Questioning how we use our streets is key for healthy, liveable cities, but we need to zoom out and look at the big picture, and the unintended consequences of our actions.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

CRACKDOWN ON CYCLING LAW-BREAKERS? People cycling on pavements and through red lights is unacceptable. It can be irritating and alarming - and put pedestrians in danger. While this is unacceptable, there’s a much bigger road danger, which we rarely discuss. This week, on Good Morning Britain, Chris Boardman ended up correcting presenters’ claims that Dutch cyclists have registration plates (therefore we should too, went the argument). Meanwhile, a GMB presenter stood beside a junction in Birmingham, where drivers get away with jumping the lights every three and a half minutes because the enforcement cameras were turned off. Rather than talk about the 340 pedestrians killed last year, and the 5,960 injured, the programme chose to instead point the finger at badly-behaved cyclists. Without wishing to downplay the latter, it’s worth asking: where is the balance?

TECH COMPANY VS WHEELCHAIR USERS. Starship Technologies is coming after a walking charity with claims they staged a crash between a disabled person and one of its pavement robots. Living Streets recently took to the pavements of Leeds to test out interactions with Starship’s new delivery bots, with a film crew. At one point Emily Green, aged 18, who uses a wheelchair, was headed for a drop kerb when one of the machines ran into her legs. Delivery robots claim these vehicles give way to pedestrians, when this interaction indicates something different. Meanwhile, in a glimpse of the UK’s potential future when embracing delivery robots, Estonia World reports that a Starship robot ran a red light in Tallinn, Estonia, injuring nine bus passengers. What a time to be alive.

BOLLARDS VS PARKRUN. While often installed with good intentions, barriers on cycling and walking routes can inadvertently render those routes inaccessible for legitimate users. Cyclopark Parkrun, near Gravesend, was cancelled this month after Kent County Council installed a nest of bollards and planters on a traffic-free path. Organisers decided the barriers posed a risk to participants, though they hope to re-start, pending discussions with the council. The path, which is on National Cycle Network route 177, is beside Kent’s Cyclopark, meaning its users may well be affected too. Fears of unauthorised vehicle use shouldn’t render a path unusable.

SELECTIVE DATA. The Telegraph headline, ‘Scrapped LTN failed in efforts to reduce traffic’, and most of the article, suggests a Low Traffic Neighbourhood in south London didn’t work. The LTN in Dulwich was removed following a legal challenge by local residents, with a judge finding the council didn’t account for legitimate residents’ concerns. However, the council’s reply at the end says traffic counts cited by the Telegraph are from shortly after the LTN’s installation, to see if ‘minor tweaks’ were needed, rather than to understand the LTN’s long-term impact - which was never established. We know that while traffic on boundary roads can increase immediately after LTN installation, over time traffic across the zone tends to go down. So it’s slightly misleading to cite the data in this way.

BIKE BUS ACCELERATOR LAUNCHES. Bike buses are brilliant, so how can we create more of them? One of my favourite projects this year has been working with Shimano Europe Group to develop the Bike Bus Accelerator, delivered by BYCS. This new grants program will help start and grow more bike buses across Europe. Applications are open for grants of €500 or €1,000, with tailored support, from practical tools and equipment to expert guidance or funding for a specific need - whether you’re a teacher or parent, community organiser or Bike Mayor. Find out more here.

OTHER HEADLINES

BRUSSELS BANS E-SCOOTERS IN DRUG HOTSPOTS. E-scooters have become part of the transport mix in many European cities, and offer an efficient alternative to private cars, or even public transport. Like all modes of transport though, they can be deployed by criminals. In Brussels police are banning all e-scooters from known drug hotspots - a move that will impact law-abiding citizens using the vehicles. While e-scooters were used in a quarter of the city’s shootings, which have surged recently, it’s interesting motor traffic will only be restricted in the event of a serious threat - and even then, residents will be exempt.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

In Toronto, cyclists have been protesting the removal of protected bike lanes by Mayor Doug Ford. Protestors’ chants of ‘get home safe’ as municipal workers tried to physically remove the lanes seem particularly poignant - as is this sign, which reads ‘Bike lanes save lives’.

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Mobility propagandists. Urbanists Melissa and Chris Bruntlett were recently subject to some concerted online trolling. These experiences can be deeply unsettling and unpleasant but keen to laugh at the experience, they’ve made themselves ‘mobility propagandist’ t-shirts, a term coined by one online commenter.

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

PREJUDICE AS ENTERTAINMENT? Channel 5 has reimagined a programme from 2019 describing cycling as a ‘scourge’ - this time about people on ‘e-bikes’. You might guess they’ve conflated illegal e-motorbikes with e-bikes throughout the piece. These programmes offer a chance to investigate an issue, and I’d have loved to see some tough questions about gig economy companies. Another question might be, why are people like delivery riders on low pay using these dangerous machines in the first place? Sadly this programme had nothing of the sort to offer. I wrote some of my thoughts - and offered some real solutions - this week.

DANGEROUS COWS LATEST. In an ideal world, everyone would follow the rules. But with limited resources, police rightly focus on major causes of harm; last year, 364 pedestrians were killed, almost all of them hit by motor vehicles. In comparison, more pedestrians are killed by cows than cyclists. I don’t condone poor riding that endangers pedestrians, I make a nuanced point in The Times’ piece “Do police in your area let reckless cyclists ride roughshod?” (also referenced in Cycling Weekly, here) that it’s unreasonable to expect it to be any other way with the systems we have.

My ideal world would be more roads policing with enough free capacity to be able to focus on the annoying or intimidating behaviour of all road users. But it’d still likely be focused on the most significant causes of harm. But as it currently is, roads policing are often occupied with clearing up after fatal and serious collisions (statistically nearly always caused by drivers). Yet, based on the prominence bad cycling gets in national media, you’d think cycling (a mostly benign activity) is one of the biggest dangers to us all.

POSITIVE LTN DATA FROM OXFORD. Oxford campaigners analysed data from before and after Low Traffic Neighbourhood installation and found collision casualties have reduced within the Cowley Road LTN and on boundary roads. Using CrashMap data the Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel (CoHSAT) found around 100 fewer casualties post-vs pre-LTN. Boundary roads with multiple turnings saw the greatest casualty reductions. One primary school has more pupils walking, scooting and cycling, too - up from 64% to 83% in one class - and fewer children being driven. Air pollution across the city has reduced, partly attributable to citywide measures. It’s a good piece of research from a local campaign group and includes some powerful testimonials from residents.

OXFORD STREET GOES TRAFFIC-FREE. Next week England’s high street will be open only to pedestrians and emergency services, in the first phase of its pedestrianisation. Living Streets has welcomed the move, and is calling for other cities to follow suit. Edinburgh has pedestrianised bits of the Royal Mile, Belfast faces calls for further pedestrianisation after a successful street festival in the summer, and Cardiff’s Queen Street has been pedestrianised for half a century. Research shows streets better designed for walking and wheeling thrive. How those cycling in the Oxford Street area will fare on the local diversions is to be seen.

WAYMO’S $1M PARKING TICKETS. The argument for robotaxis is often that they are safer drivers than humans and will always follow the rules. However, data obtained by the San Francisco Gazetteer reveals Waymo vehicles earned 4,131 tickets for traffic infractions in the year to July - against 4,178 for the whole of 2025. The cars aren’t learning: they received 577 tickets from one spot at Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. Could this be a tech company just doing what it wants? Surely not.

BIG RETURNS FOR CYCLING. Money invested in cycling tends to be money well spent - though the power of cycling is often underestimated. New research from Cycling UK analyses the impact of cycling schemes across Britain, from school streets to new protected routes, and finds, on average, for each £1 spent, £5.62 is “returned via downstream savings” - i.e., benefits to physical and mental health, congestion and pollution reduction, and boosts to local businesses. The Route Forward finds infrastructure needs to be accessible and to enable uninterrupted journeys, without scary bits. Trials, it says, are a useful way to inform decisions.

OTHER HEADLINES

GREEN CITIES, HAPPY CITIES. Over the summer climate charity, Possible, launched a new report on kerbside greening to mitigate extreme heat. With the Super El Niño predicted to bring a winter of intense rainfall, these green spaces in our communities are as important in reducing the risk of flooding by soaking up rain before it can overwhelm drains and rivers. Changing the way we manage our streets, and what we prioritise, means reducing car parking. The payback: nature surviving - and thriving - in urban areas, as this piece on Freiberg shows. There, citizen-maintained tree beds have boosted biodiversity.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: Imagining something different. One of the illustrations from Possible’s community workshops on what a greener, healthier streetscape might look like. Source: https://www.wearepossible.org/latest-news/new-report-kerbside-greening

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Pedestrianisation. The process of transforming a former traffic thoroughfare into a space primarily for walking or wheeling - with exceptions for things like emergency vehicles or deliveries. After pedestrianisation, despite predictions, the world does not usually end.

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

GREENWAYS FOR OXFORD. While cities in Denmark and the Netherlands are building networks for suburban walking and cycling trips, the UK is lagging behind. Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford City Council and the University of Oxford are aiming to change that with a new greenways masterplan: a long-term vision to connect the city with its surrounding towns and villages. Proposals are for 18 routes on quiet lanes, roadside and traffic-free paths, with some upgrades and some brand new bits. For now, most of the network is aspirational, and needs funding, but it’s a good statement of intent. The best example, for now, is the Oxford to Abingdon route, which follows the Thames Path from the city centre.

QUIET LANE TRIAL. Rural routes can’t always be brand new stretches of tarmac - nor do they need to be. Oxfordshire is trialing its first ‘quiet lane’, using a gate to block through traffic, making it safer to walk and cycle. A six-month trial has begun in Stanton St John, just outside Oxford, after locals raised road safety concerns. The lane will stay open to residents, farmers, businesses and emergency services. It remains to be seen if these dispensations - and the potential for a local business owner rushing through in vans - will undermine safety intentions of the route. Cllr Emily Kerr says it just needs linking up with other routes now.

AI IN THE SKY? Road offences happen all around us, every day, overwhelming police forces’ ability to catch them. New AI-powered cameras can help, but of nearly 19,000 driving violations captured over a two week trial of the cameras by West Midlands Police, precisely zero drivers were prosecuted. This is because the force doesn’t have enough back-office capacity, and the process to issue fines hasn’t kept pace with camera tech. It doesn’t have to be this way. Devon & Cornwall Police identified 297 offences in three days using the same cameras, and sent notices of intended prosecution. It is possible to do the same elsewhere.

A KERB ON ROBO-TAXIS? Transport for London needs powers to cap autonomous vehicle numbers in the city, along with devolved powers to govern - and withdraw - future schemes. That’s according to a new London Assembly Transport Committee report. The report, led by Green Assembly Member, Caroline Russell, says it’s not a given that London should welcome robo-taxis. Among its recommendations are that TfL keeps track of ‘empty miles driven’, to help manage the vehicles’ impact on congestion, and that incident reporting includes data on crashes and near misses, and vehicles’ decision making processes.

