#BikeIsBest Advocacy Digest - Edition No.49
#BikeIsBest Digest Edition No. 49 | Friday 27th January 2023 | View in browser
Hello and welcome to another chilly week in January.
Can you believe we’re nearly at our 50th edition?!
BYE BYE BLUE MONDAY, HELLO FROSTY FRIDAY
Walking and cycling year-round can yield substantial benefits, and councils up and down the country are still grappling with gritting critical active travel infrastructure - with varying success. What we do know is cold weather alone won’t put everyone off, and the easier we can make it year-round, the more people will do it.
Have you seen our ads in the wild recently? Miss Omar, one of the stars of our We Can, You Can campaign poses here with an ad in Tooting in London.
BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY
LTN LATEST
Environmental charity Possible, with the University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy, has released its latest findings on vehicle flows in and around Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. The biggest survey of its kind, encompassing half of London’s LTNs, found traffic dropped on average 46.9% within the zones and increased just 1% on boundary roads. Some are claiming researcher and reporter bias but it’s a robust study providing yet more data supporting the measures.
METRO HELPS PROMOTE WINTER CYCLING
The Metro shared winter riding tips with its readers, with it promoting all-weather pedal power. Using expert advice from Cycling UK and the Met Office, tips include road positioning and clothing, and sometimes considering if a journey in the ice is really necessary. Cold weather offers challenges, but the message you can still cycle, if you’re sensible, is good to see in mainstream media.
CHANGE IS HARD, PART #76
A row is bubbling over London’s forthcoming Ultra Low Emission Zone. Eight councils are threatening to block the measures on August 29 from reaching the north and south circulars - though the mayor Sadiq Khan says he can install CCTV cameras without their permission. Meanwhile, Byline Times dissects the ULEZ fight with motor lobby group FairFuel. Khan cites the city’s 4,000 premature annual deaths as critical reasons to push ahead. Who said change was easy?
NOTTS AND DERBS WHIPPING UP CYCLING INTEREST
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire are the latest councils consulting on strategic active travel plans. Many councils now have Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans, or LCWIPs, which may sound dry but they’re the foundation on which networks of strategically-planned, decent cycling and walking paths will grow. Simply put, once you know where routes are needed, you can start building them.
RECYCLING CYCLING
Cyclist journalist, Emma Cole, has written this thoughtful piece about what to do with your old cycling stuff. From cycling charities to clubs, those bits and bobs can stop cluttering up your home and actually come in useful … for someone else. In case you’re getting in your spring clean early.
OTHER HEADLINES
CYCLING IS INDEPENDENCE, PART #104
Active Travel England has released its latest clip promoting cycling as a normal, everyday thing enjoyed by regular people. This time 86-year-old David is the star of the show, filmed enjoying a new cycle route in Whitecliff Harbourside Park in Poole, Dorset, on his electric tricycle. For David, cycling is "independence, freedom and enjoyment; part of the everyday routine.”
NOBODY CYCLES IN WINTER?
They do when there are decent cycle routes, as these London cyclists show us. These hardy souls were snapped on the city’s new cycleway 4, which runs from London Bridge to Deptford. Proof high-quality, continuous cycle infrastructure enables people to ride all year long.
INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:
This graphic from Possible and the Active Travel Academy’s Low Traffic Neighbourhood research illustrates the change in traffic levels across the 46 LTNs surveyed. Source:https://www.wearepossible.org/latest-news/ltns
ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:
Active Travel. Did we say what this is yet? The answer depends on who you ask but to us it’s cycling and walking; to others it includes public transport because people often walk to reach them. We think e-scooters don’t count as active, because you merely stand on them, but they are clients, if you like, of the same infrastructure as cycling, so they’re welcome nonetheless.
Until next time,
Founder, #BikeIsBest
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