at false flag concerns for emergency service access, saying, “What’s behind the ambulance? It’s a Range Rover”.

DESIGNING OUT CHILDREN. A review of available literature around children’s mobility has concluded that it is street design, and not ‘helicopter parenting’ that excludes access to streetspace among the young. The autonomy that was common in past generations’ childhoods is commonly prevented today by street design, family practices and social norms, the study’s authors say. Slower traffic speeds, protected infrastructure, shorter crossings and simple street layouts are among the design solutions, alongside the reimagining of some streets as play or learning spaces.

OTHER HEADLINES

LOCAL POLITICS IS NATIONAL POLITICS. With local elections coming up in May, local politics is very much on the agenda. Active travel is often hyper-local in its focus - when we’re building bike lanes it’s on someone’s commuter route, while Low Traffic Neighbourhoods impact the very streets where people live. Transport stories are, however, very much national in their reach, as journalists and editors seek to draw out their wider meaning for society. The question often boils down to whether car traffic should be restricted, and what streets are for. Laura, Ned and I try to unpick some of this in our latest Streets Ahead episode.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: Willingness to walk. Convenience, pleasantness, feelings of safety and interest along the way are striking in their impact on how far people are willing to walk. From Living Streets’ Pedestrian Pound report. Source: https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/policy-reports-and-research/pedestrian-pound/

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

‘Mobility License’: The extent of children’s roaming freedom, based on their skillset, parental perceptions of traffic danger and community trust. High traffic speed and volume will reduce how far children can travel unaccompanied, while slow traffic speeds and volumes, and protection from that motor traffic, will increase it.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

MAN SOLVES CYCLE MAPPING PROBLEM? The ability to navigate a city by bike means people need to know where is safe, and where isn’t safe to ride. Many have tried to solve the problem, with mixed results. In London, one man has spent an estimated 3,000 hours producing a map that’s hailed a success. Aydin Crouch’s SafeCycleLDN map, which has the backing of the London Cycling Campaign, was produced after a lot of cycling around the city, use of Google Maps and tips from other riders. It’s been used 1,3000,000 times since 2021, most of those in the last year. Sadly it’s not available more widely.

CAR-LESS HOME FACES £800 A MONTH TAXI BILLS. A report on life in Milton Keynes has lessons for the rest of the UK. It found households in the most deprived areas are forced to rely on taxis to work, to access affordable shopping and even to travel three miles to school, the latter costing £800 a month. While newer homes on the outskirts of towns offer lower heating bills, no-one seems to have thought about the embedded transport costs of car-centric developments far from amenities that lack a decent bus service, or walking and cycling links. And despite planned investment in big transport projects in Milton Keynes, significant transport deserts remain.

SHIP SHAPE AND BRISTOL DECLARATION. Transport and health professionals have joined forces to urge the government to recognise transport’s public health role - and to make the relationship a positive one. The Bristol Declaration calls to recognise “car dependency as a public health issue”, and the need to shift towards walking, cycling and public transport. It seeks measures like 20mph speed limits in built-up areas, cycling, walking and wheeling access to new homes, and a per capita active travel spending of £35. Road transport pollution contributes to strokes, heart disease, diabetes, dementia and cancer, on top of the toll of road collisions.

WHY PEOPLE CHOOSE NOT TO DRIVE. New research by the Department for Transport examines why people choose ‘multi-modal travel’, including public transport, rather than driving. Unsurprisingly convenience and cost were the top deciding factors. Convenience encompasses three things: time, effort and stress; while safety is important for the walking part of a trip. Oddly, this document doesn’t mention cycling once. It seems a significant oversight, given the government’s own cycle-rail guidance says cycling can increase the catchment area of a train station by 16 times, compared to walking.

JOURNEY ENDS FOR CARGO BIKE PIONEER. Pedal and Post, the Oxford-based cycle delivery firm and a pioneer in the field, has come to the end of its journey after 14 years, after losing a major client. However, its CEO, Christopher Benton, says it’s not the end for cargo bike logistics, and underlines the benefits of cleaner, more efficient cycles for urban deliveries. The firm’s recent expansion to London will also cease operations. At Fusion, we use Pedal Me for all our London deliveries; check them out.