THE ROAD IN SPAIN…There’s new cycling road rules in Spain. Road.cc summarises them as ‘ride in the centre of the lane and always wear a helmet’ - unfortunately the latter is mandatory outside of towns, and dispensations for long climbs, heatwaves or medical exemptions have been removed. When overtaking, drivers must do so with a 1.5m gap and at least 20kph below the speed limit, to reduce the differential with the cyclist. If a driver cannot pass in these circumstances, they’ll need to wait. Meanwhile, cyclists are encouraged to ride defensively in the centre of the lane, and can overtake slow moving or stopped vehicles on both sides, but must carry something reflective or luminous at night.

OTHER HEADLINES

TRICYCLE POWER. Cycles come in shapes and sizes far beyond the standard two-wheeled variety. Lots of people don’t know this, however. Wheels4Me is just one organisation trying to change that, by making non-standard cycles available on long-term loans from its specialist fleet. Aged 87, Kevin McGlew was suffering falls from his regular bicycle, and had stopped cycling altogether when he borrowed a tricycle from Wheels4Me. It has transformed his life, enabling him to get out and about and keep active. His story, in this charming video, is a testament to the life-changing potential of cycles, not least non-standard options.

CYCLING SIN BIN. City of London police are trying a new tactic of making offenders watch safety films at the roadside to crack down on dangerous cycling, reports The Times. Under the new approach, City of London police will offer offenders the chance to watch a “hard-hitting” road safety film instead of paying the usual £50 fixed penalty notice. The tactic was launched today at an operation at Bank Junction, a junction now almost entirely devoid of motor traffic, which traffic lights were designed to control.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

Oxford’s Greenways aren’t funded at the moment - there’s an aspiration and a map - but what a brilliant idea, for current and future generations, summed up in this video:

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Greenway: A traffic-free route for walking, wheeling, cycling (and sometimes horse riding). A crucial part of inter-urban active transport and leisure infrastructure, connecting places people live with local amenities and recreation.

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

DELIVERY ROBOTS - THE LATEST ATTACK ON FOOTWAYS. Pavements are essential infrastructure for the trips we do most: walking. There simply isn’t space for delivery robots on top of the parked vehicles and other obstructions. They create trip hazards, and block the way for blind and partially sighted people, and wheelchair users. Deliveroo are the latest company to roll them out without government oversight or prior testing, using a legal loophole that permits tech companies to profit from an essential part of the public realm. The walking charity, Living Streets, is standing up to this injustice, with their campaign Pavement Overload.

CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL WORKING? It’s perhaps no coincidence that delivery robots are being scaled up within days of the government’s new Code of Conduct for gig economy companies coming into force. As of 1 October, any company found employing workers illegally (i.e., if a person isn’t allowed to work in the UK), including delivery apps using ‘sub-contractors’, could pay up to £60,000 per infraction. Anti-slavery organisations have warned delivery companies are getting off ‘scot-free’ on exploitation within their supply chains, in part thanks to a lack of oversight of riders, and are calling for tougher legislation to tackle the problem.

GILLIGAN DOES THE MATHS ON ULEZ. Ahead of London mayoral elections in 2028, hopefuls are lining up to make their pitches. The Conservative candidate, James Cleverly, is trampling familiar territory, in opposing ‘anti-motorist’ measures like ULEZ. The problem for the Tories, Andrew Gilligan points out, is that voters just don’t agree with him. As a former London cycling commissioner and No. 10 advisor, Gilligan knows a thing or two. He points out every time Tories oppose things like LTNs, bike lanes and congestion charging, voters cast their ballots elsewhere. On top of that, he adds, these measures cut congestion, which is caused by too much traffic, oversized SUVs and roadworks, not cycling. Hopefuls would do well to listen.

BUS STOP BYPASSES DRAGGED OUT AGAIN. Bus stop bypasses may not be perfect in every case, and some could use a redesign to improve sightlines, but the Tories’ pledge to spend £1m reversing 100 of them and banning new ones is not the solution. While cycling behaviour could also improve at the bypasses’ pedestrian crossings, if you’re looking to boost accessibility and road safety for pedestrians there are hundreds of other things you could focus your attention on. It’s about political choice.

WANTED: 105,000 MECHANICS. The cycle industry is nothing without mechanics. Their skills and expertise keep Europe’s cyclists on the road; they tune up €10,000 steeds and €50 beaters. Crucially, they keep us roadworthy and safe. New research by the NextGen MEchanics initiative and European Cycling Industries reveals Europe will need 105,000 more mechanics by 2032. That’s 60% of the current industry workforce. Shimano’s state of the nation 2026 report found a lack of access to workshop expertise means people cycle less. Increasing demand from new e-bike tech, along with low pay, has made the industry less competitive to trainees. Better training frameworks, better support for the existing workforce, and improving the economics of cycle maintenance are among recommendations.

OTHER HEADLINES

TUNNEL OF HUH?! The Rotherhithe tunnel, in London, is part of the National Cycle Network, and an essential river crossing for foot and cycle traffic, but cycling is nonetheless banned along its length. Due to an administrative standoff between two councils who share tunnel ownership, the long-standing problem of a lot of people cycling through it anyway has just not been solved. In another of his entertaining and informative videos, Evan Erdinger digs beneath the Thames to ask, what is happening with this uniquely dysfunctional crossing, and why can no-one seem to fix it?

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: How the shortage of mechanics impacts customers. Source: https://cyclingindustries.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Nextgen-Mechanics-Report-.pdf

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Micro-grants. A bit of greenery can help people enjoy and feel pride in their neighbourhood. A cared-for space can also deter antisocial behaviour like fly-tipping. Lewisham in south London offers ‘micro-grants’ for residents to introduce greenery; planted areas, even small ones, can also help with our mood, our health and climate resilience too.

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

EU INDUSTRY CALLS FOR ACTION ON E-MOTOS. The problem of non-compliant e-cycles isn’t restricted to the UK, sadly. Now, European Cycling Industries (ECI) is calling for the European Union to do more to protect consumers and the industry. E-cycling is one of the European success stories but as in the UK, illegal models are harming not only users but confidence in the industry and therefore the shift to healthy, sustainable transport. Echoing calls in the UK, they want to ban sales of tampering kits, to establish evidence on the impact of non-compliant models on safety and the industry, and to empower enforcement agencies.

POLICE SELL SEIZED E-MOTORBIKES. E-motorbikes are a growing scourge on Britain’s streets, as online marketplaces profit from a ‘private land’ loophole allowing such bikes to be sold with a wink. Given the lack of access to private land in England it’s likely the vast majority of these machines end up on Britain’s roads. So it’s frustrating that a BBC Freedom of Information request revealed 161 e-bikes and e-motorcycles seized by police were then sold at auctions. While some forces defended the practice as helping fund police efforts, the fear is they are simply being bought by criminals to continue the cycle of misuse, as it were - making more work for police.

INSIDE CITY POLICE E-MOTO CRACKDOWN. With news in the UK that even commuters are turning to illegal e-motos, Sergeant Stu Ford and his team in the City of London Police are out to catch them. For the latest Streets Ahead episode, Laura Laker and Mark Sutton shadow Sgt Ford and his officers to find out what it takes to tackle the growing problem of non-compliant e-cycles on Britain’s streets. From delivery riders to commuters to criminals, we hear about the ever-evolving game of cat and mouse forces have to play to bring in these products, which are still sold legally in the UK, despite not being road legal.

BARCELONA TACKLES PARKING GARAGES. Another crucial pillar in enabling the shift away from cars to cycling in cities, is tackling parking minimums (see word of the week) in new developments. While it may sound policy wonkish, parking costs everyone money, drives up housing costs and uses space that could be used for trees, play space, walking and cycling. Each surface parking space can cost €3,000-€5,000 to build, or €10,000 to €20,0000 for each multi-storey or underground space. Barcelona is the latest global city to cut parking minimums in new developments to promote sustainable mobility, and ease housing costs. It joins cities like London, Amsterdam, Oslo, Bremen in Germany and Mechelen in Flanders.

TRAFFIC DOWN, BIKING UP IN NYC. 100 years ago the New York urban planner, Robert Moses, demonstrated that expanding urban highways generated huge volumes of motor traffic (not that it stopped him building more). Now opposing pressures are at play, and it’s good for cycling. Mayor Mamdani’s administration is capitalising on a drop in traffic from congestion pricing to introduce cycle lanes and widen walking space in west Queens. Thompson Avenue will see two traffic lanes replaced with a two-way protected cycle lane and additional sidewalk width, connecting to an existing protected bike lane on Queens Boulevard and providing a much-needed protected crossing over a railway.

OTHER HEADLINES

A CASE FOR AVERAGE CITIES. We’re used to hearing stories from cities with the biggest cycling levels - but what about the average cities, just quietly getting on with it? Research by LSE Cities looks at German cities where 11 per cent of people cycle, versus England’s 2 per cent. In the past two decades, it found, German cities have shifted away from driving, while cycling has risen sharply. This was a result of planning decisions centring jobs, retail and services in city centres with sustainable transport options. Infrastructure was key, but not the whole picture - Stevenage shows us those networks need to be direct, fast, and convenient - as well as safe. Dark underpasses in isolated areas won’t help more people cycle.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: A fair bit going on in these two graphs but they illustrate how in UK cities driving is going and cycling down, while in German cities the reverse is true (Dortmund aside, which bucks the German-wide trend). The difference comes down to who urban planners prioritise. Source: https://www.lse.ac.uk/Cities/Assets/Documents/Typical-Mobility-Cities/Learning-from-Cities-with-Typical-Mobility-Policy-Brief-LSE-Cities-final-May-2026.pdf

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Parking minimums. The minimum level of parking required in planning regulations for new developments. The late great Donald Shoup rightly blamed parking minimums for everything from urban sprawl to the high cost of housing. Many cities are starting to realise Shoup was right, and are reversing these policies.

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

GET E-MOTO MENACE OFF OUR ROADS. The Guardian’s senior political correspondent, Peter Walker, has waded into the illegal e-moto debate, calling to ‘get this menace off our roads’. Walker says while some shared e-bike riders can be inconsiderate, it’s important not to conflate legal machines with what are effectively e-motorbikes. He notes, wryly, the problem is centred around the places you see most journalists and most politicians: inner London. The problem, he says, is not a cycling one, it’s a law enforcement one, and conflating the issues is harming the use of legal e-bikes.

£104M FOR NATIONAL CYCLE NETWORK. Most of us acknowledge the National Cycle Network is patchy and needs better investment. This week, the government announced £104m over four years to improve sections of it. Among the projects slated for improvements are the English portion of the Avenue Verte (the route linking London and Paris whose English side is currently rather patchy), and bits of routes connecting to the HS2 corridor. Also on the list are some new routes and programmes to improve accessibility, school streets and help community-led projects. It’s not the only funding the NCN will get in the next four years, thankfully, but it’s a start.

