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2016) Motorway removed to bring back the original water | Bicycle Dutch

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It had been a motorway for over four decades, but now Utrecht has its old city-moat back! What better way to start the new year than with this new beginning for Utrecht? The “motorway from nothing to nowhere”, which was finished in the mid-1970s, still had 11 lanes when it was closed early 2010. While most Dutch cities (and that includes Utrecht) have a car-free city centre now, Utrecht also had a ridiculous motorway right in its heart, at the point where the old city centre met the modern heart around the central railway station. No longer! Everything has changed back to how things were for well over 800 years. So what is the story here?

Cyclists with Extinction Rebellion flags protest removal of cycle lane – MailOnline (Note: The article contains a series of…inaccuracies––SE)

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Rory Tingle
Today dozens pro-cycling protesters from around London took part in a ‘festive joyride’ that spilled out into lanes used by drivers. 
Steven Edwards, 60, a guitar teacher and Extinction Rebellion activist from Camden, North London, told MailOnline: ‘I’m here to protest about the insane ripping out of this cycle lane.
‘It needs to be extended and expanded – I can’t think of anything worse than to remove it. Cycling is beneficial in every possible way. There are big opponents though, including taxi drivers.’  
David Lincoln, 53, a community nurse from Islington, called for similar routes to be installed on every major road in the capital.

“Shameful, callous and retrograde”: 200 join protest against removal of Kensington High Street cycle lanes | road.cc

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Council’s scrapping of infrastructure comes as Londoners urged to keep cycling and walking as lockdown lifts

Around 200 people took to their bikes on Kensington High Street this morning in protest at the decision of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea’s decision to remove emergency cycle lanes there this week – a decision that the head of London Cycling Campaign (LCC) has described as “shameful, callous and retrograde.”
The protest, held in accordance with lockdown rules, came as Londoners are being urged to continue cycling and walking to ease pressure on the city’s public transport network ahead of restrictions being lifted at midnight tonight.
This morning, cycling and environmental campaigners – plus at least four dogs in bicycle baskets – joined children, parents and staff from the Fox Primary School in Kensington to protest against the removal of the lanes, which had only been installed in September.

Council axing Kensington cycle lanes after just seven weeks told to refund £300,000 of Government cash | Evening Standard

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Ross Lydall 30/11/20

A Tory council was today facing demands to refund an estimated £300,000 of Government cash after deciding to rip-out controversial cycle lanes in Kensington High Street.

Kensington and Chelsea council said work to remove the lanes would start on Wednesday – sparking a massive backlash including from the borough’s teachers and cyclists.
Will Norman, the Mayor of London’s walking and cycling commissioner, said he would seek to recover the Government cash so it could be reallocated by Transport for London to other boroughs.
He said he was furious that cyclists were being injured and killed but the council had now blocked three major safety schemes.

Kensington and Chelsea council criticised for scrapping cycle lane | The Guardian

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Peter Walker

Separated bike lane in Conservative-run borough to be removed after seven weeks
Mon 30 Nov 2020 17.04 GMT
First published on Mon 30 Nov 2020 16.44 GMT
A Conservative-run council has been accused of favouring the convenience of car drivers over the wellbeing of local people by scrapping a popular cycle lane after opposition from 0.2% of the borough’s population.
Kensington and Chelsea council, which last year vetoed its section of a cross-London bike route, has said it will remove the separated cycle lane along Kensington High Street, seven weeks after it was installed.

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, Car Use, and Active Travel: Evidence from the People and Places Survey of Outer London Active Travel Interventions | Published in Findings

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Transport Findings
September 11, 2020 AEST
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, Car Use, and Active Travel: Evidence from the People and Places Survey of Outer London Active Travel Interventions
Abstract
This paper reports on analysis of impacts of active travel interventions in Outer London between 2016-19. We find larger effects (decreased car ownership and use, increased active travel) in intervention areas where Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) were introduced. Decreased car ownership and use is only found in such areas. Sample size for LTN areas is small and hence uncertainty about effect magnitude is large, but effect direction is consistent. This suggests that to reduce car use as well as increase active travel, LTNs are an important part of the intervention toolbox.

“He who shouts loudest is no way to operate”: public overestimates bike lane opposition by 50% finds new Cycling UK research | road.cc

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Many councils massively overestimate public opposition to bike lanes

Cycling UK has expressed concern that the “loudest voices” are having undue influence on decisions relating to new cycle lanes. New research commissioned by the charity has revealed that people overestimate public opposition to such schemes by more than 50 per cent.
Experts have said that it is often a vocal minority who are fighting new cycling infrastructure, yet there have been any number of occasions where new schemes have been cancelled or reversed following a handful of complaints.
Cycling UK is concerned that councils often pay disproportionate attention to the loudest voices and that this is having an undue influence on decision making.
The charity cites Kent as an example, where a third of new active travel schemes have been removed following vocal local opposition.

Should you swap your car for a bike to reduce your environmental impact? | Medium

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Tabitha Whiting

In 1908 Henry Ford made the car affordable to all. He revolutionised car manufacturing with his Model T car, which used an assembly line production technique for the first time, making it quicker and easier to manufacture a car with less labour — and therefore reducing the sale price.
Since then, cars have dominated the transport industry. It’s not unusual for an average household to have two, even three or four, cars sat outside.
We’ve got used to having our own personal mode of transport, and it’s not something many of us want to give up. But cars are also responsible for a high proportion of greenhouse gas emissions, contributing heavily to climate change. So is getting rid of your car, and swapping it for a bike instead, the best option if you want to reduce your environmental impact as an individual?

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