OTHER HEADLINES

CYCLE PATHS OF EUROPE. Potentially one for the kerb nerds, but also a fun journey around some of the solutions different nations’ planners and engineers have come up with to help people cycle more. From Sweden to Portugal, Germany to Ireland, ‘Definitions for cycling infrastructure’ is also a quiet celebration of the collective efforts around the EU to give people healthy, affordable transport options. Though I’m not sure the advisory cycle lanes, or ‘pavements you’re allowed to cycle on’ would feel that safe or convenient in the UK.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: The benefits of cycle-rail links. Unsurprisingly, cost and convenience are two of the good reasons we should connect rail stations with cycling. Source.

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Multi-modal travel. A term we’re revisiting this week because it matters. While most of our trips are short, for those that aren’t, a well-planned cycling and walking route can make the difference between a 20 mile drive and a bike-train, walk-train or wheel-train journey. That’s great multi-modality.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

We’re currently hiring for a Public Affairs Account Executive, if you’d like to work with me on active travel, the outdoors and mobility. More info.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

SUVS ADS AXED IN AMSTERDAM. Amsterdam has become the world’s first capital city to ban SUV ads in public spaces, along with other planet-harming products relating to fossil fuels, and even meat products. The legally-binding ban was passed, DeSmog reports, despite last-minute lobbying from advertising company JCDecaux and, of course, the companies selling products affected (the ban includes flights). These products, it has been argued, normalise planet-harming products and behaviours.

FLOAT ON BY… There’s new government guidance for floating bus stops this week - and Ranty Highwayman aka Mark Philpotts, expert engineer - has thoughts. While he concludes there’s lots of helpful nuance in the new guidance, there are also elements he considers unhelpful, like too-high kerbs between cycle lanes and pedestrian areas, which could cause ‘pedal strike’ and reduce the effective width of a route (i.e. the width riders will/can use for fear of hitting said kerb). There’s also the notion that cyclists need to be slowed down, which he says is an engineering solution to a wider road culture problem and could cause accessibility issues for non-standard cycle users.

DISCOURAGE DRIVING TO DISCOURAGE DRIVING. That’s the conclusion of a paper examining the impact of what’s known as ‘carrot’ vs ‘stick’ approaches to changing transport behaviours. Looking at patterns across a number of studies relating to car ownership and use, it found the biggest determinant of whether people drive, and their attitudes to driving, is whether they already drive. That’s not to say ‘soft’ measures aren’t valuable - the right measures can be powerful - but persuading people is unlikely to work alone. It has to be harder to drive, or more convenient to use alternatives, creating new habits. So things like parking controls, congestion pricing.

IMPORTANT MOBILITY AID SHAKEUP. The Department for Transport is currently consulting on 40-year-old legislation around powered mobility devices. Currently a number of potential mobility aids are legally restricted, including wheelchair weight, the use of e-scooters on public roads, and the e-cycle age limit. To that end, Disabled cycling charity, Wheels for Wellbeing, is hosting a series of webinars in early February to help inform people of the current regulations, and the wide ranging needs of the 10 million UK residents with mobility-related impairments.

PUBLIC EDUCATION STILL NEEDED. A number of Bicester residents have acted in a ‘vigilante’ fashion towards Disabled cyclists legitimately using a pedestrianised street. In November 2024 a 30-year-old cycling ban on Sheep Street was lifted, but the restriction remains during the Friday market - with a recent and welcome exemption for those using cycles as mobility aids. Such encounters can be horrific for Disabled cyclists, who already face a challenging transport landscape, and education of the general public, not least the individuals in Bicester, is urgently needed.

OTHER HEADLINES

MOST SOCIAL MEDIA CYCLING COMMENTS ARE POSITIVE. That’s what one recent study found, having analysed 36,696 UK tweets about cycle lanes and LTNs March 2018 - June 2022. The odd spike in negativity happened, including around the rollout of emergency cycle lanes in the summer of 2020. Concerns were from those who saw changes as an attack on their freedom to drive and whether or not people felt properly consulted, rather than the principle of schemes themselves. One researcher concluded: “Their concerns need to be acknowledged, but also reframed in light of the reality that limited road space must serve everyone: drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike.”