LARGER VEHICLES HARM PEDESTRIANS. Larger vehicles may feel safer for their inhabitants, but they make the rest of us on the outside feel less safe. New research from Australia quantifies this threat. Analysing 10,000 crashes where drivers hit pedestrians, they found for every 10cm of vehicle height increase, the odds of a pedestrian death rise by 11 per cent, and each 100kg increases fatality odds by 6%. While UK vehicles aren’t as big as Australia’s, let alone US trucks, they are growing each year. Knowing this risk, with such stark figures, should give policymakers pause - and should make carmakers liable for their lethal products.

BARCELONA SUBSIDISES E-BIKE PURCHASE. Governments should be celebrating the power of e-bikes to improve population health, the urban environment and to help cut carbon emissions. That’s exactly what Barcelona’s city government is doing. In recognition of the value of sustainable mobility, €4m will be available over four years to help residents buy e-bikes (€400 per person) and e-cargo cycles (€800 per person). The idea is to address unequal access to e-mobility among lower-income residents. Meanwhile, the city is expanding its cycle network and public cycle hire fleet, as part of its climate plan.

NYC CONGESTION PRICING IMPROVES EMERGENCY RESPONSE TIME. Opposition to traffic reduction often centres around the impact on emergency service responses. New data from New York City shows emergency medical service (EMS) responses improved since congestion pricing came in. Analysis of dispatch records for around half a million incidents, combined with traffic camera data, found within 5km of the zone ambulance travel time between an incident and hospital fell by 54-59 seconds - around 8% faster than pre-congestion charge times. Meanwhile, fewer passenger vehicles, and more pedestrians and cycles were measured in the zones. What do you know: New Yorkers are walking here - and enjoying better chances of survival in an emergency.

OTHER HEADLINES

A NEW START AFTER 60. The Guardian’s ‘new start after 60’ series is often inspiring, and this one is no different. This time it features the story of Arthur Plummer, who joined a cycle club at 65 and is still going strong, aged 92. What’s more, he’s still clocking up 5,000km a year. Plummer talks movingly about his connection to the bike, how he can cycle thousands of miles, even while walking is a struggle, and his remarkable energy levels. We can only hope for a tenth decade as adventurous. Chapeau!

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: The improvement in Emergency Medical Response times following the introduction of congestion pricing in New York City. source: https://www.nber.org/digest/202609/urban-congestion-pricing-and-response-times-emergency-medical-services?page=1&perPage=50

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Wayfinding. Simply, it’s how we navigate a route or network. Active Travel England is looking to improve cycle network wayfinding, as part of its national plans for active travel. This may involve signposts, paint, digital wayfinding and more.

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

LTNS FOR NYC. Unchecked through-traffic blights neighbourhoods around the world, increasing danger to pedestrians and cyclists, and generating noise and air pollution. New York Mayor Mamdani’s transportation department is set to tackle this problem at a collision hotspot in the Greenpoint neighbourhood. Two ‘diverters’ will send drivers on opposing L-shaped trajectories through a key junction, creating a Low Traffic Neighbourhood effect, along with two new pedestrian crossings and the closure of a pair of slip lanes to traffic. It’s another bold move for this administration, and cities around the world may well watch the results with interest.

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM. During a walkabout and a public meeting with Steve Coogan (yes that Steve Coogan) in Middleton, Chris Boardman thinks about the town with a proud industrial heritage but a rather forlorn present identity. Town planning has too often centred around moving people through a space quickly - often in cars - or presenting a sanitised space with all the right ingredients but nothing particularly attractive as a place to spend time. Describing it as the ‘elephant in the room,’ in his new Substack, Boardman describes a locally-driven solution, of hearing residents’ needs and preferences, and forging a way forward from there.

OTHER CITIES TURNING ELEPHANTS AROUND. Public baths, parks, food growing and seating: just some things city architects around the world have created from car parking spaces. The European Prize for Urban Public Space has shortlisted architecture that converts car spaces into heatwave-busting places for people. One roundabout in the Northern Spanish town of Logrono was temporarily converted into a shaded bathing pool, while a huge car park in Antwerp is now a park generously dotted with trees. Architects speak to the Guardian about the challenges of reversing entrenched car-centric thinking, but the results are clearly popular.

NATIONAL TRAVEL SURVEY RESULTS. Little seems to have changed, England-wide, in walking and cycling terms in the past ten years. According to the latest National Travel Survey, released last week, 2025 seems an unremarkable year. Cycling journeys are still around 2% of trips, although people are cycling longer distances. Meanwhile, walking trips seem similarly stubborn, at 29% of trips, and 33% of stages. Men still make more cycling trips than women (22 vs 9), and travel further each year (83 miles vs 30 miles), while women tend to walk more often and further than men. While there’s pockets of improvement, there are also large areas where change is slow to the point of stagnation.

NETWORK RAIL E-BIKE BAN SCARE. In a torrid few months for the e-bike industry, news last week of a potential ban was a low point. A ‘security note’ spotted at Leeds Station said e-bikes were not permitted on Network Rail property. After a great deal of concern among passengers, many of whom rely on electric cycles to commute, and fear among the industry, the sign was removed. However, it perhaps speaks to underlying confusion, even among transport professionals, around the difference between safe, legal e-cycles and illegal e-motorcycles, which fail to meet fire safety standards. E-Bike Positive is an important step - and needs broad uptake.

OTHER HEADLINES

BE MORE DANISH. If our daily lives are governed by the spaces in between, it’s no wonder the Danish are getting it right. This piece in The Conversation compares a typical day in the life of a Danish person vs a British person, as a way of explaining Denmark’s longer, healthier lives, with higher levels of wellbeing. It finds that while our days are largely the same, there are a few key differences that impact health. By cycling to work in greater numbers, exercise is built into Danes’ days, it finds - dedicating a substantial part of the piece to the impact of this inbuilt activity. A policy choice to build cycle routes has reaped population-wide benefits, along with shorter working weeks, and state-funded childcare that enables a better work-life balance.

LIME RIDER BANNED AND FINED. A careless Lime rider has been banned from the platform and fined by Police after City of London Police used CCTV and rider data provided by Lime to trace him. Police are working with Lime to catch anti-social cycling offences and potentially helping the force tackle wider offences in the future.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: How much England is cycling. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-travel-survey-2025/nts-2025-active-travel

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Bottom-up regeneration. As opposed to top-down. Long understood as a desirable way to make change, it’s a challenge to translate what people want to improvements on the ground, but one that’s surely worth taking on.

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

AN END TO CONSULTATION CULTURE? Consultations are valid ways to help gauge public opinion, hear and mitigate genuine concerns. However, a culture of endless consultation can displace actual decisions being made on the ground. A memo, sent from the top of government to ministers this week, seems to recognise this problem. It says ‘consultation culture has turned a sensible mechanism for sourcing external input into an industry of dither and delay, which fails to hear from those whose perspectives are most relevant…and can drag policies to a lowest common denominator outcome’. It will be interesting to see how ministers interpret this in the government’s drive to simplify, and enact change.

GIG WORKERS CHALLENGE DELIVERY APPS OVER TRANSPARENCY. For delivery riders operating on gig economy platforms, algorithms are a silent but ever-present influence on their working days. These AI-driven systems determine which riders are offered which jobs, and how much they are paid. Workers in Edinburgh say their pay has declined by as much as half, as algorithm use has increased, and have teamed up to ask delivery platforms to open up the ‘black boxes’ that make the decisions. They are operating through the Workers’ Observatory, a charity set up by gig workers and academics to help research and challenge working conditions.

TFL’S WARNING SHOT OVER BIKE LANE REMOVAL. Transport for London has frozen Croydon’s £2m transport funds after the council dismantled a TfL-funded bike lane without permission. This is also seen as a warning to other boroughs. Strategic transport plans in London are agreed between the mayor and councils, via things called LIPs (Local Implementation Plans). These are legally-binding documents with funding attached to specific schemes. In Tower Hamlets, mayor Lutfur Rahman’s plans to remove LTNs were legally challenged by local campaigners for breaking LIP agreements. Rahman’s appeal is currently with the Supreme Court.

WHO ANSWERS FOR ROAD SAFETY? While it’s right that we should expect hire bike users to comply with the rules of the road, the disproportionate media focus on them and the companies running them is curious. The Financial Times has been counting cyclist behaviour on the streets of London, and found 43% of hired e-bike users jumped red lights, plus a third of ‘conventional cyclists’. While this behaviour is intimidating and irritating for other road users, it’s worth pointing out the column inches dedicated to this topic seems inversely proportional to relative harm, vs law-breaking driver behaviour. What of car manufacturers producing oversized ‘urban’ vehicles that can reach 60mph in seconds, with top speeds of over 90mph?

ROBOTAXIS - TAKING UP SPACE. Photos of Uber and Wayve’s robotaxi launch event highlight just how space inefficient cars are in cities. In one picture, around 100 people surround two of the autonomous taxis. What if all of them took a robotaxi to the event? In the US the vehicles usually have one person in them which, with the roughly 44% of Waymo mileage that’s ‘deadheading’, i.e., empty, equates to 179 vehicles for 100 people. Travelling at 20mph with around 2.5 seconds between them, that crowd alone would create eight minutes of unbroken traffic, 3.5 minutes of which are empty vehicles. Is this really the future of urban transport? If so, it’s not a future we’d actually want.

OTHER HEADLINES

THE CASE FOR UPPING PARKING FINES. The cost of parking a private vehicle rarely reflects the wider costs to society, while fines often fail to deter antisocial parking. In a recent trial, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council were allowed to put up parking fines to London rates. The impact, according to Danny Williams, was that parking fines on one seafront road fell 92%, in a trial supported by 76% of businesses, where bus journey times also improved. Williams argues for new council powers to tackle pavement parking, borough-wide, to include inflation-linked fine structures, to ensure the measures have teeth.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: If you think Robotaxis are a good idea for urban transport, please watch this animated GIF for seven minutes, 52 seconds. That is 179 cars at 2.64 seconds intervals, 473 seconds in total. You’ll have plenty of time to figure out why the traffic is so bad.

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Ghost plate. A vehicle registration plate that can’t be read by standard ANPR cameras, thanks to raised digits that appear ‘see-through’ in cameras, or via reflective films or sprays. A new National Roads Policing Co-ordination Centre (NRPCC) has been set up to tackle the problem, which allows drivers to drive dangerously, commit crimes and evade police. Among their toolkit is a special set of goggles to confound ghosting efforts.

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

WITH GREATER POWERS... John Harris’ latest Guardian piece discusses the challenges for Andy Burnham’s government of delivering on devolution in the ‘maddeningly short’ timeframe of three years before the next elections. This piece galvanised some thoughts of my own. For example, with regional and metro mayors in England due to keep a portion of locally-generated business rates from April, there are questions to answer around the relative lack of scrutiny of mayors outside of London, often via frankly weak ‘scrutiny committees’ with no real teeth. Real devolution might need to look towards a London Assembly-style chamber, in which a mayor is held to account via elected Assembly members. Without this, the spending of locally-generated public funds, and the delivery of devolved powers, will be too opaque.

