#BikeIsBest Advocacy Digest - Edition No.13
#BikeIsBest Digest Edition No. 13 | Wednesday, May 11th 2022 | View in browser
Hello and welcome to edition 13. It's campaign week! I’m really proud of our latest #BikeIsBest campaign, launched this week, with the message cyclists are as diverse as our society - and if we can, you can.
YOUR LUCKY 13 NEWSLETTER, RIGHT THIS WAY
As councils hopefully now push ahead tackling air pollution, congestion and inactivity, we look to this week’s big news stories, and to share the story behind our industry-led campaign to broaden the image of a ‘cyclist’ and inspire people that if we can, you can.
BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY
WE CAN, YOU CAN
This is news that our marketing campaign, We Can, You Can, is now live, with ads running on billboards across the UK - from Chiswick Towers on the M4 flyover to local bus shelters in major UK towns and cities. We’re aiming to reach millions with the message cycling can be for all of us.
THE DOG THAT DIDN’T BARK
The Evening Standard sums up election results showing many councillors that backed out of low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) schemes lost their majority, those opposing such schemes suffered losses, and many who pressed ahead increased their majority. So it seems in Scotland where the pro-active travel SNP extended their majority, while Conservatives promising to ‘rip out’ such schemes lost ground.
SCHOOL STREETS A GO-GO
From North America to Europe school streets, timed school road closures, are growing exponentially. A new FIA Foundation report, outlining the how and why, suggests “a critical threshold is reached, and then things shift quickly. This is certainly the case with school streets”. School Streets’ low cost, high impact and a growing societal focus on kids’ health and the environment, as well as the Covid pandemic, and local leadership have all accelerated change, it says.
KIDICAL MASS GOES BIG
The global phenomenon that is Kidical Mass, a mass organised cycle event organised in parallel in cities around the world, highlighting the importance of safe cycling conditions for the next generation, is happening this weekend. Cycling UK has corralled all the details of events in Inverness and Edinburgh on Saturday, and across England on Sunday, right here.
IF WE CAN, YOU CAN
This week we launch our first campaign of 2022. We Can, You Can is a celebration of the many faces of cycling. The way we move is changing. And the people leading the change are like me and you. We can, you can.
Watch it now
OTHER HEADLINES
BARRIERS SHOULD GO
Cheshire handcyclist Ellis Palmer demonstrates why off-road cycle paths need to be smooth as well as barrier-free. He said: “we have some great cycle trails here in the north-west, but I actually try and avoid routes that can’t be used by cars because, all too often, they have barriers that stop me and uneven surfaces that are dangerous for me”. He says he “ended up falling off and face down in a ditch because of the uneven surface”, which is unacceptable inaccessibility.
WIRRAL’S NEW CYCLE ROUTE
One cyclist has filmed a new cycle route replacing a lane on a dual carriageway on Fender Lane from Moreton to Bidston Station. Part of the Active Travel Fund’s Tranche 1 programme, Wirral Council resisted some calls to remove the lane, saying the scheme’s purpose is to “create a safe environment for both pedestrians and cyclists and to help embed walking and cycling as part of new longterm commuting habits”.
INTERESTING GRAPHIC OF THE WEEK
The exponential growth in school streets worldwide
Source
ACTIVE TRAVEL PHRASE OF THE WEEK; INCLUSIVE DESIGN
Where the needs of all disabled people, as well as all genders, sexualities, ethnicities, shapes, incomes, cultures and customs are considered from the outset of any transport, cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, including in their maintenance.
Until next time,
Founder, #BikeIsBest
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