LABOUR MP PROPOSES BAN ON SALE OF '“MONSTER” E-BIKES AND DODGY E-BIKE KITS. This week, Parliament heard a proposal to pass legislation to ban the sale, marketing and supply of illegal e-bikes and powerful conversion kits from Julie Minns MP. While legal e-bikes are a force for good, the Chamber heard, online marketplaces and overseas suppliers often sell high-powered e-bikes and conversion kits with minimal checks, “scant” safety information and “no clear liability”. It is worth mentioning that between 2010 and 2024, only about five Ten Minute Rule Bills have become law.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: Because January deserves one more cartoon that makes you chuckle while packing a punch. Ye Olde Invalid Carriage Regulations, as this graphic describes them, are far outdated for the modern needs, and the modern (and future) options, of disabled people. Source: https://wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk/our-campaigns/campaigning/mobility-aid-legal-changes-every-journey-everyone/

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Powered mobility devices: As Wheels for Wellbeing (WfW) puts it, “a mobility aid is any item which a Disabled person uses to help with moving about at or below walking speed”. There are a plethora of such powered devices, ranging from e-cycles and e-scooters, to electric wheelchairs, e-trikes and clip-on handcycle attachments for wheelchair users. At present the law is a bit of a mess, but there’s hope the current consultation will improve matters. WfW would like to see them regulated with LZEVs, lightweight zero emission electric vehicles, with the option to carry more than one person (see week 177).

NOTE - THIS EDITION WAS UPDATED ON 5 FEBRUARY TO CLARIFY THAT WHEELS FOR WELLBEING WANTS TO SEE MOBILITY DEVICES REGULATED WITH LZEV'S, RATHER THAN TERMED LZEVS.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

We’re currently hiring for a Public Affairs Account Executive, if you’d like to work with me on active travel, the outdoors and mobility. More info.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

AUSTERITY AND SHORT-TERMISM HARM LTN ROLLOUT. That’s the conclusion of one study that interviewed local council officers and councillors both in and outside of London, around the roll out of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, 2022-2024. Cuts to expert council staff members and the reliance on consultants, allied with a stop-start funding landscape, left local authorities on the back foot, it found. Individually-funded projects had to be bid upon, explained to the public, planned and delivered quickly, only for the momentum to stop, the consultants to move on and the council forced to start from scratch again. This ‘projectification’ of urban planning left some local authorities poorly prepared to avoid or mitigate any backlash. The solution: long-term funding and proper resourcing of local authorities.

LOCAL AUTHORITY STANDS UP TO MISINFORMATION. One employee of Wokingham Borough Council took to social media to show how public engagement can work, given the resources. James from Wokingham responded to Facebook users’ misinformation around new 20mph limits and a new bike lane in Woodley and Earley. From correcting the misunderstanding that motorists alone pay for roads and bike lanes, to explaining why crumbling road surfaces weren’t being repaired instead (the cycleway funding is ringfenced), to addressing concerns the lane would narrow the road (he said it’s being built on a former verge), James was right there to calmly provide some context.

SECRETS TO PARIS’ SUCCESS. Cycling in Paris surged by 240% between 2018 and 2023. Drawing from multiple sources, researchers analysed recent policies and street improvements and found there was more at play than the famous rapid-expansion of its bike lane network. As important were measures discouraging car use, like low emissions zones, traffic restrictions and fuel price changes. Calmer streets felt safer to cycle and walk in, while ‘liveability’ measures like new trees, pedestrian zones and public plazas had a measurable impact on people’s desire to be outside and active. All part of a long-term plan, of course.