NO SPACE FOR PEOPLE? Britain has a remarkable habit of preventing the very things that make communities sociable, just in case they attract anti-social behaviour. For those who can’t walk far, a place on the street to sit and rest can mean the difference between going out and not, but too often seating becomes the victim of ‘anti-asb’ fears. Case in point, Westminster City Council in London has told an 89-year-old resident she can no longer keep a bench and pot plants on the pavement outside her house, after complaints from another resident. She says she’s been beautifying the street for years and plans to resist the order. There has to be a better way of managing our streets for what we do want, rather than what we don’t.

OBESOGENIC ENVIRONMENT, QUANTIFIED. Obesity is shaped by the built environment, yet evidence remains incomplete regarding how ‘eye-level’ street characteristics relate to obesity across different urban contexts. New research has quantified how these street-level conditions (perceived beauty and safety, the presence of vegetation, the local buildings and quality of pavements) combine with neighbourhood factors, like access to transport, food and green space, and overall land use shape obesity levels locally. Researchers looking at Greater Manchester and Toronto found in both cities street-level characteristics were within the top ten variables impacting obesity, in a list which included things like socioeconomic deprivation and commuting by car or van.

BIRMINGHAM 20MPH (AGAIN). Having worked in local government in Birmingham, I know that this is not new news, but it has got many newspapers excited. We should remember that excess speed is likely the biggest contributing factor to road death and serious injury. After declaring a road safety emergency in 2024, Birmingham City Council has reiterated long-held plans to reduce traffic speeds on local roads, city-wide, to 20mph. Writing in the Guardian, transport expert Christian Wolmar says while ‘culture war motorists’ may rail against the changes, this is the direction of travel, across the world. Wolmar cites Paris, London, New York, Bogota and Copenhagen as the frontrunners England’s second city is now joining. Evidence, Wolmar says, is on their side and, if we’re to clear up our air, improve safety and refocus cities around people, rather than cars, it needs to become harder to drive in those cities.

JAPAN TOO. Japan has slashed the speed limit from 60km/h (37mph) to 30km/h on residential roads in an attempt to reduce deaths and injuries among pedestrians on its narrow urban streets. The new limit, which went into effect on Tuesday, applies to residential roads with no centre line or maximum speed signs

ROBOTAXI ROLLOUT DELAYED. The rollout of autonomous taxis on London’s streets will no longer take place this year, after reality pushes back on government hopes. While trials were fast-tracked by transport secretary Heidi Alexander to spring 2026, Transport for London hasn’t published the guidance companies will need for services to operate in the capital. TfL says no robotaxis have been approved by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency yet, and it hasn’t received any applications for a permit or consent to operate. The capital seems in no rush: ‘a huge amount of work’ is going on behind the scenes, according to TfL’s director of strategy.

OTHER HEADLINES

NO EARLY RELEASE FOR KILLER DRIVERS. Dangerous driving can devastate lives, leaving a trail of destruction and grief in its wake. Lifetime bans for dangerous drivers are vanishingly rare. And they are often tied to a prison sentence - i.e., the two run in parallel - meaning killer drivers can get behind the wheel again once released. It may be a relief for affected families that those in prison for causing death by dangerous driving will not see early release, under new measures announced by the government. This is as part of measures intended to keep the killer of PC Harper behind bars, but has been extended to other offences.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

Obesity levels in Greater Manchester and Toronto, with darker areas showing where more people are living with obesity. The built environment and local services are contributing factors, as well as the levels of driving, and deprivation. Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275126007456?dgcid=raven_sd_aip_email#f0005

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Road Safety emergency: In August 2024, Birmingham declared a road safety emergency. At the time, this meant: “the increasing number of serious incidents on the roads across the West Midlands requires emergency action”.

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

MAMDANI’S HARD HAT MOMENT. On August 18th, New York’s mayor Zohran Mamdani posted a video of himself donning a cycle helmet for the first time. While the clip garnered 26 million views and praise, the reality on the ground was far grimmer; within seven days, three cyclists were killed in the city, two of whom were wearing helmets. Streetsblog highlights the core issue: the infrastructure itself is the danger. For instance, a single Brooklyn junction recorded 57 crashes and 29 injuries over five years, while a Bronx intersection saw 120 injuries from 139 collisions since 2022. As Transportation Alternatives’ Ben Furnas points out, helmets offer no protection against two-tonne vehicles. Doug Gordon of The War on Cars podcast noted the poor optics of such a post from an official whose agency actually designs these lethal junctions. Focusing on personal protective equipment is the one safety measure that requires no systemic action from the Mayor himself.

BULLETPROOF VESTS NEXT? On Tuesday afternoon in Paris’s 9th arrondissement, a minor collision escalated into horrific violence when a driver stabbed a cyclist in the neck before fleeing. While the victim remains in critical condition and an arrest has been made, Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire correctly identified this as “motorised violence.” Advocacy group Paris en Selle noted the grim symmetry with New York: following the high-profile 2024 killing of Paul Varry by an SUV driver—now a murder case—the French government’s primary response has been to consider a universal helmet mandate. “Will it move on to the bulletproof vest?” the group questioned.

HEAT DOME, COLD FEET. Fifty-four organisations, coordinated by Campaign for Better Transport, have used what the Met Office expects to be the UK’s hottest summer on record to reopen the modal shift argument. Transport is the country’s biggest emitting sector at nearly a third of net greenhouse gas emissions, and it rose 2 per cent last year. The ask is specific: binding targets to grow public transport, active travel and shared mobility, and to cut car use. The DfT’s reply listed £2 bus fares, frozen rail fares, £4.5bn for walking and cycling and a £7.5bn zero emission vehicle mandate, but without mode shift targets.

LANGUAGE CHANGING ON ILLEGAL E-MOTOS. It’s an ongoing frustration that the media has tended to conflate legal, safe e-bikes with illegal e-motorbikes, not least when things go wrong. This week the BBC seemed to turn a corner, using ‘illegal e-motorbikes’ discussing the trend of dangerous riding and its impact. A BBC Breakfast piece distinguished e-motos from e-bikes, while Sky News called them illegal e-bikes. This is a positive step forward in a media landscape where, hopefully, journalists and sub-editors better understand the issue.

WITH GREATER POWER… Andy Burnham continues his drive to address what most bugged him in ten years as Greater Manchester’s mayor. This time mayoral authorities are to be given powers to overrule local councils’ planning decisions on larger housing or commercial developments. These powers are essential to enable the strategic delivery of homes and business premises, with a caveat. Developments need to be dense enough, and well-connected enough that we don’t make the same mistakes delivering car-reliant places, and instead enable people to walk, cycle and take public transport instead.

THE CATE GETAWAY. There’s a long-held assumption that celebrities only travel by private chauffeur. David Byrne’s bike ride to the Met Gala, Timothée Chalamet’s Lime biking and now Cate Blanchett’s Brompton getaway after her performance at the National Theatre, show this to be increasingly untrue. These moments achieve widespread coverage but it shouldn’t be unusual for people, celebrities or otherwise, to choose the best tool for the job. The attention is probably welcome, though. In a highly commercialised world, competing against billions in advertising from car brands, showing the benefits of active and public transport to wider audiences is important.

CHILDREN’S FREEDOMS SHRINK. A generation ago British children were allowed to play outside by age ten. Now children are almost 11 before being permitted outside unaccompanied. This is according to a new survey by Play England, of a representative group of 1,974 parents and caregivers of children between ages five to 11. More than half of parents let their charges play out independently at a later age than they themselves did. This generational gap is caused by busy roads limiting children’s safe access to welcoming public space, increased screen use and changing attitudes to children’s independence. Children’s right to play must be recognised, says Play England, and play spaces made accessible for them.

MORE MAPS, MORE PROBLEMS. Urbanists have long discussed the impact of routing apps and services on city streets. Now, research has modelled that impact on three Italian cities. Researchers published in Nature Communications found ‘route recommendations substantially reshape road network usage and CO2 emissions’: as more people used routing apps, fewer roads took the traffic strain. And while at low navigation service adoption CO2 emissions from traffic are reduced, under heavier traffic and navigation usage, emissions can rise. This correlation between greater use of navigation apps and extra strain on limited routes holds, regardless of a city’s individual characteristics.

OTHER HEADLINES

CHILDREN’S STUNTED LUNGS RECOVERING IN ULEZ. Very good news from London last week was the impact of London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone on children’s lungs. Researchers found young lungs whose growth was stunted by London’s air pollution showed rapid improvements once ULEZ was introduced in 2019. The study compared lung capacity in more than 3,400 children in London and Luton over five years. It is thought to be the strongest evidence on the impact of localised clean air zones during childhood - and underscores the importance of cleaning up dirty air for the next generation.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: The remarkable recovery of children’s lungs following the introduction of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone should give every one of us - not least clean air zone detractors - serious pause. Clearly cutting air pollution in cities should be a priority. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1l1r1zne1ro

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

National Play Strategy. Play England is calling for the revival of a National Play Strategy, to set out a national commitment to children’s play, and a play-based, rather than phone-based childhood. A Play Strategy was introduced by Andy Burnham as Health Secretary in 2008, before being abandoned.

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

TIMES HAVE CHANGED. That’s the prosaic version of this entertaining read by the Times’ Giles Coren who looks back on his dad’s generation, at their prime in the 1970s, and the promise of freedom driving offered. His trip down memory lane recalls the machismo that was tied in with soft top cars half a century ago, not least for his own father. As sales of topless cars declines, he reflects on wider changes in how we travel. Young people, he reflects, not only don’t want soft top cars, they don’t want to own cars at all. Those who rail against those changes, he argues, live in the past. Well worth a read.

THE TIMES HAVE CHANGED. The Times, which once ran a campaign to make cycling safer in cities after one of their journalists, Mary Bowers, suffered life-changing injuries in a collision with a heavy goods vehicle. Their official editorial opinion, published this week, forgets much of that and instead focuses on tropes such as there being “a powerful cycling lobby” and that a solution would be to affix licence plates; the only country to do this in modern times is North Korea.

WHERE DID FAMILY CARS GO? That’s what the Guardian’s Coco Khan asks in this piece, with a brilliant Batman reference thrown in for good measure. In the search for a family car, Khan has realised there are no (or few) cars in the secondhand market; it’s all SUVs. She points out these oversized vehicles now make up 30% of cars on the road and half of all new car sales in rich countries, making this trickle-down into the used car market inevitable. Taking aim at the needlessly combative language deployed in their marketing, along with the unnecessary arms race they are creating on the roads, with a good dollop of humour, it’s another excellent read.

