30% cycling growth and good LTN news #170

LTNs work, but you already knew that.

This week the ‘fake e-bike’ debate gathers speed, with an appearance on BBC Breakfast, a debate in Parliament, and growing understanding of where the problem is coming from: the business practices of delivery app platforms. Also: bike lanes and LTNs, it turns out, work. But you already knew that.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

FAKE E-BIKE DEBATE GATHERS PACE. It's shocking seeing multi-billion pound delivery platforms taking no responsibility for how their riders operate. Monday’s BBC Breakfast report saw journalist Laura Laker call them out, as author of the recent All Party Parliamentary Group report that Fusion Media worked on. Riders on dangerously and illegally modified e-bikes - some of society’s most vulnerable - were filmed cutting corners to try and make ends meet. The problem undermines the regulated, safe cycle industry, but also our efforts to tackle ill health and emissions. For solutions, and the full report, go here.

BEST BOROUGHS FOR WALKING AND CYCLING One London borough, Newham, doubled its 20mph zones, shooting up a league table for walking and cycling, reports the Evening Standard’s Ross Lydall. The Healthy Streets Scorecard ranks London boroughs on a number of people-friendly criteria each year, helping motivate and set the bar for the city’s 32 administrations. While Newham was praised for progress, Bexley did the worst - where ‘car dependency is entrenched’, it said. Five boroughs increased their 20mph streets, and six increased controlled parking schemes.

LTNS CUT DEATHS AND INJURIES BY OVER A THIRD. Examining 113 London Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) across more than a decade, researchers found that LTNs were associated with a 35% reduction in all injuries, and a 37% drop in deaths and serious injuries (KSIs). This amounts to more than 600 road injuries that didn’t happen, including 100 KSIs. If the 27 LTNs that were taken out had remained in place, researchers estimated, 16 further deaths or serious injuries could have been prevented.

30% CYCLING GROWTH IN SCOTLAND. That’s according to data from 34 automatic cycle counters across Scotland. The biggest increase was in Aviemore, where cycling grew by 53% following a new 20mph speed limit. Amazingly, steep rises during the morning and evening peaks, Cycling Scotland says, “indicate that people in and around Aviemore are predominantly travelling by bike for everyday journeys, like commuting to and from work.”

FIVE FIXES FOR DISABILITY-FRIENDLY STREETS. Disabled people are at risk of being designed out of our streets - that’s the warning from a new report by Sustrans and Transport for All. Funded by the Motability Foundation, Transforming Mobility underlines that for 48% of disabled people transport isn’t affordable, and the government isn’t doing enough to improve it. Legalising side road zebras is one of five ‘big ideas’, along with rebalancing streetspace for people and better managing car parking, as well as making disabled people a core part of the decision making process.

OTHER HEADLINES

DROP SUV ADVERTISING TO SAVE KIDS. SUVs should not be sponsoring Wimbledon, according to campaigners, as they are 82% more likely to kill children in a crash. A coalition of parents and 15 grassroots organisations, coordinated by the SUV alliance, wrote to the organisers of Wimbledon tennis championships, to drop Range Rover sponsorship. Guests are ferried to the tournament in these oversized vehicles, prompting concerns around local road safety. During the 2023 championships, two eight-year-old girls were killed in Wimbledon by a driver who lost control of her Land Rover Defender and drove into a playground.

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK:

The dramatic growth in cycling in Aviemore, Scotland, source: https://cycling.scot/news/aviemore-among-dozens-of-scottish-locations-to-see-more-people-on-bikes

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Carspreading: The growth in the size of vehicles on our roads. Larger sizes and higher bonnets are more dangerous in collisions, and increase wear on the roads to boot

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest

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