BBC TURNS ON PAVEMENT PARKING. After the recent announcement of the - albeit unsatisfactory - new powers for local authorities to tackle pavement parking, the BBC has several stories on the issue. In Grimsby, a blind woman who uses a wheelchair, was reduced to tears because she cannot get out of the house. In Manchester residents are having to step out into the road to avoid vehicles parked on the pavements, including those with visual impairments. See also: testimony from a blind woman and her guide dog in Leeds and a new Public Space Protection Order in Caterham, Surrey, responding to long-standing frustrations over nuisance pavement parking. The BBC’s In Touch also ran a piece on the issue.

SMALL EXERCISE BOOST = BIG BENEFITS. ‘Just five minutes’ extra exercise, and half an hour less sitting time each day could help millions of people live longer,’ reports the Guardian. A study of 135,000 people from the UK, US, Norway and Sweden found just five minutes’ more moderate exercise, like brisk walking (or cycling) a day, was associated with a 10% reduction in deaths. The benefits, as we know, are greatest for those who are least physically active to start with. If you add just five minutes’ more sleep, and half a serving of extra veg a day, you could live an extra year, researchers found.

OTHER HEADLINES

THE BEST THING ABOUT GIVING UP A CAR: MONEY. This relates to a Reddit post, now deleted, that became a Momentum Mag article. The simple question about the benefits of a car-free or car-lite life, inspired a lot of answers, top of which was the immediate financial savings. Car ownership costs Americans $12,000 a year, and rising fast, according to one source. Savings to the tune of hundreds, or thousands of dollars a month, therefore track - meaning being able to afford things like rent. Then there’s the ‘mental freedom’ that comes with no longer worrying about unexpected costs like breakdowns. Then came the very real fitness and health benefits.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

STEPHEN COLLINS NAILS IT. The cartoonist Stephen Collins has produced a couple of doozies in recent months around the dangers we blithely accept when it comes to cars. This one sums it up perfectly (click on the link for full effect):

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/picture/2025/sep/26/itll-be-fine-meet-the-visionary-who-invented-the-car-the-stephen-collins-cartoon

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Projectification: Where things like Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are bid for, planned and delivered in small batches, rather than as part of ongoing long-term plans. As well as being incredibly inefficient, gained expertise leaves with the consultants at the end of each project, rather than being part of an ongoing workflow within the local authority. The result: poor communication to the public, and a limited ability to deal with the resulting backlash.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

POTHOLE PANIC? The Department for Transport launched pothole ratings for English local authorities this week, but not all councils agree with their scores. Three London councils contest their poor ‘red’ rating (amber is middling, green is best-performing). While it’s helpful to assess borough progress on fixing the roads, there needs to be a consistent and transparent way of achieving this, and the methodology doesn’t appear to be very robust. As this Road.cc piece points out, potholes can cause severe damage to your health and your bike.

PAVEMENT PARKING CLARITY FAILS TO REASSURE. Last week, it was unclear how the government was going to help local authorities reclaim pavements from the scourge of parked vehicles. Living Streets warned that giving local authorities new powers to tackle the issue locally, rather than issuing a default national ban, would create a postcode lottery. Unfortunately, that is the option chosen by the government, powers for councils to enforce against ‘unnecessary obstructions’. It is not the hoped-for solution, is open to interpretation and will mean a continued battle for pavement access in England. The people of Caterham have had enough, for one.

HOW CARS SHAPED CITIES’ PAST. A new book explores the impact of car-centric design on Britain’s cities, not least in the Midlands where ring roads became a ‘source of pride’. Christopher Beanland’s Architecture for Cars examines some surprising elements of the roadbuilding trend that ravaged cities in the 1960s and 1970s, such as public art and sculpture. It’s perhaps a cautionary tale that while car domination has fundamentally harmed our cities, its intentions and aspirations were well-meaning. Perhaps they should have paused before going all-out on those ideas though.

AND CAR-FREE FUTURES? Proposals for a pedestrianised parade in Leamington Spa received 76% support in a survey of more than 3,000 people recently. The latter won’t happen for the next couple of years, but plans are progressing. Meanwhile, parts of central London are likely to undergo substantial changes in the coming months and years. From designs for a pedestrianised Soho, to a Regent Street masterplan to transform the famous shopping street and other streets in the area for people, to Oxford Street, the capital is being reimagined for the future. Oxford Street’s pedestrianisation consultation closes this Friday.