PAVEMENT PERIL. For all the – understandable – concern over e-scooters and e-bikes on pavements, an often-overlooked harm is from drivers who stray onto footways. Analyst Blaise Kelly has looked at this topic in recent months; the latest collision (STATS19) data shows the majority of pavement injury collisions involved motor vehicles, and the numbers have increased in the past five years. The solution, he asserts, is to address the physics behind the problem: the speed of vehicles – and to contextualise the problem of e-scooters and cycles on pavements with the greater harm caused by often overpowered and oversized vehicles, something few of us truly grasp.

ROBOT PAVEMENT INVASION. Our pavements are already contested spaces. Already too often poorly serving modern needs, the situation has only worsened in recent years, by the encroachment of vehicles. Permission for delivery robots to operate on footways by the UK government is another assault on that precarious space. And while delivery companies insist the robots behave themselves, videos of them blocking pedestrians abound online, as Ed Wisement puts it in his Unherd piece. With some weighing over 50kg, the kinetic energy of these machines is formidable, despite the cutesy branding intended to endear the menaces to humans.

DELIVERY DRIVERS’ DESPERATION. Delivery riders for Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat have been found by the Daily Mail to be living in illegal shanty settlements, sleeping in tents on the street. Riders can earn shockingly low sums working 10-12 hour shifts on the streets of cities around the UK, not least in London where the report comes from. One rider says he stopped delivery riding because he found he could make more money begging on the streets. This is an outrageous exploitation of workers (who aren’t allowed to be legally described as workers because they are freelance contractors).

OTHER HEADLINES

LISBON BIKE SHARE PAIN. Lisbon’s Gira bikes are ubiquitous in the city. Cheap to use and with widespread coverage, they nonetheless can be a thorn in the city’s side. The municipal-run docked cycle share scheme is notoriously poorly maintained, with a glitchy app that makes its use a daily frustration for those who rely on it. The city council has reported more than 700 acts of ‘vandalism’ this year, adding to a lifetime cost for replacement and repair of parts, of €3m.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: Pavement safety debates can often head straight to the issue of bikes or scooters on footways. However, often overlooked is the far greater risk drivers cause pedestrians on pavements.

Source: Blaise Kelly on LinkedIn.

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK: Footway. A walkway or path for the use of pedestrians. While footways come in different shapes and sizes, their purpose is to provide a clear and safe route for those on foot and, of course, wheeling using a mobility device.

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

‘CEASE AND DESIST’ OVER ILLEGAL E-MOTO SALES. Online sales of illegal e-motos (fake e-bikes) is a scourge on UK and US city streets. Last week New York City Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, issued cease and desist orders to 40 online retailers warning them to stop selling prohibited e-scooters and e-motos. Offending marketplace owners face fines of up to $2,000 per illegal sale. The move is intended to crack down on the dangerous, overpowered machines that are involved in more than half of e-bike and stand up e-scooter rider deaths in the city. Amazon responded by saying ‘safety is a top priority’, and it is ‘looking into the products in question’.

ILLEGAL INFLUENCERS? Cycling Electric’s Mark Sutton has been busy delving into the world of e-bike crime… including highlighting the “‘e-bike’ influencer” content that could get you arrested. Sutton has identified plenty of such content, which he alleges contains mostly e-motorbikes, including those with cheat buttons to make them appear road-legal. He says this material is being fed, via algorithms, to legitimate e-bike and motorbike users - not all of whom may know the products are illegal on UK roads without registration. Astonishing.

LONDON IS A CYCLING CITY. News today that London’s cycling network has grown with Sadiq Khan (supported by London Cycling & Walking Commissioner Will Norman) delivering a fivefold expansion of London’s network of Cycleways to over 450km - enabling millions & millions of greener, cleaner, safer & healthier journeys. Campaign group LCC said: “There’s lots left to do but this is a moment to celebrate!”

FROM DOORSTEP TO DESTINATION. For a truly integrated transport system that provides the choice not to drive, we need to think about whole journeys. That’s what the latest report by the Urban Transport Group, From Doorstep to Destination, aims to do. It notes that every public transport trip starts with a local trip, and for people to cycle or walk those local legs of journeys we need to focus on the details of people’s neighbourhoods, and ‘trip attractors’, i.e. destinations. The recommendations include the rollout of side road zebra crossings, tackling pavement parking, boosting the design quality and maintenance budgets of pavements and cycle routes, and integrating new developments with active travel networks.

BIKE NOUVEAU. The French government has committed to increasing cycle commuting from 5% of trips (half the European average) to 12% by 2030. New research has quantified the impact of existing cycle routes and secure parking on cycling levels, and overlaid census data to establish how France might reach this goal. Researchers estimate the country needs to increase cycle lanes by 2.3 times, and cycle parking by 17 times. They also underline the need to understand the different areas, rural and urban, and their residents, and tailor approaches accordingly. It’s a technical, but fascinating piece of work, with some impressive graphs (see below).

OTHER HEADLINES

BOGOTA SETS SIGHTS ON GENDER PARITY. Gender parity in cycling is essential to meet health, emissions and climate goals and, frankly, it should be a goal for any city. Bogota set a cycling policy in 2021 that incorporated a ‘gender perspective’, and now has a target to reach gender parity by 2039. It’s a stretch because, even though the Colombian city is a global success story, as this Guardian piece points out, just 28% of its cyclists are women. Concerns around safety and theft are major barriers for women, along with a need for more safe cycle networks and the fact that a third of women never learned to cycle.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

The left graph shows the impact of cycle lanes in boosting cycling levels in high, medium and low density population areas, and the right shows the almost as impressive impact of cycle parking. Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X26001757#tbl4

1. Cycle lanes b) Cycle parking

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Cease and desist. Some legal nerdery this week, clarifying that while an individual or company may send out cease and desist letters to those they believe have committed, say, copyright infringements, urging them to stop or face legal action, when a government does it, it’s more serious. In this case the cease and desist letter New York City sent to online retailers acts as an order, i.e., a warning of impending enforcement. If marketplaces keep selling illegal e-motorbikes and e-scooters, they will face fines.

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

POSTIES ON CARGO BIKES. Royal Mail has cottoned on that e-micromobility might be a better bet for urban deliveries. It’s been over a decade since they phased out delivery bikes for posties - and banned posties cycling at work. Now, the company has started rolling out quadricycles for deliveries in London, Cambridge and Brighton. Kicking off with 20 of the four-wheeled Minimal Pedal 4 cycles, the move is part of the company’s decarbonisation plan, and, as Cycling Electric’s Mark Sutton reports, brings Royal Mail in line with its European operations, and with its competitors Amazon and Evri.

TUSSLE OVER ROBOTAXI LICENSING. London’s streets are currently a testing lab for autonomous taxis, in national trials. There were concerns from London Assembly Transport Committee Chair, Caroline Russell, that TfL had not had a say. This prompted Department for Transport to say that TfL is already responsible for licensing taxis in the city, which has been since confirmed with the news that TfL are granting licences to Wayve and Waymo. Yesterday, on Radio 4’s Today Programme, Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association’s Steve McNamara described robotaxis as a solution looking for a problem. We’ll find out soon enough (although my opinion is pretty clear, here).

A WORLD CUP LEGACY TO GET BEHIND. New York had ‘soccer streets’, Vancouver had a World Cup pedestrian zone. These two great cities decided the international football tournament was a good excuse to inspire more people to be active - and to give street space back to the people, from cars. New York City had school streets type interventions outside 50 schools to give kids space to play football, make art and enable communities to hold block parties. And Vancouver’s pedestrian zone on Granville Street, set up to show football matches, host activities and boost the downtown area, is going from strength to strength: last month the trial was extended to September 7th.

CUTTING POLLUTION EXPOSURE…BY CLOSING PATHS... National Highways has closed two walking and cycling paths beside polluted roads, in order to comply with air quality limits. The national trunk roads body for England faces criticism for ‘perverse’ actions that effectively penalise active travel for motor traffic pollution. Paths beside the A3 in Guildford, and the A282 near the Dartford crossing, were closed in the last 18 months, with one forcing users to take detours on busy roads, where once there was a traffic-free path. There has to be a better way.

RIMINI CRICKET! Rimini may have been the active travel friendly town the urbanist world had never heard of - until this year’s Velo-City conference. As Professor of Cycling and CEO of the Urban Cycling Institute, Meredith Glaser puts it though, the Italian city’s leadership quietly got on with prioritising people over cars for over a decade. The result: an eminently pleasant place to walk, cycle and spend time. From tree-filled plazas where once were car parks, to bike lanes where once was car parking, when good plans meet political will, great things happen.

OTHER HEADLINES

SIX REASONS TO CYCLE TO WORK. Yesterday was Cycle to Work Day and so Cycling UK set out six reasons cycling to work beats driving. Obvious ones are the cost saving and, indeed time saving (driving often isn’t as fast as we are led to believe. Then there’s the big hitter for quality of life, wellbeing and saving the NHS money: the massive health benefits of getting active. If you cycled to work yesterday and enjoyed it, it’s worth sharing with the world… and Cycle to Work day is a good excuse to do so.

FROM DARLINGTON TO STRATFORD. Local authorities are quietly getting on with helping people cyle to work, to the shops, to caring duties, to their social lives, etc., etc. In Darlington, work is getting underway on Monday on the latest section of one the Tees Valley’s priority cycle routes. In east London, a crossroads on the formidable Romford Road is soon to be transformed into Newham’s first Dutch-style protected junction, as part of an ambitious wider scheme running east-west from Stratford to the North Circular.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

A Dutch-style junction. As the name suggests, these are common in the Netherlands, making it safer for those walking and cycling to cross, while trimming excess road space, which slows down drivers. As shared by Newham councillor John Morris, who hails his officer colleagues for making history in the borough with these plans.

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Soccer streets. A great way to rebrand the rethinking of public space, around a global event that people of all ages have enjoyed. Opening up the street as a space for celebration, rather than predominantly for cars, has started some great conversations in the US and Canada. Olé!

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

MOST COUNCILS ENCOURAGE PAVEMENT PARKING. Pavement parking is being ‘encouraged’ by half of local councils, according to research by the BBC. Just over half of 164 local authorities who responded to a Freedom of Information request confirmed they installed parking spaces on pavements. In part, the situation has been driven by ever larger vehicles, and more and more car ownership. While the government gave local authorities new powers this year to tackle pavement, each local authority will need to act in their area. Birmingham councillor Harris Khaliq pointed out councils are still awaiting guidance on using the new powers.

POLICE END ‘BOGUS’ E-BIKE SPEED TEST. It’s welcome news that West Midlands Police (WMP) promises to use different methods of testing e-bikes, and to drop charges against a rider whose road legal Tern HSD was seized and destroyed by the force. WMP admitted it got it wrong in April, when it tested the Tern by lifting the rear wheel and cranking the pedals - leading to excessively high speed readings. The force is offering full compensation to the owners, promising to learn its lessons. In London, the Met Police has deployed ‘rolling road’ type equipment to test illegal e-bikes, seizing a ‘record number’ in an operation last week. While forces don’t necessarily need high-tech equipment, hopefully good practice will start to spread, and soon.

