Potholes: more than meets the eye? #156

Are heavier vehicles accelerating road disintegration?

While pothole repair is flaunted as something that benefits all road users - we know cyclists come off far worse in pothole collisions - it’s definitely not cyclists causing the damage. Plus, a debate on the future of active travel, how the industry can get involved, and the joy of giving kids access to bikes and safe routes.

BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY

THE FUTURE OF ACTIVE TRAVEL. Last week, we at Fusion Media (the agency behind #BikeIsBest) hosted a debate with Chris Boardman CBE, Ruth Cadbury MP and former Minister Trudy Harrison. Talking about ‘The Future of Active Travel’, our panellists talked about normalising cycling, something we at #BikeIsBest have been working on for years, while framing the ‘gains’ i.e., kids’ freedom, not the ‘losses’ of say, parking. There’s also some great industry-focused takeaways, expanded in our blog, including engaging with parents and with public affairs.

CARS DON’T BELONG IN CITIES: TOP-GEAR HOST. James May, former car show co-host, says driving feels like a ‘totally pointless activity’ in London, and that cars don’t belong in towns and cities. He’s amazed people drive a mile to the shops, adding urban driving spoils the activity for him. Speaking to the London Cycling Campaign, for its magazine, he also suggested cycle campaigners should be ‘more humorous’ and less ‘po-faced’, as the Evening Standard’s Ross Lydall reports.

BRISTOL-FASHION. Sick of the ‘beg button’? Pedestrians in Bristol are being given priority over drivers with an amber light for cars appearing as soon as someone presses the crossing button (if no-one has pressed the button within the previous 30 seconds). A Bristol City Council committee unanimously voted for the changes, which were popular when trialled at a few locations and are now recommended for all stand-alone pedestrian crossings in the city. Traditionally, car traffic is seen as highest value in transport analyses and it’s good to see a shift in received wisdom: those on the pavements are important too.

IS CYCLE-TO-WORK REALLY FOR THE RICH? This Telegraph article, on the consumer-side failures of the Cycle-to-Work scheme, starts badly but ends better. While baiting drivers with ‘rich cyclists are spending taxpayers’ money’ is thoroughly unwise, the piece rather more thoughtfully delves into the issue of high earners using the employee benefits scheme for high-end bikes (unlike most benefits, the more you earn, the more you save), while self-employed or low-income workers, those in retirement or unemployed, are locked out.

£17BN POTHOLE CRISIS AND HEAVY VEHICLES. Last week the Asphalt Industry Alliance reported the spiralling cost of road repair in England and Wales, with one pothole filled every 18 seconds. One in six local roads - 35,000 miles of them - will need relaying within five years. While heavier traffic is often cited as the cause, this letter by a Cambridge councillor points out heavier two-tonne vehicles do 16 times the damage of a one-tonne car. EVs and SUVs, we know, are heavier. First Dog on the Moon has a light-hearted Aussie take on that.

OTHER HEADLINES

BIKES CHANGE LIVES. The Qhubeka Charity has launched its 2025 programme, distributing bicycles to residents in the Northern Cape, South Africa. 70 pupils from two schools now have South African-made bikes. These are truly transformative machines: according to the charity, they can save children walking, on average, 1.5-2 hours a day, and their use has improved exam pass rates by up to 10%, as well as allowing 21 more kids to reach their final exams.

SPEAKING OF WHICH. Active Travel England’s Chris Boardman visited Betty, a child who wrote to the Prime Minister asking for more safe spaces for cycling, walking and wheeling. 7-year-old Betty had seen Manchester’s Oxford Road, with just cycle lanes, buses and taxis, and thought wouldn’t it be nice if more roads were like this. Chris said Betty’s dream is simple, affordable, low-carbon and it’s his job to deliver it.

INTERESTING GRAPH(IC) OF THE WEEK:

ON CARSPREADING. A powerful set of images, taken by Clean Cities’ Crispin Hughes, shows the insidious and dangerous nature of ‘carspreading’ - the on average 1 cm-per-year expansion of vehicles on our streets - and the dangers they pose to children, which the drivers of larger vehicles increasingly struggle to see. Source: https://climatevisuals.org/carspreading/

ACTIVE TRAVEL WORD OF THE WEEK:

Mission-led policy. Something this government wants. This means ‘focusing on ambitious, measurable, long-term objectives that provide a driving sense of purpose for the country long-term’. Transforming transport around active travel fits this brief, and the health one, perfectly.

Until next time,

Adam

Adam Tranter

CEO, Fusion & Founder, #BikeIsBest