In your weekly edinburgh cycle 'digest' (bumper edition 😅): The Search for Political Will; Fundraising Opportunities; Transport & Environment Committee May Meeting Roundup; and @edfoc Kicks Off!
The importance of active travel, and the encroaching era of car-induced lethargy was a topic for discussion in 1963. Except from John McGahern's The Barracks. #books#bookstodon#cycling#activeTravel
'“We need to ensure that every child can walk or cycle to school safely”: All political parties – except the Conservatives – agree “children’s safety should be prioritised over the convenience of motorists” on “red-rated” road network, families say'
Third day in a row of 40mph winds, so no cycling for me today 😭
If there were safe, separated bike lanes in my area, I'd ride; but the risk of being blown under a vehicle on these awful car-infested roads is too great. Meh. #BikeTooter#ActiveTravel
Body of research grows that indicates the e-bike is a silver bullet for the transport ecosystem in reducing traffic & helping people become more active. Of course, mobile people stay & shop on high streets too, so not bad for the economy either: https://www.cyclingelectric.com/news/study-e-bike-riders-drive-less-trips
'Research from the UK’s biggest active travel survey, Sustrans’ Walking and Cycling Index, underlines there’s majority support for pro-walking and cycling measures. It reveals 56% of people support shifting investment from road building schemes to fund walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport, while just 17% oppose. Similarly, 65% support a pavement parking ban, vs 16% opposed.'
@derickr We see it here in Belgium as well. The Flemish government has mandated that cities need to create a number of kilometers of cycling routes in the following years, and I can imagine some slick salesman passing by selling them a way to honor that mandate, but for 95% less than actually doing the infrastructure works.
It looks like the Government is quietly getting on with improvements whilst the Ruling Party is fighting a #CultureWar and going on about a "war on drivers"
'£101 million investment to boost cycling and walking nationwide'
Page summary:
Newly funded projects will provide even more people, especially in rural and deprived areas, the choice to travel by walking, wheeling or cycling.'
I've shared this before but anyway, I used park my van on a quiet village street quite legally, and start and finish the day with a nice 15-20km ride into my office in #Oxford alongside the river. I returned one evening to find not one but two notes stuffed under the windscreen wipers … #cycling#activeTravel
'An official study of low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) ordered by Rishi Sunak amid efforts to stop them being built has instead concluded they are generally popular and effective and the report was initially buried, the Guardian has learned.'
Rishi Sunak’s report finds #LowTraffic Neighbourhoods work and are popular
Exclusive: Downing Street initially buried study, which Tories had hoped would strengthen arguments against traffic-reducing measures