OTHER HEADLINES

E-BIKE AMBULANCE TO THE RESCUE. Pedal-powered paramedics aren’t new - they’ve operated in London for years now - but there’s a new team on the block. The Acute Ambulance & Medical Service, from Milton Keynes, will use its e-cycle ambulances during a running event - the London Winter Run - next month. Carrying medical equipment around busy events like this is a particular challenge for the service. As AAMS director, Kieren Gibson, put it, the e-bikes let them “reach patients faster, more safely, and more sustainably than ever before.” They might just take on.

INTERESTING GRAPH(IC) OF THE WEEK: A reminder of what’s at stake in the tug-of-war over our pavements, and why action is so crucial. 41% of people would leave home more often if there were no pavement parking. That’s people who would participate in society, community, social lives, fresh air, exercise, enjoyment of life - all sacrificed at present for a driver’s convenience. Data source: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/managing-pavement-parking/outcome/pavement-parking-options-for-change-government-response; graphic produced by Living Streets.

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Carchitecture - the built environment, centred around cars. Originally the title of a book celebrating mirrored car and home design it is in this sense, hopefully, a way of town planning that’s consigned to the past.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

ROAD SAFETY STRATEGY FINALLY APPEARS. And it heralds consultations on a range of things, from measures to tackle drink driving, to extended test periods for new drivers and mandatory eyesight tests for over-70s. It will also tackle illegal number plates, used by rogue drivers to hamper detection on the roads. A long-awaited Road Safety Investigation Branch ‘will analyse collision patterns and inform prevention strategies’ - data that will be crucial to reducing deaths and serious injuries on the roads. There are bold targets, but not a Vision Zero. Let’s hope these road safety consultations don’t take as long as the pavement parking one did to be acted upon.

END OF PAVEMENT PARKING? (TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY) Politics is hard, and after many transport secretaries, several governments and lots of frustrated campaigning, today Minister Lilian Greenwood MP issued a statement on pavement parking, following the long-awaited consultation. After much-rumoured “blocking” of the policy from some parts of Government (who claimed it could be perceived as “anti-motorist”), there’s finally some progress to report.

The statement, possibly because of the topic’s perceived political sensitivity, is suitably vague. There will be new powers, but we’re not quite sure what they are. It’s also not clear whether local areas will choose whether they want to enforce or not, leading some campaigners (such as Living Streets) to claim the policy will result in inconsistency for communities and drivers, which increases risks for everyone using our streets. Living Streets wanted a full nationwide ban, as in Scotland.

OVERSIMPLIFYING STATISTICS. You may have seen the Times claiming one Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) generates 1.5m extra driving miles as people avoid ‘filters’. The Ranty Highwayman, aka Mark Philpotts, questions some of the piece’s ‘simplistic’ calculations. The filters affect short journeys proportionally more than long journeys, he notes, which is the point of an LTN, while traffic patterns are formed by human decisions, which is why prioritising walking and cycling by reducing through traffic works. The Times’ article takes neither of these elements into account. It’s not the first or last time such efforts will be made against curbing traffic dominance. That doesn’t mean genuine concerns should be ignored - more that both sides are honest about the upsides and downsides.

QUANTIFYING TRANSPORT POVERTY. Getting around represents a huge cost for UK households, particularly those in rural areas or on low incomes. Despite its role in decreasing poverty, there are currently no metrics to track the cost and accessibility of transport, as Gideon Salutin of the Social Market Foundation points out. Last year the government committed to changing this by launching a transport poverty tool, as part of its child poverty reduction work. Salutin argues this will make visible to the government ‘the millions who are forced into poverty by car dependency’. Fuel duty cuts, SMF says, have failed to tackle this - and the money is better spent on public transport.

