Author name: Steven Edwards

TfGM’s network intelligence data also shows that cycle trips are up 25% compared with the same period last year (March 2020). Meanwhile, the number of walking trips has fallen slightly (down 10%). “However, considering lockdown restrictions and local high streets are largely closed, this data shows confidence in making journeys on foot and by bike across the city-region,” says TfGM.

A new study drawing on data from over 100 EU cities has concluded that Covid-era cycling infrastructure provision has already demonstrated a high return on investment, growing cycling rates by between 11 and 48%, on average.
Authors Sebastian Kraus and Nicholas Koch calculate that such impressive growth across Europe will generate somewhere between $1 billion and $7 billion in health benefits alone, if new cycling habits are retained; and much of that will hinge on the favourable cycling conditions remaining. Sadly, in many instances lanes have been removed as quickly as they have arrived, despite evidence showing improvements.
106 European cities had their daily bicycle count data combed to spot trends by the researchers, who discovered that during this pandemic period cities have added an average of 11.5km of provisional pop up cycle lanes.

An MP who is an officer of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cycling and Walking (APPGCW) has complained to the BBC over a claim by Today programme presenter Nick Robinson that people living in low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) cannot use their cars, describing it as a “falsehood.”
LTNs prevent residential roads being used by rat-running drivers by blocking through routes using planters, bollards and other barriers, while still allowing access to local residents.  
Lillian Greenwood, the Labour MP for Nottingham South, called on the BBC to report accurately on the issue, saying that “the least we can expect from a national broadcaster is a basic grasp of the facts.”

From the Pankhursts delivering newsletters to a racing team in Saudi Arabia … an engaging history, full of colourful characters, of women and cycling

I’ve been cycling for decades – as a student, commuter and partygoer. I’ve sallied forth in strappy heels and dorky helmet: returning home late, I’ve dodged foxes while flying drunk and euphoric down deserted streets. I’ve cycled with one hand holding closed my wrap dress, and with skirt tucked into tights, or tied in a knot. I’ve fallen over at the lights, slowly and to the side, because my skirt has been hooked over the back of the seat. I’ve cycled into a lamppost at the side of the road while admiring spring trees in bloom. I’ve carried a boxed trumpet and a large houseplant in my basket, and flashing bike lights in my mouth. I’ve balanced a week’s shopping on handlebars, and kneed myself in the bump when pregnant. And many journeys have been spent furiously pondering esprit de l’escalier retorts following altercations with taxi drivers.

Having a flush dropped kerb at crossing points really shouldn’t be a point for debate and frankly, it’s not. If you disagree with flush kerbs then you are purely and simply wrong.
The photograph above shows the offending kerb and before I talk about why kerbs should be flush in these situations, it’s worth exploring a couple of other points. Notwithstanding drawings and scheme specifications, the actual type of kerbs we have available make kerb upstands more likely simply because the units are not designed to be laid flush.
However, this is the situation during a downpour with water running along the road channel and so in both cases, if the rain is that heavy, pedestrians are still going to have to deal with water. A well-designed crossing will have involved the designer looking upstream (hydraulically speaking) to see what the drainage is like. Having a gully just upstream of the crossing will help reduce the amount of water passing the crossing point.

President Joe Biden today unveiled his $2 trillion infrastructure bill, labelling it as the American Jobs Plan. He said it was a “once-in-a-generation investment in America unlike anything we have seen or done since we built the Interstate Highway System and won the Space Race decades ago.”
He added: “It’s big. It’s bold. And we can get it done.”
“President Biden’s [infrastructure] plan is the most visionary proposal for the nation’s transportation network since the dawn of the interstate highway system,” agreed Janette Sadik-Khan, chair of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO).
Speaking from Pittsburgh, the U.S. president pledged to double transit spending, upgrade 20,000 miles of roads in a $20 billion plan to make them safer for all users—including those not in motor vehicles—and spend an additional $20 billion reconnecting neighborhoods cut off by highways; these have historically been neighborhoods where the majority of the residents have been Black.
The plan will also boost existing road safety programs and see the creation of a new Safe Streets for All program to fund state and local “vision zero” schemes which aim to reduce fatalities, especially among cyclists and pedestrians.