#BikeIsBest Advocacy Digest - Edition No.53

#BikeIsBest Digest Edition No. 53 | Friday 24th February 2023 | View in browser

Hello and welcome to this week’s BikeIsBest newsletter, your one-stop shop for the future of mobility. Spring is just around the corner and the days are getting longer, so let’s get to it.

GOODBYE TO A LEGEND

Eileen Sheridan was a giant of British cycling, smashing records and demonstrating what female athletes are capable of, in far less enlightened times. Eileen left us last week, aged 99, a sporting hero and a trailblazer. 

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

EU TO DOUBLE CYCLING

Over in Europe there’s a new 17-point action plan to double cycling miles in just seven years. By 2030, the EU resolution states, cycling will play an even greater role in tackling health, oil reliance, transport poverty and climate change, among many other societal issues. Counting cycle trips accurately is just part of the plan. 

EILEEN SHERIDAN

The legendary cyclist Eileen Sheridan died last week at the age of 99. She should be a household name, having smashed just about every record going during her cycling career in the 1940s and 50s, including the formidable End to End. Eileen Sheridan blazed a trail for other women in the sport, as the BBC reports, as it pays tributes to the sporting legend. 

MUMS FOR LUNGS

Last week marked ten years since the death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debra, aged nine, following an asthma attack, who later became the first person to have air pollution listed as a cause of death. Air pollution continues to harm children’s health and urgent action is needed. Alongside Laura Laker and Ned Boulting, I spoke to the founder of air quality campaign group, Mums for Lungs, on the Streets Ahead podcast, on her quest and why we need to act further and faster.

TOO MUCH TECH?

Disconnect blog sets out an argument why in-car entertainment screens are maybe not such a good idea in machines that already contribute to a million deaths a year worldwide. And yet the trend not only persists, it’s apparently ramping up.  

15 MINUTE CITIES
 

Not so much a global conspiracy to limit human freedoms as a way of providing options to get around without needing a car. While protests have made headlines, it really is no more sinister than that, as this video explains.

OTHER HEADLINES

CARGO BIKES BECOMING NORMAL?
 

Oxford Councillor Emily Kerr mulled this week whether cargo bikes are becoming normalised, after four years of using one to transport her kids. “People used to stop me all the time asking me about the strange bike I was using to carry my kids. That hasn’t happened for ages, because cargo bikes and trailers are now so common in Oxford,” she says. Someone else pointed out a decade-old news story of a dad stopped by police for riding a ‘wheelbarrow bike’ - a perfectly normal Bakfiets bike - which hopefully wouldn’t happen today.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

Historic cycling trends. This graph, from the Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty’s annual report on air pollution, shows the stark difference between 1950s cycling levels and today. The report notes: “Reversing this decline would have substantial additional health benefits due to physical activity being built into the normal day, in addition to reductions in air pollution. Improving the infrastructure for active travel is a necessary, although not sufficient, step towards more active trips taken safely by all ages”. It notes good planning, including “20-minute neighbourhoods” can similarly reduce vehicle dependency.

Source

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

15 Minute Neighbourhoods. Areas planned with essential amenities within a 15-minute walk or cycle ride. People can drive in and out, and between neighbourhoods, but it might not be the easiest option. Recent protests have been fuelled by fears drivers’ rights are infringed by such plans - but governments and cities increasingly believe measures like traffic filters, bus priority, and pedestrianised streets, are essential to cut air pollution, improve health and meet net zero targets.
 

Until next time,

Founder, #BikeIsBest

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