WHAT IS A LEGAL VS ILLEGAL E-BIKE. Do you know someone who’s concerned about e-bike fires, or who read the rather misleading stories about £110m ‘e-bike collision’ payouts - both things actually attributable to e-motorbikes and sub-standard illegal products? You could do worse than to share this video with them. In it, YouTuber Evan Erdinger explains why fires and dangerous rider behaviour are being wrongly attributed to e-bikes, when they actually relate to illegal products. He also underlines how the UK is currently failing to effectively police the issue.

WE CAN (ALMOST) ALL AGREE ON SAFE STREETS. The world has voted to nearly halve road deaths by 2030. That is, aside from one major hold out: the USA. At a UN general assembly meeting US representative Dan Negrea complained the motion was both a symbolic gesture, and one linked with ‘top-down environmental restrictions on freedom and mobility’. It’s like the 15-minute city conspiracy theory on a macro scale. Still, this stance is consistent with the current administration’s position on road safety and, as Forbes journalist Christine Ro suggests, the UN Declaration is a crucial step forward - if the world’s nations invest in solutions.

US’ CYCLING CULTURE WAR. It follows that the US Department of Transportation (DOT) is not keen on cycling, entangling it with another of the administration’s pet peeves. Since Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pledged to end support for “DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) bike lanes” two weeks ago, federal staff have apparently been asked to find, and in some cases take down, website references to bikes and bike lanes. A cranky DOT quote pointed out 80% of Americans use cars to get to work, adding a focus on cars is “a common sense approach despite the Left’s belief that everyone should ride a bike to their shoebox-sized apartment to eat crickets to achieve a phony climate agenda.” Tin hats all round.

HERE’S ME TALKING UK CULTURE WARS TO US PODCAST. I was pleased to speak with Doug Gordon from The War on Cars podcast - it’s currently their Patreon bonus episode (do support their good work) and will be on general release later this year. A preview is available on their website. We discussed the #BikeIsBest campaign, UK culture works and my time as Cycling and Walking Commissioner in the West Midlands.

OTHER HEADLINES

BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS. Access barriers are often installed with good intentions - to prevent antisocial use of traffic-free spaces by people with off-road motorbikes, say. However, they end up excluding legitimate users, sometimes those who most benefit from those traffic-free spaces. That means those using non-standard cycles, some of them people with disabilities who can’t lift or manoeuvre their cycles through awkward spaces. In Cardiff, south Wales, a long-running battle to remove such barriers has finally succeeded, opening up a riverside path to a more diverse set of users. Small change, big impact.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: Cycling UK has produced a short video clip of what went wrong when West Midlands Police officers mistakenly seized a legal e-bike, believing it to be an illegal vehicle. Source:

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Cyclists’ Defence Fund. The Cyclists’ Defence Fund turns 25 this year. Cycling UK’s legal support body, CDF has been stood down from the West Midlands E-bike case, following a police apology, but it’s done plenty of valuable work in its quarter century, including landmark cases like this, and is worth knowing about.

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

LEGAL CHALLENGE OVER POLICE DESTRUCTION OF TERN BIKE. The Cyclists’ Defence Fund (CDF) and Cycling UK have taken on the case of the rider and bike shop whose hired Tern HSD e-bike was seized, before being destroyed. West Midlands Police stopped Matin Zandi on Birmingham New Street in April and confiscated the bike, issuing him with a fixed penalty notice for not riding with insurance. However, the way the road-legal e-bike was tested - lifting the rear wheel off the ground and cranking the pedals - doesn’t demonstrate how fast a motor propels a bike. The CDF’s Duncan Dollimore wants clearer guidance for police on tackling the growing problem of illegal e-motorbikes, easily confused by the untrained eye with a safe, legal e-bike.

LONG-TERM FUNDING KLAXON. Long-term funding has long been the holy grail for active travel - without it, it’s impossible to plan and deliver large-scale projects and walking and cycling networks. So, it’s good news that Active Travel England has announced four years of walking, wheeling and cycling money for local and mayoral authorities for the first time. This should help with planning and building routes, while offering better value for taxpayers as projects aren’t stopping and starting each year. It’s brilliant to see my old patch, the West Midlands Combined Authority, receive an impressive £36m over four years - the most of any region. Oxfordshire has doubled its allocation in this round, having improved its capability rating (see word of the week).

GLOBAL ROAD DEATHS FALL BY 21% Road traffic danger kills 1.16m people per year - and remains the biggest killer of children and young adults globally. If it were a pandemic, there would be a global emergency response. Incredibly, this figure represents a substantial reduction since 2011, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), despite more than a billion vehicles being added to the world’s roads in that time. The WHO says this is not enough, however, and a UN target seeks to halve road deaths and serious injuries by 2030. Tackling the causes of collisions, like speeding, drunk and drug driving and distracted driving, and improving conditions in low- and middle-income countries where 90% of road deaths happen, are among the solutions.

WAYMO’S NYC DRIVERS KEEP SPEEDING. An investigation by NYC Streetsblog tracked traffic violation tickets issued to autonomous vehicle (AV) taxi firm Waymo. After city officials revoked the company’s driverless license in April, journalists found five Waymo vehicles were ticketed for being driven over the speed limit, plus two bus lane violations. As journalist Gersh Kuntzman wryly put it, “Waymo is constantly claiming that its autonomously driven taxis are safer than human drivers — and the company is certainly right … at least when one compares an AV Waymo taxi to the company’s own drivers.”

HOW PARIS TRANSFORMED 300 SCHOOL STREETS. Paris’ journey towards a child-friendly city should be an inspiration for cities around the world. Between 2020 and 2026 an incredible 300 school streets were created, with trees, seating and play space. The transformation started in the pandemic when social distancing outside schools became challenging at pick-up and drop-off time. Trial street closures were the first step. This interview with one of Paris’ urban planners, Priscilla Benedetti, says key to success were things like having a clear political mandate, trialling ideas and upscaling successes, listening to citizens, mapping children’ s journeys and understanding traffic movements. This wasn’t a political ‘fait accompli’, she says, flexibility and adaptability to local needs were crucial.

OTHER HEADLINES

NYC AIMS TO SLASH CYCLE LANE DELIVERY TIMES. Cycle lanes could be delivered 33% faster in New York City if a proposed removal of red tape goes ahead. A commission led by Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to streamline the consultation process for bike lanes which, at present, adds months of delay. Legal challenges following backlash to the rapid Mike Bloomberg-era cycle lane delivery, circa 2009, means city officials must consult with a range of agencies for any street redesign, including bike lanes over 1,000 feet or three blocks. The commission cites safety as a driving force behind the proposed changes, which will be voted upon in November.

INTERESTING GRAPH(IC) OF THE WEEK: This image shows how Paris delivers streets as learning spaces. The school street artwork on the light-coloured paving represents the solar system. Source: Priscilla Benedetti/ City of Paris. From: https://cities4children.org/blog/how-paris-transformed-300-school-streets/

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Capability ratings. These are rankings of local authorities in England based on their ability to create schemes that will support walking and cycling. Ratings go from 0 to 4, decided by councils’ local leadership, plans and delivery record. Their ratings help determine the funding they will receive. Read more: https://www.activetravelengland.gov.uk/resources/capability-ratings

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-BIKE TRUST MARK LAUNCHES. E-bike Positive has become a trust mark for electric bikes, as research shows 84% of the public can’t differentiate between safe, legal models and illegal e-motorbikes. Launched this week, brands covering 80% of reputable e-bikes sold in the UK are now registered as E-bike Positive suppliers, along with hundreds of shops nationwide. Both shops and brands must commit to the highest product and safety standards. Akin to the Red Tractor food standards mark, the Trust Mark will help reassure consumers they are buying safe, legal products from reputable suppliers.

BAD NEWS FOR E-BIKES ON TRAINS. Meanwhile, MerseyRail has unfortunately followed Transport for London by banning e-cycles on its services. Mark Sutton at Cycling Electric points out some curiosities surrounding this decision: the ban appears to be based on assumptions - dare we say misinformation - rather than fact.

THROWING SHADE. Recent research by a coalition of environmental and horticultural groups urged the British government to significantly increase tree cover and green spaces in urban areas. Green infrastructure, they say, is crucial to mitigating the growing threat of heatwaves in UK cities. Current tree shade is unevenly distributed in urban areas, favouring the wealthier neighbourhoods. This inequality starts early in life, where children in private schools enjoy 41% more tree cover than in state schools. The problem needs tackling urgently, not least to level up children’s access to cooling shade - but a new ‘future homes standard’ excludes schools, hospitals and care homes, and only about a quarter of English councils currently use recognised tools to increase green infrastructure in new developments.

HELPING RURAL COMMUNITIES CYCLE TOO. Rural communities are connected by some of the most dangerous roads in the country, per mile travelled. Cycling and walking are hardly attractive when there’s high traffic speeds and no pavements. New guidance from Active Travel England seeks to help solve the problem by giving rural authorities a suite of tools to deliver active travel routes outside the urban context. The new rural design guide suggests three types of route: those by busy roads, routes using quiet lanes, and those off-road. It takes readers through everything from understanding the kinds of trips taken in rural communities, to developing schemes, designing them and even introducing enjoyable features like play areas, seating and cycle parking. In a nation that’s mostly rural by land mass, it’s an essential bit of kit for local authorities.

STILL RAILING AGAINST 20MPH. There was a predictable hue and cry against the suggestion in new rural design guidance that speed limits on roads shared between walkers, wheelers, cyclists and drivers might be reduced to 20mph, for safety. Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden commented such interventions were ‘nonsensical’, claiming Wales’ speed limit reductions were ‘a disaster’. In fact casualties on 20 and 30mph roads dropped by more than a quarter in the first year, while adding around two minutes to typical journeys. Given speed is one of the biggest contributors to serious and fatal collisions, arguing against it seems increasingly perverse. What’s more, communities are often demanding slower speeds themselves.

OTHER HEADLINES

CYCLING FOR WOMEN’S FREEDOM. Despite patchy growth in cycling in the UK, women are still under-represented in cycling figures. National Travel Survey data finds men make almost three times as many cycling trips as women, cycling four times as far - and the reasons are plain: the roads just don’t feel safe enough. Whether that’s danger from drivers or from potential attackers hidden beside unlit paths, these fears keep women from feeling safe to travel by bike. A recent protest ride around central London, attended by around 300 riders, sought to remind people the problem is far from resolved. Protected cycle lanes, providing routes through busier areas as well as through parks, and tackling poor behaviour on the roads are key.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: E-bike Positive retailers are out there - over 600 at last count - and growing in number. If your local shop hasn’t registered yet, and they deal with e-bikes, give them a friendly nudge. Source: https://ebikepositive.co.uk/pages/retailer

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK: EAPC. The legal term for an e-bike; an electrically assisted pedal cycle. If the rider isn’t pedalling, in almost all cases, it’s not an EAPC. There’s a helpful flow-chart to help distinguish a legal from illegal machin, below. Your local police force may even find it helpful: link.