£12.76M WALKING AND CYCLING PROJECT GETS GOING. A new walking and cycling scheme is getting underway this month in Leeds. The ‘transformative’ Leeds City Links project will connect the north and south of the city centre with cycle lanes, wider pavements, and traffic layout changes, reports road.cc. There will be space for outdoor cafes, improved pedestrian crossings and some parking and traffic lanes removed. It’s all part of the city’s Vision Zero 2040 strategy to cut road deaths and serious injuries.

OTHER HEADLINES

CYCLE ROUTE GETS NATURE RESERVE. The much-beloved Strawberry Line in Somerset is getting its own nature reserve. That’s because the volunteers who develop and maintain the route, between Yatton Station and Shepton Mallet, are building one. They’ll be fencing off an area near Wells, building a picnic bench with views across the Somerset Levels, and resurfacing a rocky path to make it wheelchair-accessible. All power to their spades.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

MANCHESTER’S CYCLE NUMBERS BREAK COUNTER. In images from the ‘Oxford Road Cycle Bot’, which collates counter data from the Manchester cycle lane, the annual counter almost maxed out at 750,000 in December, perhaps necessitating a (further) recalibration of the LED-based scale. In 2025 the northbound and southbound lanes together totalled more than 1,400,000 trips. Source is an award-winning local campaigner using cycle count data:

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Operation Tutelage. This award-winning police operation sends letters to registered keepers of vehicles whose motor insurance has lapsed. It ‘compliance-nudged’ 78% of 700,000 recipients to insure their vehicles. Tutelage+ used an expanded dataset to spot MOT and Vehicle Excise Duty lapses, and investigated the growing number of vehicles without registered keepers. The Road Safety Strategy report rightly cites the Tutelage Ops as potential tools for its new, collaborative Roads Policing Innovation Programme.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

LIVEABLE CAPITALS. Europe’s most liveable capitals might be a hotly debated topic, but in this piece experts, from London, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Vienna, wax lyrical about their cities. Unsurprisingly, cycling provision features heavily in cities’ positive aspects, as do measures to limit car dominance and, of course, access to green space. Ultimately, the way we travel creates - or reduces - various risks to our health and wellbeing, from cradle to grave. How cities tackle those risks, or ignore them, does not go unnoticed.

CONNECTIVITY, MAPPED. “Historically, it has been difficult to measure what a sustainable location is in transport terms,” TransportXtra points out. A new Department for Transport tool quantifies how accessible different parts of the UK, and their homes, services and jobs, are by walking, cycling and public transport. On a map the bright red of inner-city areas and conurbations, (connectivity scores 80 or above), are juxtaposed starkly with rural scores of just one. It is hoped that professionals can use this data to build in well-connected areas, and to improve transport provision where needed.

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS… Of course, getting active is among Brits’ resolutions for 2026 - for 23% of people, in fact, according to a recent YouGov poll. Younger Britons are more likely to make an annual promise to themselves, with getting fit or exercising more topping the list, followed by losing weight (17%), eating more healthily (11%), and better health (10%). Cycling and walking could help deliver almost everything Brits say they want to achieve in 2026 — if we design streets to support them. For all of the above, enabling active travel quietly does all of it (with no gym contracts).

LTNS - WHO BENEFITS? Decisions to prioritise motor traffic have knock-on consequences, unequally felt. While disabled people’s needs are cited by both sides of the Low Traffic Neighbourhood debate, little research has been conducted. New research examines video footage from three inner-London LTNs, before and after implementation, alongside interviews. While there was no marked increase in disabled users in this small study, improved footways seemed to help people’s qualitative experience of the street, making journeys less effortful, increasing road crossings by mobility aid users and greater use of the road - which can be smoother than the footway. People felt safer, too - though new trees sometimes narrowed the pavement too much - making the case, I’d argue, for trees (and EV chargers while you’re at it) placed in the road.

WHY WE RIDE. The voice of young people is often forgotten in the noise around transport - and this charming video lets us hear those voices. Featuring Cambridge’s youngsters, and their variety of machines, a spoken word piece is followed by different young people’s perspectives on the pure joy and freedom cycling gives them. As well as some of the challenges. A great reminder of the reason many of us still ride, whatever our age.

