Author name: Steven Edwards

21 July 2022
TfL’s decision to halt funding is a “massive blow” to the capital’s cycling instructors, says the IWGB
Transport for London (TfL) has “paused” all funding support for cycling training as it continues ongoing talks with the Government for long-term capital funding. Since Covid-19, and a sharp fall in revenues, TfL has agreed four bailout settlements with the Government. 
The Independent Workers’ union of Great Britain (IWGB) said TfL’s decision is a “massive blow” to the capital’s cycling instructors. 
The Cycling Instructors branch of the IWGB…

It was a long and hot day in court. On one level it seemed an easy question – our solicitor had made an admin error, it looked like the court had made some errors itself too which hadn’t helped, we’d said sorry, tried to fix it, no harm had been done, it only came to light because we (not RBKC) were trying to progress the case, wasn’t it just a quick, “no problem, but don’t do it again”?
Three hours of oral submissions and hundreds of pages of bundles and case precedent references submitted later we found our answer. The judge considered matters carefully, and then over the course of an hour outlined his reasoning to allow our application for relief from sanctions.

@Cycling_Embassy·
Autoluw is a Dutch urban planning concept meaning “nearly car-free”. It’s put into use in cities all across the country. This video explores the concept of autoluw, and how it is applied to Dutch streets, along with some examples from some foreign cities: 
https://youtube.com/watch?v=GlXNVn

@GeorgeMonbiot
What do I mean by system change? Here are 4 pillars of a just, green society: Private sufficiency, public luxury https://centerforneweconomics.org/publications/private-sufficiency-public-luxury-land-is-the-key-to-the-transformation-of-society/ Doughnut economics https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/12/doughnut-growth-economics-book-economic-model Participatory democracy https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/13/take-back-control-governments An ecological civilisation

The new forecast has been challenged by the Thames Crossing Action Group, which is opposed to the proposed road project.

Chair of the campaign group Laura Blake said: “The LTC Development Consent Order documentation of 2020 shows that LTC traffic carbon emissions were estimated to be 2.74 million tonnes, and in their latest press release National Highways admit that the latest forecast is 4.6 million tonnes.
“Far from a highly speculative 80% reduction in operational traffic emissions for the proposed LTC, there is actually evidence to show a whopping 67% increase in the estimated LTC operational traffic carbon emissions. Including construction and maintenance etc, this then results in a total of over 7 million tonnes of carbon emissions for the proposed LTC if it goes ahead. Yet another attempt by NH to try and put a spin on the realities of the proposed LTC with yet more greenwashing.”
“There is all the usual nonsense about improving journeys for those using the Dartford Crossing. Yet the design capacity for the current crossing is 135,000 vehicles per day, and it regularly sees 180,000 per day. That means we’d need to see a reduction of more than 25% in traffic, yet the proposed LTC would take as little as 4% of traffic away.  National Highways are not considering or planning for how traffic would migrate between the two crossings when there are incidents, if the LTC goes ahead, and there would not be adequate connections.”

@ClimateBen 23/07/22
An amazing news story virtually ignored by state/corporate media: scientists are pointing to immediate system change actions because emissions must peak this year to avoid catastrophic 1.5°C/2°C of global warming but economic growth means emissions are surging apocalyptically. 

Tower Hamlets Council is seeking to scrap road closures introduced as part of the borough’s Liveable Streets programme.

Streets have been optimised for one thing: traffic. A kind of ‘urban rewilding’ could return them to the complex social ecosystems they once were