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

HOT DAMN, THAT’S A HELLISH BIKE LANE. Friend of the newsletter Laura Laker has been investigating a terrible cycle route on the verge of a dual carriageway near Brighton. The road is owned by National Highways and Laker, along with campaigner Chris Todd, went to take a look at it. This atrociously bad cycling and walking path, and others like it, needs tackling with urgency. Todd points the finger at National Highways - but the piece acknowledges that others may end up footing the bill. Either way, placing vulnerable road users within a metre or two of a 70mph dual carriageway seems astonishingly dangerous.

HOT BIKES, STICKY FINGERS. Bike thefts are an ever-present issue in modern-day Britain and, in some places, they are only getting worse. Road.cc has scoured Reddit threads for terrible tales of thieves’ antics, and the apparent inability of police to get the problem under control. One horror story involves a man watching from his window in the dead of night as thieves angle-grind his gold standard lock and make off with his bike. Another reported the theft of 15 bikes from a keypad-controlled storage area. Cycle theft is notoriously a low-risk, high-value crime and few are ever returned to their owners. The London Cycling Campaign is calling for concerted action on this scourge.

POLICE CRUSH ROAD-LEGAL E-BIKE. The issue of misinformation around what is and what isn’t a legal e-bike is creating ever-bigger problems for the industry. The latest example of this is West Midlands Police allegedly crushing a legal e-bike seized in Birmingham, having mistaken it for an e-motorcycle. The Tern HSD e-bike in question was purchased by Birmingham Bike Foundry with Birmingham City Council funding as part of a try-before-you-buy scheme aimed at helping people choose alternatives to driving. As the shop representative put it, though, “why would people want to hire an e-bike if they are going to be harassed by the police for it?” Education of police officers is clearly needed, to remove a very serious barrier to people buying, hiring and using legal e-cycles. The folks at the Association of Cycle Traders (ACT) have handily just launched a one-day training course for Police on this very issue.

INDUSTRY STILL BETTING ON E-BIKES. Analysis of market research data by Cycling Industry News suggests e-bikes are still seen as the biggest growth area. However, a comparison with 2021 shows a steep drop-off in their industry-estimated potential. When asked “Which demographic do you believe holds the greatest opportunity to grow cycling in the near term?” in 2021 72% of dealers answered “those drawn in by electric assistance”. By 2026 that figure had dropped to 55%. ‘Sports cyclists and existing enthusiasts’ and ‘Over 50s’ had taken up much of the slack. Relying on existing customers to spend more money each year isn’t much of a long-term strategy; a lower confidence in e-bikes, along with logistics business, new cyclists and young people is something to address, urgently.

WALTHAM FOREST STILL BETTING ON CARGO BIKES. Retailers’ confidence in cargo cycle growth may be understandable. In the past year or so we’ve seen the closure of delivery firm Zedify and cargo bike manufacturer, EAV. However, in Waltham Forest, former staff of Zedify have started a workers’ co-op and signed a two-year contract with Waltham Forest Council to deliver services like cycle hangar fob keys to new users - plus work for private companies. Distancing themselves from gig economy companies, they are paying riders the London Living Wage and aiming for a high standard of rider training and behaviour.

OTHER HEADLINES

DRESSING FOR THE WEATHER. Momentum Magazine, which is based in New York where summers can be brutally hot, has gathered some tips for heatwave-appropriate cycle clothing. And because it’s New York, style is definitely part of the equation. From dresses to natural fibres, and loose fabrics - to which colours won’t show sweat - there’s one or two handy tips in this short piece, and a couple of stylish New Yorkers to boot. For a more technical approach to the question that’s being typed into search engines with regularity at the moment, Cycling UK has some practical advice.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: Cycling Industry News’ analysis of where dealers see cycling growth coming from. Source: https://cyclingindustry.news/cin-market-data-stats-show-increasing-industry-focus-on-enthusiasts/

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

E-motorcycle. Calling them illegal e-bikes is one way of describing the illegally modified, high-speed machines on the street, but there’s still a lot of confusion around. The legally correct term is really e-motorcycle.

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

SCHOOL STREETS = COOL STREETS. Research from Paris earlier this year found school streets, which often become rues jardin, aka garden streets are, on average, 5C cooler than neighbouring streets. In many cases, trees and shrubs shade the space and reduce the hard surfaces that can warm up in direct sunlight, while cooling (i.e. lighter shaded) pavement better reflects the sun’s heat. Thermal imagery and in-person visits assessed all of Paris’ 272 school streets and found one school street was 12C cooler than its neighbour. It’s something other cities might think about.

WHY I’M RAGING AGAINST MACHINES. Tech companies have a track record of promising shiny solutions to urban problems that don’t work (see my last Substack post). We saw this with Uber, whose empty, circulating taxis drive up the congestion the company promised to help reduce - and with Elon Musk’s Superloop, an expensive way to build an extra traffic lane underground, which is still underperforming. Now, delivery robots and autonomous taxis threaten to do the same thing on our pavements and roads. This week, pedestrian charity Living Streets wrote a letter calling for Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, to proceed with caution on any plans to legalise these delivery robots, amid signs they are about to get the green light - our pavements are congested enough as it is.

CYCLING > CARS IN CITY OF LONDON. In the Square Mile, the number of cycles has overtaken the number of cars for the first time*, growing by 57% since 2022. There are now four times as many dockless e-bikes, and 60% more personal cycles in that time - and cycles are now 56% of all traffic in rush hour. Meanwhile, motor vehicle use has steadily declined, including buses and taxis. City of London data (see graph of the week) clearly shows inflection points when motor vehicle use dropped notably, including the global recession in 2008, the congestion charge zone and cycle superhighways opening, and the Covid pandemic. Paris achieved this feat back in 2024, as a recent Momentum article reminds us. *presumably also during the 1950s cycling boom.

CUTTING CARS CUTS CRIME. We’ve all experienced the hostility of congested streets: the noise, the speed, the air pollution - and the sense we’d rather be elsewhere. Well, busier streets become less safe in other ways, too. A new study from the University of Leeds found perceptions of crime - and crime itself - rise with heavy traffic in a neighbourhood, and that reducing traffic can also reduce vandalism, burglary and violence. Using ‘robust, longitudinal data’, researchers say they are confident about the causal relationship between the two - with potential explanations being that neighbours on busy streets talk to one another less, and therefore trust each other less, as well as feeling less ownership of shared spaces.

POOR-VALUE ROADS SCRAPPED? A series of high-cost road projects that are known to be poor value for money could be scrapped to help plug a gap in defence spending. On the £700m-value list are two legacy schemes from the previous government, the A46 Newark bypass and A38 Derby junctions, which Labour was expected to cancel last year. The government will consult on scrapping them, and possibly more. Government departments will also be asked to contribute 1p for every £1 of their capital budgets.

OTHER HEADLINES

HAMMERSMITH BRIDGE TO REMAIN CAR-FREE. That’s the conclusion of a council report estimating the cost of repairs to the elderly structure at an eye-watering £300m. The report will be considered by the council next week but, it says, “there is no financial option available that would allow its full restoration.” Instead, ‘phased repair’ will prioritise the most urgent structural issues, while keeping the bridge open to cycling, walking and wheeling, reports the Evening Standard. The Times highlights that, according to Telraam counter data, around 12,000 people are walking and cycling on the bridge, so it’s not closed, is it?

Source: Telraam

ACTIVE TRAVEL ENGLAND NEEDS YOU! Could you be the next CEO of Active Travel England? After Danny Williams’ departure, following four successful years of service, the body delivering walking, wheeling and cycling programmes in England is looking for a new leader. With active travel at an exciting inflection point, as ATE starts to deliver on the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3) and billions of pounds of active travel programmes, it’s set to be a demanding, but rewarding role.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

Cycles up, cars down: Cycling now outnumbers driving in the City of London. Source: https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/assets/Services-Environment/City-Streets-2025-Summary-Report.pdf

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Collective efficacy. A group’s shared belief in its ability to organise and execute something to achieve a common goal. In neighbourhoods this might involve coming together to look out for one another and the shared streetspace, and to trust one another to do so. From this week’s study on traffic and crime, by Leeds Uni.

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.

Technology has always promised to revolutionise cities. But, when it comes to transport, the solutions experts agree on are typically solutions we’ve had since the mid to late-1800s. If you want to reduce emissions, improve efficiency and decrease congestion, then you need trains, trams, buses, and metro systems - not to forget walking and cycling. These are the proven methods for carrying large numbers of people, both efficiently and sustainably.

The motor car is, of course, also an impactful innovation when used in the right context. It is possibly the clearest example of a lobby being able to convince cities they should adopt a future of an individualistic private transport system that was neither technically possible nor desirable.

Cars proceeded to destroy cities. In many cases, literally. My home city of Coventry was famously bombed by the Luftwaffe during World War II, destroying much of its medieval core. But the planners had already decided to do it anyway - to make way for the motor car - and were even quoted as saying that it helped them accelerate the process. As former West Midlands Cycling & Walking Commissioner, I can speak with experience: it is taking a lot of time and a lot of money to put things right as cities realise the private car experiment has not worked.

I am not anti-technology; an electric bicycle has transformed my daily transport and I hope for the day when satellite internet makes its way to train travel, significantly improving productivity. Some technological improvements are welcomed, but they have to be implemented on top of sturdy foundations.

A helpful question to ask is: What problem are we trying to solve? A second question might be: What are the benefits and disbenefits?

With technology, we always seem to forget to talk about the latter. New tech blindsides us and somehow manages to sidestep even the most basic of scrutiny.

Two current big moves in transport, which have captured the imagination of the Government but in my view have significant disbenefits, are so-called “robotaxis” and pavement delivery robots. These follow a trend of trying to individualise transport, which, because of space constraints, makes no sense in cities, unless your only motive is profit.

We will discuss the disbenefits of these devices later and the impact they will have on an urban transport system. But first, we should look at what recent history tells us about whether improvements in this era of “individualistic incrementalism” have lived up to their promises.

We have a good example in Uber. Its promise to cities was that they would help reduce congestion. To the surprise of almost no-one who understands transport in cities, they did not. In San Francisco, ride-hailing vehicles were the single biggest contributor to congestion growth between 2010 and 2016, outweighing population growth, employment growth and road network changes combined. Vehicle hours of delay rose 62% with ride-hailing present, versus a modelled 22% in a counterfactual with no ride-hailing vehicles. In other words, they roughly tripled the growth in delay. Roughly 40% of ride-hail miles are driven with no passenger, between fares. 2020 analysis found a typical ride-hail trip generates about 69% more climate pollution than the trip it displaces, precisely because of these empty miles plus mode shift away from transit and active travel.

