21 January 2018
BBC News
The bicycle was once a symbol of women’s emancipation, with suffragettes taking to two wheels to spread their message of equal rights. But the latest figures show a big gender divide when it comes to cycling. Why?
About 50% fewer women than men cycle twice a week or more, according to walking and cycling charity Sustrans, and when it comes to cycling on the roads, the number drops again.
Commonly cited reasons for shunning the benefits of getting into the saddle include sexual harassment, fears about appearance and concerns about safety. So what can be done to get more women on their bikes and out on the road?
Tackling sexist attitudes among male road users would be a first step, says Leigh Campbell, who leads all-women cycling rides in Nottingham.
“Sometimes, when I’ve been out cycling on my own, I’ve had male drivers shout at me as they’re overtaking,” said the 45-year-old British Cycling Breeze Champion.
“I’ve been told to ‘read the Highway Code’ and ‘get off the road’. I’ve also been sworn at.
Paris Mayor: “Forget Crossing Through The City By Car” – Forbes
Carlton Reid 08:26am EDT
In the first major interview since her re-election as Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo told Le Parisien that her manifesto promise to crack down on motoring in the French capital would be kept.
“We must forget the crossing of Paris from east to west by car,” she told the daily newspaper.
‘The city needs to evolve,” she added.
Comfortably re-elected in June for a second term, she said she intends to create permanent curb-protected cycleways and expand the number of lockdown cycleways, known in French as “coronapistes.” At an urban planning conference later this month she also plans to reveal plans on restricting petrol-powered motoring on the usually car-clogged highways on the upper quays of the Seine.
Lambeth council “inundated” with requests for low traffic neighbourhoods across borough – londonnewsonline
9th October 2020
By Grainne Cuffe, Local Democracy Reporter
Lambeth council has been “inundated” with requests for low traffic neighbourhoods across the borough – but doesn’t have money to implement more.
Lambeth received £2,639,000 from the Mayor of London’s Streetspace plans, the most out of all London councils, to cover emergency transport measures to aid social distancing and promote active travel in the wake of Covid-19.
LTNs, which involve placing camera-enforced or physical barriers in streets to prevent through-traffic, are being implemented across the capital as part of the scheme.
Let’s all welcome low-traffic neighbourhoods | Evening Standard
1 day ago
A bitter row is raging over Low Traffic Neighbourhoods — or LTNs — as they are being brought into force across the capital. Since the Government gave councils £250 million of new “active travel” funding in May, barriers have been put up in many residential areas to prevent motorists cutting through side streets (while allowing residents access in their cars). This change has not been welcomed by all.
Hackney proposes low traffic neighbourhoods in every area – TransportXtra
Bicycles And Buses Will Be Future’s Dominant Modes Of Urban Mobility, Predict 346 Transport Experts – Forbes
Carlton Reid
The Transport for Under Two Degrees project published a report on October 8 arguing that governments around the world should stop subsidizing motoring and must, instead, build cycleways and wider sidewalks to anticipate the likely future of “active transport” in cities.
Traffic and aircraft noise linked to bigger bellies – NHS
“Living near a main road causes people to gain weight with the risk of obesity,” is the slightly dubious claim in The Daily Telegraph. While a Swedish study did find an association between noise pollution and obesity, cause and effect has not been proved.The study involved more than 5,000 adults. It looked at the traffic noise exposure where participants lived and whether they were obese according to measurements such as their body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference. The researchers also looked at exposure to road, rail and aircraft noise.
Covid-19 lockdowns have improved global air quality, data shows | The Guardian
Huge drops in pollution recorded around world
Around the world, Covid lockdowns have led to improvements in air pollution. In northern India, the Himalayas were visible in the distance for the first time in a generation. And during the first nine weeks of the UK lockdown, nitrogen dioxide along London’s roads decreased by an average of 31% compared with the pre-lockdown period.
Smashing the tyranny of the status quo: 10 of Britain’s historic hidden-gem LTNs – Zag
Chances are, if you were asked six months ago what a low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) was, you would have shrugged your shoulders and said, with rising intonation: “The Netherlands?”That’s probably not the case now. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced government and local authorities to rethink the way we get around. With many people preferring to avoid public transport, LTNs are among measures designed to prevent a rush to private cars (and ensuing gridlock) by providing safe routes for walking, cycling and scooting – and they’ve become Big News around the country. However, LTNs have been around for much, much longer – and the world hasn’t ended
Press Release: Pollution From Tyre Wear 1,000 Times Worse Than Exhaust Emissions — Emissions Analytics
• Tight regulation of exhaust emissions by the EU has meant that new cars emit very little particle pollution
• Increased popularity of SUVs, larger and heavier than standard vehicles, exacerbates this problem – as does growing sales of heavy EVs and widespread use of budget tyres• Fitting only high-quality tyres and lowering vehicle weight are routes to reducing these ‘non-exhaust emissions’