With fuel prices hitting record highs, the AA’s president Edmund King has urged drivers to “cut out shorter car journeys” and walk or cycle instead. On 13 June petrol rose to 185.44p a litre, up from 178.50p a litre a week earlier and 130.70p a year ago, according to the AA. The average cost of filling a typical 55-litre family car has exceeded £100 for the first time.
Car tyres produce vastly more particle pollution than exhausts, tests show | Pollution | The Guardian
Damian Carrington
Almost 2,000 times more particle pollution is produced by tyre wear than is pumped out of the exhausts of modern cars, tests have shown.
The tyre particles pollute air, water and soil and contain a wide range of toxic organic compounds, including known carcinogens, the analysts say, suggesting tyre pollution could rapidly become a major issue for regulators.
43% of youth considering transport change due to cost of living crisis – Cycle Industry News
Mark Sutton 10 June 2022
Research produced by YouGov on behalf of Cycling UK has shown that a large portion of young people are strongly considering changing their transport habits in the face of challenges to finances and environmental factors.
National Cycle Network to gain Bosch eBike chargers – Cycle Industry News
Mark Sutton Monday, 6 June 2022
Already present on mainland Europe, the Powerstations are sought-after pieces of infrastructure, in particular where cycle tourism is prominent, each enabling electric bike riders to cut out range anxiety on long-distance rides.
It will take around one hour to boost a Bosch eBike battery to around 80% charged and there is no need for riders to bring their cables as part of the service. The chargers, at present, rely on the bike offering a detachable battery in order that users can stash the cells in a secure locker during the charge process.
Revealed: How Car and Airline Advertising ‘Misleads’ the Public and Threatens Climate Action – desmog.com
Rachel Sherrington
Major car and airline companies are using adverts that greenwash their business while continuing to push highly polluting products that put the world’s climate goals at risk, DeSmog can reveal.
A DeSmog investigation, commissioned by Greenpeace Netherlands, analysed more than a thousand Facebook and Instagram adverts placed by ten well-known European transport brands in the last year.
The analysis found that car companies – Peugeot, Renault, Citroën, Fiat and Jeep – are touting “green” products and initiatives in the majority of their advertising while simultaneously using ads to push highly polluting vehicles such as SUVs.
The car firms promoted battery-powered cars and hybrids in over two thirds of their adverts. This low-carbon image is out of step with the reality of fleet production figures – both current and projected – which reveal a business model wedded to sales of fossil-fuel powered vehicles.
The Envo Flex is a modular e-bike that can become an e-trike or even an e-snowbike | electric bike reviews, buying advice and news – ebiketips
Investment boost for firm that reconditions e-bikes – TransportXtra
16 June 2022
Upway, a start-up that sells reconditioned electric bikes, has raised $25m (£20m) led by investors Exor Seeds and Sequoia Capital.
The French company says it is making e-bikes more affordable and contributing to reducing waste. It believes it can contribute a modal shift where cars become the exception and e-bikes are the norm.
With eBikes prominent is now the time to invest in long distance cycle routes? – Cycle Industry News
Mark Sutton 26 May, 2022
The University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy has launched a special edition of its journal, looking beyond the traditional focus of short, urban cycling trips to explore longer distance cycling in the age of eBikes. Laura Laker caught up with the ATA’s Tom Cohen, and read the five Active Travel Studies reports, to bring you the lowdown…
For those unused to reading academic papers they’re not always an easy read, but cover some really important ground around what long distance cycling is, how more trips could be made easier by bike and how to achieve that in an inclusive and environmentally sensitive way.
Longer distance cycling for interspecies mobility justice in Canada considers how active travel infrastructure can benefit all life, including humans, by replacing car space with cycling in a way that’s sympathetic to ecosystems and social inequalities.
The single most important climate action that cities can take – C40 Cities
Mark Watts, Executive Director of C40 Cities
I am regularly asked “what is the single most important thing that mayors can do to tackle climate change?” It is a difficult question to answer, but if we broaden the question to include reducing inequality and poverty, then few interventions can match the transformative power of prioritising the needs of pedestrians and cyclists over space for cars.
In fact, any city where a private vehicle is necessary to get around is likely to be fundamentally unequal. Data from cities across the world show that men are more likely to drive cars, while women are more likely to rely on public transport and non-motorised modes like walking and cycling. Research carried out in the UK and US found rates of car ownership that were significantly higher among white people compared to other ethnic groups. We also know that, while wealthier households are more likely to own cars, they are less likely to be living in areas with the highest levels of traffic and traffic-related pollution. Another study found that car users took up 3.5 times more public space than non-car users. A city that is designed around the car is not an equitable one.
Majority in favour of more LTNs and segregated bike tracks – Transport Xtra
Deniz Huseyin 01 June 2022
There is a strong demand for more Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in urban areas across the UK, according to a new report from Sustrans. The charity found that 66% want more LTNs while just 12% are opposed to them.
The Walking and Cycling Index, covering 17 urban areas in the UK and Ireland, includes local walking and cycling data, modelling and an independent survey representative of adult residents.
Previously called the Bike Life survey, Sustrans has extended the scope of the report to include…