#BikeIsBest Advocacy Digest - Edition No.19
#BikeIsBest Digest Edition No. 19 | Thursday, July 23rd 2022 | View in browser
Hello and welcome to this last newsletter of June 2022. With rail strikes and astronomical fuel prices, cycling - and road space reallocation - can’t solve all our transport problems, but it can certainly have a go.
LIKE MOTHS TO CAR HEADLIGHTS?
The sun may be high in the sky but that doesn’t stop society continuing to be dazzled by the false promise of fuel duty cuts and electric vehicles, metaphorical headlamps that surely won’t lead us out of either the climate crisis or the cost of living crisis. They won’t in fact lead us out of pretty much any crisis you choose to name.
BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT FUEL DUTY
Fuel duty subsidies disproportionately help the wealthiest, who own the most cars - and investment in public transport, walking and cycling is a far more equitable and forward-thinking use of public funds. The Conversation’s Caroline Mullen and Greg Marsden argue against cutting fuel duty, for these reasons - a move they say “directly conflicts with efforts to reduce the amount we travel by car, further undermining already weak progress in decarbonising transport and reducing air pollution.”
UK’S OPAQUE ON AIR
The government is set to miss air pollution targets and isn’t informing the public effectively on the issue, the National Audit Office warns - and information on local air quality needs improving. Measures like clean air zones help, it says, and the government needs to move quickly with “robust plans” on curbing pollution and engaging with the public, the Guardian reports.
FROM PARIS, WITH LOVE
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo is set to replace two lanes of a major city road with trees and green space after the 2024 Olympics. Greening the beltway is for the hundreds of thousands currently suffering excessive air and noise pollution from the road, with lanes dedicated to ride pooling, taxis, buses and emergency access. The road will shrink from four lanes in each direction to three, reports Bloomberg’s Feargus O’Sullivan.
WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS
Smart Transport journal has published a long-form piece by Laura Laker about the challenges of road reallocation for cycling and walking infrastructure, like LTNs, and how to overcome those challenges, using case studies and interviews. You need to register to read but it’s free to do so.
BROMPTON HIRE FOR STRANDED RAIL PASSENGERS
Brompton Bike Hire is offering five days’ hire for £1 during the rail strikes. In locations across the UK, it’s helping people get where they need to be for shorter trips, or for the last few miles. Who knows, some people may permanently make the switch. Simply use the code STRIKE after registering for £1.
PARKLET POWER
Campaign group Possible has launched a parklets campaign, to help people press for parks to replace parking spaces where they live. With infographics showing the relatively low cost of parking a car and the high cost of creating a pocket park, Possible provides a stark image of how we prioritise private vehicles over human happiness - and offers some tools to press for change.
OTHER HEADLINES
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE OVER SCHOOL STREETS
Newspapers love to stir up a bit of controversy, with the Sun this week complaining about School Streets, timed traffic closures outside the gates to help more people to walk and cycle. Solihull’s Cllr Ken Hawkins points out just six months ago the Sun warned of traffic danger and jams outside schools. School Streets crucially enable healthy habits and kids love them - and while behaviour change takes time, in the long run cleaner, quieter streets where we can walk, scoot, cycle and breathe easy benefits us all.
INTERESTING GRAPHIC OF THE WEEK
Possible’s parklet campaign work found it’s 256 times more expensive for the public to use a parking space for people than for private cars.
ACTIVE TRAVEL PHRASE OF THE WEEK; LAST AND FIRST MILE DELIVERIES
The last (or first) part of a delivery journey, which can often be shifted from van or lorry to cargo bike, cutting larger, more dangerous vehicles and their emissions from towns and cities (and even rural areas).
Until next time,
Founder, #BikeIsBest
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