#BikeIsBest Advocacy Digest No. 100
Hello and welcome to this week in #BikeIsBest land, in which things are not as they might first appear.
100TH NEWSLETTER KLAXON
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BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY
TELEGRAPH GETS EVERYDAY CYCLING. That’s right, Ed Wiseman writes in the Telegraph a nice accessible piece about getting into cycling to work. Recognising it’s a happier way to travel than driving or taking the train, there’s encouragement as to just why that is the case. Alertness, predictable travel speeds and, of course, cost, are among the reasons he gives - and there’s even advice on cheap bikes.
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE (LANES). You need more than just routes to get people cycling. Transport is, after all, a habit, and people need encouragement and enabling as well as hard kerbs and bollards. This research from Sweden concludes “the potential for cycling depends on accessibility, knowledge and attitudes”. Understanding and working with those factors is important if we want cycling to be available to all.
NATIONAL TRAVEL SURVEY IS OUT. Saying that, physical infrastructure still very much matters. Seven out of ten people say they never ride a bicycle, according to the latest National Travel Survey. No surprises that safer roads were the factor that would encourage most people to cycle more (61% said this), followed by well-maintained road surfaces (51%). Safety concerns, poor weather, and too-long journeys were other reasons.
INDUSTRY EXODUS? Women aren’t having a great time in the industry, sadly, as Hollie Weatherstone writes in this Cycling Weekly piece. Representation matters: it trickles from the industry to the cycle lanes. It’s fair to say it’s a very male-dominated environment and it’s clearly not working for everyone. We in the industry can do so much better to accommodate a diverse workforce.
ITALIAN DRIVERS ADJUST TO 20MPH. Bologna became the first Italian city to go 20mph (30kph) this week, with fines for drivers exceeding that speed. Some drivers have protested against the changes, which is perhaps to be expected initially. It will be interesting to see how the policy beds in over time though. We do know pedestrian fatalities are 3.5-5.5 times greater at 30-40mph than at 20-30mph.
OTHER HEADLINES
CARGO BIKE DREAMS. The Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) has applied for £77,000 to run a cargo cycle hire scheme, the BBC reports. If successful the authority will have five e-cargo bikes, four for families and one for businesses, to rent. The funding is being offered by funding body Climate-KIC, which describes itself as ‘Europe’s largest public-private innovation partnership focused on climate innovation’.
INTERESTING GRAPH OF THE WEEK: Access to bicycles by household income. Source
ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:
Confidence. Different elements could help people feel confident to cycle, such as safe routes with low traffic or protected from motor traffic and, as we’ve seen above, that includes confidence in their own ability and in prevailing road conditions. Either way, the National Travel Survey shows riders who feel confident cycle substantially more and for longer than those who aren’t confident riding.
Until next time,
Adam Tranter
Founder, #BikeIsBest