Author name: Steven Edwards

News from Elsewhere

Updated campaigning resources list – LCC

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With so much change happening both in London and beyond we’ve been getting a lot of requests for guides on campaigning, background information and evidence to support the effectiveness of walking and cycling schemes. We’re in the process of updating our website and getting all this stuff in better order but for now this is your go-to page so get it bookmarked.

The LCC ‘Activist Resources’ pages have guidance on planning and running campaigns. The Campaigners Handbook is the core document in this section but there are also useful guides to help you run a healthy group and meetings, work with the media, and use social media constructively

News from Elsewhere

Webinar round-up – A national Gear Change for cycling? – LCC

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• By CPManager on about 10 hours ago
Watch a recording of out October 2020 Webinar here – A national Gear Change for cycling? How the government started to take cycling seriously and why we need to crank up the pressure nowWhat a summer it has been for cycle campaigning. The pandemic has seen infrastructure been put in place to create more space for walking and cycling – especially with the introductions of emergency walking and cycling schemes  across the country. One of the bigger announcement has been the Department for Transport’s Gear Change report . LCC recognised many of the policies from our campaigning work in Love London, Go Dutch and the subsequent cycling investment in London. So is this is what is going to happen across the country? Is the campaigning work done

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Speeding drivers in London to be targeted as 2019 casualty figures published | road.cc

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Vulnerable road users made up three quarters of fatalities last year – with vehicle speed a factor in half of deaths on capital’s streetsTransport for London (TfL) says that efforts to target speeding drivers are being stepped up after new figures reveal that 125 people – five of them cyclists – lost their lives on the capital’s roads last year.

Vulnerable road users made up the majority of people killed in road traffic collisions in London in 2019, according to the figures published by TfL today

Besides the five cyclists who were killed last year – down from 12 in 2018 – 68 pedestrians lost their lives compared to 57 the previous year, as well as 31 motorcyclists, up 22 in the preceding 12 months.

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Our World, Europe’s Cycling Revolution – BBC News Channel

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02 October 2020

Europe’s Cycling Revolution
Our World
Over a billion euros has been invested in cycling across Europe since the start of the pandemic. Some of the continent’s biggest cities are being transformed as people seek alternative, safer, greener ways to move around. Anna Holligan travels across Europe to see how people are getting on their bikes and asks if the surge in cycling is the start of a much bigger change in the way we travel.

News from Elsewhere

Low Traffic Suburbs – The Ranty Highwayman

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One of the issues about working from home and keeping off public transport has been that cycling around to look at stuff has been that my range has been somewhat restricted and generally, positive street changes in my wider neck of the woods have been few and far between.

I did cycle into Central London at the beginning of August, but being a Saturday, having to worry about taking space up on a train coming back out wasn’t an issue and perhaps I’ll pootle in to look at something else soon. 

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Why we need media reporting guidelines for road safety | The Guardian

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Language and accuracy matter, as they can contribute to making the roads less safe for non-motorists and how the law is applied


Martin PorterLast modified on Mon 28 Sep 2020 12.02 BST
There’s a problem with how we talk about our roads. From news reports on “accidents” to who gets blamed for road danger in comment pieces, our media sources sometimes flip the sources of death and injury on their head.

Language and accuracy matter, and too often reporting contributes to making the roads less safe.

That’s why the Active Travel Academy has drafted media reporting guidelines which we hope broadcasters and publishers will adopt, just as they have adopted guidelines for reporting on suicide or domestic violence.

There is excellent reporting out there – , but there is also less thoughtful output. For example, the majority (61%) of coverage of cyclists is broadly negative, focusing on road danger, criminality or bad behaviour, although studies have shown cyclists are generally far more law-abiding than motorists.

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To deny children the simple joy of riding a bike is an abdication of our parental responsibilities | Steven Herrick | Books | The Guardian

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Steven Herrick Sun 27 Sep 2020 18.30 BST

No video game, Covid-19 lockdown or computer simulation can replace the childhood liberation of being alone on a bicycle
I got my first bike when Iwas nine years old, an iridescent purple Malvern Star Roadster with Marlon handlebars, a red banana seat, white-walled tyres and three gears. I christened it “Jimmy” in honour of a relative who was a stock-car racer and caught catfish in the river. Jimmy, the bike, was my first love.

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Schemes boosting cycling and walking accelerate across the UK | Society | The Guardian

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Campaigners urge city leaders across the world to see coronavirus and climate crisis as call to actionMatthew TaylorThu 24 Sep 2020 16.39 BSTOne of the first “low-traffic neighbourhoods” to be created in the UK was in Hackney, east London, in the early 1970s, when residential roads were closed to through traffic but remained open to local residents, pedestrians and cyclists.Since then, most of the borough’s other residential roads and backstreets have been given over almost completely to cars.But as the coronavirus crisis upended city life, a dramatic shift has been taking place. Across the country there has been a concerted effort to prioritise cycling and walking over driving, widening pavements, closing rat runs and building hundreds of miles of new cycle lanes

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2012 ) Walking to School in Japan and Childhood Obesity Prevention: New Lessons From an Old Policy – ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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2012 November; 102(11): 2068–2073.
Results. Each municipality has a board of education in charge of public schools, which considers the geography, climate, and the transport situation to determine the method of commuting. Because there is high availability of schools in urban areas and most are located within walking range of the children’s homes, walking is the most common method. There are different safety initiatives depending on the district’s characteristics. Parents, school staff, and local volunteers are involved in supervision.


Conclusions. The walk-to-school practice has helped combat childhood obesity by providing regular physical activity. Recommendations to cities promoting walking to school are (1) base interventions on the existing network of schools and adapt the provision to other local organizations, (2) establish safety measures, and (3) respond specifically to local characteristics. Besides the well-established safety interventions, the policy’s success may also be associated with Japan’s low crime rate.

News from Elsewhere

Exeter cyclist reports 14 motorists who went down pop-up bike lane | road.cc

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‘There were parents having to cycle on the pavements with their kids to avoid the traffic coming through’Fourteen motorists who drove down one of Exeter’s ‘pop-up’ cycleways have been sent a notice of intended prosecution. Cyclist Caspar Hughes submitted reports to police after watching the road for just 35 minutes.Devon Live reports that Wonford Road has been closed to all vehicles except buses and bicycles as part of Exeter’s emergency active travel changes.

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