Author name: Steven Edwards

6 Feb 2023

In the old district council building on the Soho Road, Sandra Green, a car-free campaigner, is busy squeezing as much information into a presentation about a car-free vision for Birmingham icons – including the Hockley Circus.

“A car-free city is free of the dangers of pollution and emissions caused by mass private car ownership,” she said. “It’s not a city with no cars at all.
“There are many people – including some disabled people – who can’t get around without a car, but reducing the number of cars in cities will make their lives easier.”

A Conservative MP has criticised the concept of ‘15-minute cities’, citing known conspiracy theories about the schemes which aim to create neighbourhoods where residents can walk or cycle to the nearest shop, cafe, school, or any essential necessity in a short period of time.

Nick Fletcher, the first Tory MP to represent Don Valley in Doncaster, said that the concept stems from socialist ideology and is an infringement on individual freedom.
Speaking on Thursday, he demanded a debate on the “international socialist concept of so-called 15-minute cities”, and said that the schemes could “take away our personal freedom”.
“Sheffield is already on this journey and I do not want Doncaster, which is also a Labour-run socialist council, to do the same,” he added. Fletcher’s demand for the debate is yet to be realised and he was greeted with laughs and jeers in the House of Commons.

Cycling UK says that transport project promoters will be motivated to think more deeply about their rationale if in-house teams are required to prepare a “case for change” at the outset of all projects.

The group was commenting on changes to the Welsh Transport Appraisal Guidance (WelTAG) which may prove to be a pathfinder for changes to appraisal guidance elsewhere. The Welsh Government is overhauling WelTAG so that the guidance better reflects its commitments on climate change and in other policy areas.

The appeal was made in their response to a consultation into removing the low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) scheme around Arnold Circus on the fringes of the popular night-time area of Shoreditch.
The Arnold Circus Liveable Streets initiative was put in place in 2021, along with similar initiatives elsewhere in the borough, with the council controlled by Labour at the time.
In last May’s local elections, however, the Aspire Party won 24 of the 45 seats and since then the borough’s pro-car Mayor Lutfur Rahman has been rolling back initiatives aimed at reducing motor vehicle traffic and promoting active travel.

Councils must act to improve conditions on boundary roads around LTNs, a study by climate charity Possible and the University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy concludes.

This could involve increasing the number of bus lanes and public transport provision, urban greenery, widening pavements, and protected cycle lanes as well as expanding low emission zones.

It is “highly likely” that boundary roads will remain polluted, unsafe, or difficult to cross or cycle on, the report warns. “Removing LTNs is unlikely to alleviate these issues so it is vital for local authorities to consider other measures that could. For instance, expanding low emission zones, road user charging, increasing the number of bus lanes and public transport provision, urban greenery, widening pavements, and protected cycle lanes could all make a contribution.”

Peter Walker

99. Car Brain with Dr. Ian Walker January 31, 2023

Is it acceptable to harm another person? To steal someone’s private property? To bend health and safety rules just to save a few minutes or make more money? According to a new study, it might depend on whether or not a car is involved. Dr. Ian Walker, a professor of environmental psychology at Swansea University in Wales, joins us for a fascinating discussion about the unconscious biases we all share in favor of cars, how those assumptions shape our streets, and how they prevent the kind of change needed to make them safer. It’s a phenomenon he and his co-authors call “motonormativity.”