In London, private hire driver licences jumped from around 67,000 in 2013 to nearly 118,000 at their 2017 peak, and number is close to 109,000 today.

I am not particularly shocked that a tech company that stood to make maximum profit from flooding a market and individualising transport in cities, were not quite honest about the disbenefits.

Politicians, in particular, seem particularly susceptible to believing the promises of big tech. From 2016–17, Elon Musk pitched The Boring Company as a way to “solve” soul-destroying traffic. The original concept was autonomous electric “skates” running at up to 150 mph carrying 8 to 16 people, and the Vegas Loop is still marketed at an eventual 90,000 passengers per hour.

The reality? The only operational system is the Las Vegas Loop: human-driven Teslas, maximum four passengers, running through tunnels at around 35mph. Peak measured throughput on the original Convention Center loop was about 1,355 passengers per hour in 2021, against a contractual 4,400 the company was meant to hit, and a headline pitch of tens of thousands.

It cannot work for that awkward efficiency reason again: a single lane of cars moves on the order of 1,000 to 2,000 people per hour whether that lane is on the surface, elevated or bored through rock. A metro line on a single track moves 20,000 to 40,000-plus. But this hasn’t stopped politicians from believing the hype (aided by millions of pounds of lobbying dollars) and letting him build the thing.

Not all politicians are buying the arguments from the tech bros, though. Zohran Mamdani declined to renew the licence for Waymo in New York. Sadiq Khan’s TfL may do the same and refuse to licence robotaxi firms Waymo and Wayve in London, citing concerns about congestion and job losses. Congestion, as we saw with Uber in London, is a significant disbenefit that risks undermining public transport and active travel use. Even Elon Musk has said this quiet part out loud. In 2022, he tweeted: “Self-driving car[s] will amplify traffic to insane levels, as you won’t feel the pain of driving yourself.”

Supporters of Robotaxis have a strong card to play, and it deserves to be taken seriously: safety. The pitch is that a computer cannot drink, cannot text, and cannot lose its temper, and on the industry’s own numbers, that bears out. Waymo says its vehicles are involved in thirteen times fewer serious-injury crashes than human drivers across more than 170 million miles, and CNN’s review of the 1,200 collisions the company reported to American regulators found it was rarely at fault.

If the only question were whether a robotaxi is safer per mile than the average tired or distracted human, the honest answer will probably be yes.

But that is where the scrutiny usually stops, and it is precisely the wrong place to stop, especially if you care about sustainable transport in cities. The current data is the industry’s own homework; there is no requirement to report near misses, so the close calls never make it into the figures the companies are so keen to quote. CNN assembled them by hand from complaint lines, police reports and social media: a wheelchair user nearly side-swiped, a Waymo stopping a foot short of a schoolchild after ignoring a crossing guard, a father who had to push his son out of the road. None of that shows up in a collision statistic, and a former adviser to America’s road safety regulator summed up the direction of travel bluntly. As these cars gain market share in more cities, he said, we see more and more problems.

Then there is the promise the whole thing rests on, that machines obey the rules. But, demonstrably, they do not.

Active travel advocates inclined to support driverless car companies may be interested in a case from San Francisco, where Waymos are said to pull into cycle lanes to drop off passengers. There is now a lawsuit from a cyclist left with brain and spinal injuries after being doored by one. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition says the company told safe-streets advocates that avoiding bike lanes was “too high a bar”, because customers want to be dropped off in them. Closer to home, a Wayve prototype ran a red light on Parliament Square while carrying the firm’s own chief executive to collect his OBE, a clip he then shared online to praise its “impressive drive without intervention”.

Robotaxis may improve the lives of some disabled people but they could also make things more difficult for other disabled people. Lobbying materials would like you to think their impact will only be positive. But given that disabled people are not a homogeneous group, this needs to be carefully scrutinised. A video from San Francisco shows a Waymo vehicle blocking side road zebra crossings as a result of being programmed to be more aggressive so other humans yield, letting them join the queuing traffic.

The lessons of technology’s overpromises should be learned. Unfortunately, self-driving cars look like they will be accepted onto UK roads, despite the issues. But there’s still a type of tech I feel that we can still stop: pavement delivery robots.

So apply the two questions one last time. What problem are we actually solving? Not a transport one. Zero-carbon last-mile delivery is already possible with bicycles and e-bikes, but the issue for tech companies is that it requires human labour.

Now the people with the least room to give it up are penalised: wheelchair users, those with sight loss, older people, anyone pushing a pram on a pavement, sharing limited space with robots. These are the disbenefits we’ve been failing to talk about.

This is why I have worked on a campaign “Pavement Overload” with the charity for everyday walking, Living Streets, where I am a Trustee.

If you’ve read this far, you’ll know not to trust big tech companies. But, in case you still need convincing, these machines are already trundling along British pavements with no law that actually permits them to be there. One of the big players, Starship Technologies, told The Grocer that “the Highways Act 1835 - which does not allow carriages to operate on pavements - creates uncertainty that could hinder investment.”

According to The Grocer, Starship have promised to build 10,000 robots in the UK if the government acts to clarify new legislation. The Government appears to be more concerned with a risk to inward investment than to pedestrians, so is planning a new Low-speed Zero Emission Vehicle category to regulate micromobility vehicles, including pavement robots, when Parliamentary time allows. Lord Hendy confirmed in answer to a written question from Lord Berkeley that “the Government recognises the current legal framework does not provide the certainty businesses need to invest.”

A lack of regulation hasn’t seemed to stop the companies responsible for the robots, which doesn’t bode well if you want to believe they will be additive to our communities. Starship Technologies and their rivals appear to be operating the same “act now, beg for forgiveness later” modus operandi as many other tech companies that exploit gaps in regulation. An FOI request from Bristol City Council, where Delivers.ai robots operate in partnership with Just Eat, is doing so without any permissions whatsoever: “There has been no approval process to permit delivery robots to be operated in Bristol. We are not involved in a pilot scheme, no licences, permits or agreements have been issued, no risk assessments have been undertaken, and no conditions or restrictions have been placed on operators.” A report in the BBC highlights the issue with robots narrowly missing a Councillor’s dog.

Pavements are some of the last spaces technically still dedicated to people (when not filled with badly parked cars and wheelie bins) and this is worth protecting. We know what we need to do to fix our problems in urban transport and they definitely involve more walking, more cycling and more public transport. The privatisation of public space, in many forms, has left us poorer as a society over time.

Then there’s the small issue that these robots aren’t even very useful. Many videos online show them needing human intervention, to have buttons pressed for them, or to be helped up kerbs. Some users online report that they’re slower than human delivery riders. All this, at the expense of vulnerable pedestrians, for what?

I believe that Britain’s pavements should not be for sale, and unlike the driverless car or the robotaxi, this is a fight we can probably still win before it becomes entrenched. If you think the footway belongs to people rather than private interests, add your voice and tell the Government: our pavements are not for sale.

Tell your MP and support the campaign at pavementoverload.com.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

HEATWAVE A heat dome is once again over Europe, bringing prolonged high temperatures through the night. With every heatwave the cries seem to grow louder - that acres of unshaded tarmac is a trend we need to reverse, with tree planting among other things. We also need to cut carbon and, with domestic transport responsible for 28% of the UK’s CO2 emissions, cycling is one low-carbon solution. The heat is making cycling more challenging for now - from everyday journeys people are being recommended to do at cooler times, to the ultra-distance, as Lael Wilcox was forced to abandon her round the world cycling record attempt. For some, though, cycling is still the best option - as Wheels for Wellbeing’s Kate Ball points out.

BATTERY SWAPPING FOR DELIVERY RIDERS Battery fires from low-quality e-bikes that don’t meet legal safety standards are a concern for gig economy riders worldwide. One solution is fire-proof charging facilities, as seen in New York and Amsterdam. Now, Berlin has two such charging cabinets, which riders can use to charge their batteries. The cabinets are compatible with ‘nearly all e-bike batteries’ - so long it fits in the cabinet. They save riders carrying spares, and there’s plans to expand the network to 10 locations. Launched with Zoomo, the batteries inside are monitored as they are charging, via BatteryIQ.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH SUVS? Nearly two thirds of British driving license holders don’t understand that SUVs pose a greater danger to pedestrians and cyclists than smaller cars. That’s according to new YouGov polling of 1,838 British driving license holders. Even after being told the facts, just 3.6% of those who intend to buy or lease an SUV say they would change their minds. The work was commissioned by AdFree Cities with Professor Ian Walker at Swansea University. Walker underlines the folly of accepting this trend, unchecked - pedestrians and cyclists have 44 per cent greater odds of being killed when struck by an SUV driver than someone in a smaller car. Researchers recommend weight-based taxation, to improve the appeal of smaller cars.

WHY LONG-TERM FUNDING IS KEY It’s hard to deliver much on a yearly funding basis. With active travel, councils struggle to deliver ambitious schemes if they don’t know how much money they’ll get in subsequent years. Glasgow made good progress on cycling and walking routes - including some impressive bridges. However, reversal of multi-year funding by Transport Scotland in favour of single-year allocations, the scaling back of cycle route delivery ambitions from 270km by 2032, to just 54.4km. Glasgow City Council will focus on connecting existing routes for now. Where did the money go, you might ask? To potholes, is the answer.

LONDON AIR POLLUTION DEATHS DROP BY 40% The predicted number of deaths linked to toxic air has fallen by 40% in the last five years, according to new data. While the research doesn’t isolate the impact of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone, London mayor, Sadiq Khan, says the zone was crucial in cleaning up the city’s air. The estimated premature deaths attributable to air pollution has fallen from a range of 6,400-8,00 in 2019 to between 3,800 and 5,100 in 2024. The research, commissioned by the Greater London Authority and Transport for London, also found harmful fine particulates fell by 28% in this time.

OTHER HEADLINES

OXFORDSHIRE DEBATES PAVEMENT PARKING BAN Pavement parking may be banned by Oxfordshire County Council, pending a debate next week. The government recently gave strategic or upper tier authorities powers to ban pavement parking if they choose - rather than going for a national ban. Despite widespread public support for a ban, this compromise places the onus on local councils to act, and deliver. In Oxfordshire this decision is even more fractured, and if the motion is successful, each pavement will be examined on a case-by-case basis. While it’s a positive step forward for Oxfordshire, this will be a hugely resource-heavy and time-consuming process.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: This arresting graphic shows just how much space is given over to the parking or control of private vehicles in one London borough (as of 2022) - and how little for more equitable purposes. Extrapolated nationally, that’s a lot of potential for better. Source.

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Kerbside strategy: In Lambeth, south London, 94% of the kerb space is used for car parking. The borough’s groundbreaking kerbside strategy looks at that huge space - 579,000 linear metres of it - and proposes a fairer distribution of that space for things like trees, crossings, cycle parking and seating.

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.