E-bikes seen as natural replacement to cars in cost of living crisis

15 November 2022
Half the respondents to a survey believe that, faced with the cost of living crisis, electric bikes are the natural replacement for cars.
Cycle advocacy campaign Bike is Best commissioned the survey to explore the impact the rising cost of living is having on people’s habits.
Of the 2,000 respondents, two thirds (69%) have changed or are considering changing their transport behaviour, with 86% citing saving money as the reason for the change.
The study found that 84% plan to drive a lot less

The hidden environmental and social costs of van deliveries in London amount to nearly £2.5 billion per year, says new research

Rapidly decarbonising London’s transport system will not just make the city healthier, cleaner, and safer; it will also save Londoners money, says a new report Delievering Value from Just Economics.

The scrappage scheme will help clean the city’s air by providing grants to successful applicants to scrap or retrofit their older vehicles and use cleaner, greener modes of transport – including cargo bikes.

The researchers said future city planning must include a focus on reducing dependence on cars, promoting fewer and shorter trips and encouraging walking and cycling as primary modes of local transport. Public transport should be encouraged for longer journeys, the researchers argued, and cars should only be used for emergencies or special occasions.
For the paper, published in Open Science, researchers created a mathematical model of car use in a city, where residents either used a car on a daily basis or used public transport. Estimated costs were the length of time journeys take because this is the biggest factor when deciding how to travel, with the baseline for the model being driving with no traffic.

Polling of residents in New York, Paris and London has found majority support for the idea that cities should no longer be car dominated spaces and that transport focal points should better address greater freedoms for pedestrians and cyclists.

Conducted by research group Survation on behalf of the Car Free Megacities campaign, the headline results include the finding that across London, Paris, and New York support for fewer cars being present in cities stood at 72%, 66%, and 72%, respectively.
Alongside that attitude shift, support for giving more space to pedestrians and cyclists on city streets stood at 68%, 70%, and 71% respectively; while support for cities going completely car-free – with exemptions for car-sharing clubs and cars used by disabled people – stood at 51%, 45% and, 49%, respectively.
The primary drivers for the wish to see change amongst citizens hinged on a desire to address air pollution, carbon emissions and dangerous driving. Globally, 21.6% of all emissions come from road transportation, the bulk of which comes from private cars. 81% of Londoners studied suggested they want direct actions to address climate change.

Low-traffic neighbourhoods, which use filters to try to reduce motor traffic on residential streets, do not disproportionately benefit more privileged communities, the most comprehensive study of their rollout so far has concluded.
The research, which examined about 400 filters created in London last year, seemingly demolishes the main argument by opponents of such schemes: that they tend to shunt vehicles from richer residential areas on to roads lived in by more deprived people.
One media report last month used an analysis of house prices to support this objection, saying homes tended to be more expensive in streets that benefited from low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs). Controversy over the neighbourhoods, created in cities across the UK by using planters or bollards to prevent through-traffic while leaving the route open for cyclists and walkers, has led to several being scrapped.

Mayor of London announces £110m scrappage scheme and expansion of bus network in outer London
26 November 2022

The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will be expanded to cover the whole of London, the city’s mayor Sadiq Khan has announced. The expansion will come into effect on Tuesday 29 August 2023 and will operate across all London boroughs up to the existing Low Emission Zone boundary.
In parallel to expanding ULEZ, the mayor is announced a new £110m car scrappage scheme, a package pf measures to support disabled Londoners and an expansion of bus network in outer London.