#BikeIsBest Advocacy Digest - Edition No.65
#BikeIsBest Digest Edition No. 65 | Thursday 25th May 2023 | View in browser
Hello and welcome to your weekly dose of #BikeIsBest, where we filter, compress and condense the week’s news and pour you that delicious cup of cycle-related goodness you were waiting for.
CASH, AND IT’S CRASH NOT ACCIDENT
This week we remember the importance of keeping road safety at the top of the agenda, as victim support charity RoadPeace’s annual challenge comes to a close, while money for councils across England was announced as part of the latest tranche of the government’s Active Travel Fund.
BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY
MONEY FOR CYCLING
Tranche four of the government’s Active Travel Fund was announced this week, from the Binley cycle lane in Coventry. Although the £200m was allocated in February, the announcement was held up by the pre-election period. While the funding is welcome, the fact future funds will be severely reduced by subsequent funding cuts will mean councils can deliver less of this health-boosting, money-saving, choice-expanding transport.
ROADPEACE CHALLENGE
This year marked the third annual RoadPeace challenge for road safety week - with people from across policing, road safety and those affected by collisions getting together to raise money and awareness for this excellent charity. Detective Superintendent Andy Cox has written a blog setting out why there’s still a way to go to change road culture, and the language surrounding it. Speed limiters, lifetime driving bans, graduated licenses and ending ‘exceptional hardship’ clauses are on his wishlist for change.
DITCH THE BAD COMMUTE?
The New York Times has run a comment piece this week asserting that if employers want workers back in the office, per Elon Musk, the commute needs tackling. For many people the journey to work and back requires endurance and patience, but when you’re cycling or walking, it can be the best part of the day. Of course, for more people to do it, people need safe routes.
PARKING TOOL
Parking policy, while dull, can impact traffic levels, urban cooling, biodiversity and health, and how we use street space matters. Climate charity Possible has launched a tool enabling people to assess their local council’s parking policies and create an equitable parking action plan that includes people and nature, not just parked cars.
BRUSSELS BIKE BOOM
A decade ago, the Belgian capital was among the most gridlocked in the world. An ambitious programme of bike lanes, accelerated during the pandemic, has brought about a remarkable transformation. Cycle use has tripled in the past four years, while car miles have declined from 64% of all city miles, to less than 50%. As with every story like this around the world, change wasn’t easy, nor was it universally popular, but now it is widely accepted as positive. This fascinating read from Bloomberg has more.
OTHER HEADLINES
CYCLING MEMORIAL
Hundreds of cyclists from across the UK came together this week in the West Midlands village of Meriden, to pay tribute to fallen cyclists during war. People have gathered here annually since May 1921, and you can watch a clip from the 1950 event here. The Memorial is unfortunately very relevant at the moment: Kostya Deneka, an Ukrainian elite cyclist, died - at just 28 - defending Bakhmut from Russian soldiers in Ukraine on 31st March 2023
INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:
15-Minute cities may not be a new concept, but they certainly gained prominence in public debate in 2023, as news articles and conspiracy theories abounded. Some would just call them ‘sensible transport planning’, but here’s how interest has grown worldwide in the past five years.
ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:
Lifetime driving ban: In 2021, lifetime driving bans issued increased to 251, up from 9 in 2020 and 12 in 2019, but too many drivers who exhibit dangerous behaviour, some of them repeatedly, are allowed back behind the wheel in a few short years. Detective Superintendent Andy Cox is among those calling for lifetime bans to increase among the worst dangerous drivers.
Until next time,
Founder, #BikeIsBest
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