#BikeIsBest Advocacy Digest - Edition No. 129

Hello and welcome to another week in the world of everyday cycling, as #BikeIsBest attempts to make sense of some of the noise.

SWINGS, ROUNDABOUTS, AND GOOD NEWS ON THE HORIZON?

This week we look at news from Wales, Los Angeles, Montreal and the world of press regulation where some sense is at least prevailing, some of the time. Meanwhile, in England, there are some very good signs for the future of cycling and walking. Watch this space. 

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

20MPH WORKS - LATEST. Road casualty numbers fell by a quarter in the first three months of the default 20mph speed limit being introduced. That’s according to data from the Welsh Government, which showed 78 people were killed or seriously injured on 20mph and 30mph roads between January and March this year, compared to 101 in the first quarter of 2023. As a spokesperson put it, “We’ve still got a way to go but every casualty reduced makes a difference”.

CAR-FREE *CHECKS NOTES* LOS ANGELES? That’s the plan for the 2028 Olympic Games, anyway. After a sustainable transport focus in Paris 2024, car-centric Los Angeles will have a task on its hands. We see congestion as a negative for events like the Olympics, but not for everyday life in cities. Perhaps this is an opportunity to do things differently. But will cycling and even walking be part of the picture too?

IPSO RULES AGAINST TELEGRAPH ‘52MPH CYCLISTS’ STORY. The piece inspired plenty of ridicule and ire. The idea of a regular cyclist managing 52mph - exceeding Chris Hoy’s top speed - is ludicrous and dangerous. After 96 people complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) the regulator found the Telegraph had breached editorial standards for accuracy, when it claimed 52mph cyclists were ‘putting lives at risk’. A helpful reminder of the importance of accuracy, you’d hope. 

MONTREAL RAMPS UP SUV PARKING CHARGES. SUV drivers will pay more to park in one of Montreal’s boroughs, after it emerged the increasingly popular vehicles had reduced available parking by 4,000 spaces. The borough mayor of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, Francois Limoges, is using one of the levers available to him to try and manage the problem. The changes mean vehicle owners will pay by vehicle weight, which better reflects size than engine capacity.

NEW ROUTE IN, OTHER ROUTES OUT. It’s swings and roundabouts across England with cycle routes this week. Oxfordshire County Council is building a new cycle route and pedestrian crossings in Oxford, while Middlesbrough is set to pull out a cycle lane, following complaints. In Torbay a cycle lane was removed from seafront regeneration plans, meanwhile, which local campaigners say will make cycling worse than the previous road layout. Safe cycling shouldn’t be a postcode lottery, but at the moment it does seem to be.

OTHER HEADLINES

TRANSPORT MINISTER MEETS CYCLING EXPERTS. It’s refreshing that new transport minister, Louise Haigh, met with Chris Boardman and Laura Laker this week to cycle on an NCN route near Doncaster and discuss cycling and walking. There are very good signs from the government so far on active travel - and I look forward to announcements in the coming months. 

INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: 

Road collisions have declined steadily since 2010 on Welsh roads. Source: https://www.gov.wales/police-recorded-road-collisions-january-march-2024-provisional-html 

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

KSI - Killed or Seriously Injured - a metric commonly used in road safety, which outlines the human toll of traffic danger in numerical form. A useful, if impersonal way of illustrating the impact of road safety improvements - or the absence of.

Until next time,

Adam Tranter

#BikeIsBest