Nicholas Hellen, Transport Editor 4/6/22
A young man in a mask crouches down by the back wheel of a Mercedes G-class, fiddles with the valve, inserts a single dried bean into the cap and pushes down. A few seconds later, as the air hisses out, he is walking nonchalantly away from the scene.
The G-class, or G-Wagon, which is 6ft 5in high, weighs 2½ tons and does only 26 miles to the gallon of diesel, is the brashest of SUVs . Even here, at midnight in Hampstead, where the streets are thick with Range Rovers, Land Rover Discoverys, Audi Q8s and BMW X5s, it is a trophy for those bent on making it socially unacceptable to own these vehicles in urban areas.
2021) Bigger vehicles are directly resulting in more deaths of people walking – Smart Growth America
Steve Davis April 12, 2021
You don’t need to read a research paper to know that more people are driving trucks and SUVs (sport utility vehicles) compared to 20 years ago, that today’s trucks and SUVs are significantly bigger than they were 10-20 years ago, or that they’re more dangerous for people walking, biking, or getting around with an assistive device. It’s intuitive.
1.5 million cycle commuters put off by lack of secure workplace storage
New research suggests that as many as 1.5 million cycle commuters are deterred by the lack of bike storage facilities at their workplace.
The research, carried out by Direct Line Cycling Insurance, reveals that commuters are being increasingly discouraged from cycling into work by a number of factors, with those who do ride to work often facing a dilemma regarding where to store their bike. The problem is indeed pronounced enough for business models to appear solely focused on alleviating the concern.
Car blocking a bike lane? You might be able to report it and make some money soon. – Austin Monitor
Thursday, June 9, 2022 by Samuel Stark
In an effort to help city employees cite vehicles for illegally blocking bike lanes, the Urban Transportation Commission unanimously approved a “bike lane bounty” program at its meeting Tuesday night.
The program, inspired by one in New York City, would allow Austinites to use the 311 mobile application to report photo evidence of cars obstructing bike lanes. The person reporting the infraction would then receive 25 percent of the revenue collected by the city for the citation.
Dott highlight the space-saving potential of e-bikes – Cycle Industry News
Simon Cox Wednesday, 1 June 2022
In the lead up to World Bike Day, a specially created ‘car frame’ was driven on Dott e-bikes around London, Paris and Brussels to highlight the space saving potential of e-bikes.
In London, if less than 1% switched from driving to cycling, over 88km of roads could be saved – more than the lengths of the North & South circulars combined.
In a press release The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, revealed the cost of traffic congestion to the capital:
• Traffic on London’s roads cost London’s economy £5.1bn a year, or £1,211 per driver
Public back pavement parking ban, survey reveals – Transport Xtra
Public back pavement parking ban, survey reveals
Sustrans index reveals attitudes to walking, cycling and wheeling
Banning pavement parking would help all people to walk or wheel more, research by Sustrans reveals. The Walking and Cycling Index study highlights several barriers which people face when walking, wheeling and cycling in their local areas. One is obstruction caused by pavement parking.
Brompton issues US safety recall notice for electric bike – Cycle Industry News
Simon CoxFriday, 10 June 2022
Brompton has, in the United States, issued a recall notice for its foldable electric bike, due to “Crash and Injury Hazards”.
The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission announcement details the following hazard:
“The mudguard is positioned too close to the front wheel which can cause the wheel to lock up leading to sudden deceleration of the bike if an object gets caught between the mudguard and front tire, posing crash and injury hazards to the rider.”
The solutions listed: Repair (via approved retailer)
The recall notice was issued on Thursday 9th of June, effecting an estimated 2230 US based, and 110 Canada based bikes.
Earth’s ecosystems are on a collision course with extinction: Insect populations have declined by up to 98% in some areas of the world – themostimportantnews.com
Scientists are calling it “the insect apocalypse”, and it has extremely serious implications for the future of our planet. All over the globe, insect populations are plummeting dramatically. And since insects are at the very foundation of the global food chain, that is really bad news for all of us. In fact, one expert described what is happening to the global insect population as “hyper-alarming”. If we continue down the path that we are currently on, a bleak, apocalyptic future for our planet is all but assured.
When scientist Brad Lister recently returned to the Luquillo rainforest in Puerto Rico, he quickly realized that something was very, very wrong. And once his team began taking measurements, they discovered that 98 percent of the insect population on the ground was completely gone…
“We knew that something was amiss in the first couple days,” said Brad Lister. “We were driving into the forest and at the same time both Andres and I said: ‘Where are all the birds?’ There was nothing.”
West Midlands e-bike hire scheme used 30,000 times in six months – Transport Xtra
The West Midlands Cycle Hire (WMCH) scheme has been used by more than 8,000 people, travelling and average of almost 3km per trip. More than 2,700 people said it was the first time they had used an e-bike, said the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).
Leave your car at home during July, charity says – Transort Xtra
Climate charity Possible is urging drivers to leave their car at home for key journeys or even not use it at all during July. The Going Car Free challenge will feature discounts from the charity’s transport partners, and prizes including a Brompton bike.
Possible ran a pilot scheme in January, where 10 participants did not use their cars for three weeks, to identify key barriers to going car free. The participants saved £8.78 a week on average between them and started shopping locally, said Possible.
https://action.wearepossible.org/page/107002/data/1