OTHER HEADLINES

SOME DOWNTIME VIEWING. Ingwar Perowanowitsch is a journalist and filmmaker and this is his film about a long ride from Freiburg to Copenhagen, via Paris, Ghent, Utrecht and Amsterdam. Along the way he shows us some footage of his adventures and interviews people on park benches. With the latter he discusses cities, and what he calls the transport transition. After years of writing about the subject, he decides storytelling is the way forward, specifically a film.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: Just some of the top New Year’s resolutions people set themselves. Source: https://yougov.co.uk/society/articles/53756-what-new-years-resolutions-are-britons-making-for-2026

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Qualitative or quantitative research: If we’re talking about infrastructure, qualitative research measures the experience of users, while quantitative research looks at the numbers. Both are important.

Until next time,

Adam

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

THE CHANGING FACE OF CYCLING. The Guardian’s Peter Walker casts an eye over the cycling trends of the past 15 or so years. His piece highlights the disparity between London’s steady cycling growth and its gradual decline across most of the rest of the UK. The conclusion we can draw from the rise in gravel riding and sophisticated indoor trainers, while road bike sales decline — I say in the piece — is that unless we can build safe routes, away from high volumes of fast-moving traffic, we won’t realise the everyday cycling success of our European neighbours.

PEOPLE AREN’T JUST ONE THING. That’s the message from cycling minister, Lilian Greenwood, as she sought to further draw a line under the previous ‘culture wars’ narrative around cycling. She said pitching transport policy as for or against motorists or cyclists ignores the fact people use different means of getting about. Transport, she said, should work for everyone, and the forthcoming Road Safety Strategy, which was anticipated before Christmas but will now likely launch in the New Year, will seek to ‘create a culture of mutual respect’ on the roads.

SLOWER SPEEDS FOR BIRMINGHAM STREETS. Excess speed is one of the biggest contributory factors to road death and serious injury, so it’s good to see new 30mph speed limits introduced on 27 Birmingham roads this month. The city declared a road safety emergency last year and will use average speed cameras to enforce the new lower speed limits. As the city’s Cllr Majid Mahmood put it: “We are installing these cameras to stop those drivers who think it is acceptable to put people at risk by travelling too fast.”

WHY DO PEOPLE SPEED? The BBC’s Evan Davis underwent a speed awareness course, and wrote frankly about the experience. He said: “It should really be compulsory for everybody who drives. It was shocking to learn of some basic confusions about the speed limits that I and others were harbouring”. Many on the course, he added, were ‘unarguably guilty’ of driving at around 26mph in a 20mph zone. He realised while 20mph limits are increasingly the norm, attitudes are still catching up: 20mph feels slow for some, while others are simply unaware that even slight increases in speed elevate the risk of harm.

…AND WHERE? As Evan Davis found, speeding is not just about innate behaviour; vehicle and street design can make higher speeds feel less risky. University of Leeds research compiled data from goods vehicles (LGVs and HGVs) to help understand where professional drivers speed, with an interactive map. Researchers note the wider implications of driving too fast: “speeding is associated with poorer road safety and reduced walkability” - as well as cyclability.

OTHER HEADLINES

THE TRANSFORMATIONAL POWER OF CYCLING. One young artist’s experience with swapping public transport for cycling is a great reminder of how freeing it is to get on a bike for everyday trips. Sabine Kikuchi-House is saving £1000 a year and a lot of time waiting for buses and trains, thanks to a little help from her dad - and gradually-building confidence to try new routes herself. A nice way to round off this week’s newsletter.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: Last month, the Department for Transport released the latest road casualty figures, with one graph showing the different vehicles involved when people die on the roads. It’s worth underlining where the danger lies. Source: Reported road fatalities in collisions by road user type and (other) main vehicle involved in the collision, Great Britain 2024

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Risk compensation: As researchers know, each of us has a natural tolerance for risk. Design roads and cars so that drivers can easily reach higher speeds and you’ll see people driving faster to meet their own perceived level of risk, or safety.

Until next time,

Adam

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

This newsletter is brought to you by Fusion, the agency for movers, specialising in communications and public affairs for active travel and mobility.