Ross Lydall
Residents living near one of London’s historic town centres are campaigning to save their low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) to avoid having their homes deluged by rat-running commuters.
In an unusual twist to often vocal opposition against LTNs, people living in west Greenwich want councillors to keep the scheme in place to avoid a return to the narrow streets being used as “race tracks”.
More than a third of the 163 LTNs across the capital that were funded by Transport for London have been axed after protests from some motorists, leaving 106 in place, though 22 more schemes are in the pipeline.
Other footage shows schoolgirls having to wait more than a minute before motorists were prepared to stop at a zebra crossing to enable them to cross the road
Is London on the cusp of European levels of walking and cycling? – Guardian
:excerptstartLaura Laker16 February, 2022 Levels of cycling and walking in London reached 42% of all journeys in 2021, with record usage of London cycle hire schemes, both official and hosted, plus rapid people-friendly changes to hundreds of kilometres of streets, including new and improved cycle lanes – but is the capital on the cusp of European levels of active travel?According to… [Read More]
“Typical cyclists”: Motorists and cyclists treated differently in newspaper reports of fatal road collisions, new study finds – road.cc
by Ryan Mallon Wed, Feb 09, 2022 15:01 12
A recent academic study from the University of Westminster has found that car drivers,
cyclists and pedestrians are depicted differently in newspaper reports of road traffic collisions.
Car-Free Cities Startup Culdesac Raises $30M Series A therealdeal.com
T.P. Yeatts
Culdesac, a startup with the lofty ambition of building America’s first car-free city, hauled in $30 million in Series A funding.
Surveys suggest a majority of Americans want to live in walkable neighborhoods, but don’t. Tempe, Arizona-based Culdesac is betting that it can help them take that leap.
“With record increases in congestion, loneliness, traffic fatalities, and global warming, building a new option for the way we live has never been more important,” the company said while announcing its Series A Thursday.
The funding will help the startup raise its first $2 billion in debt and realize its vision beyond its first “post-car neighborhood,” Culdesac Tempe, which will open in a few months. Khosla Ventures led the round, with participation from Founders Fund, Byers Capital, Zigg Capital, Initialized Capital and homebuilder Lennar’s venture arm, LENx.
Residential real estate has been fertile ground for proptech investment and innovation during the pandemic, but much of it has focused on improving existing models — making homes and neighborhoods smarter and more efficient, not necessarily more idyllic. Culdesac, which describes itself as a company at the intersection of technology, real estate and culture, wants to rewrite the blueprint.
Train operator accused of inconsistency over e-bike ban on Caledonian Sleeper – transportxtra.com
Rhodri Clark 14 February 2022
Pedal bikes are allowed on Caledonian Sleeper but not e-bikes
A train operating company’s decision to ban e-bikes is not based on evidence but on perceptions skewed by battery safety issues on illegal e-scooters, according to Cycling UK. The charity also says Caledonian Sleeper’s ban brings further inconsistency to the rules around carriage of bikes on trains.
Caledonian Sleeper continues to accept ordinary bicycles but not electrically-assisted pedal bikes. The operator of sleeper trains between London and Scotland said the ban was introduced…
Cycling police officer catches dangerous driver red-handed during close pass operation | road.cc
The motorist was reported for driving without due care and attention for cutting up the officer, who was participating in a close pass operation in Malvern
A motorist in Malvern was reported yesterday for driving without due care and attention after committing a dangerous close pass on a bike-riding police officer.
The officer was taking part in a close pass operation in the town, targeting motorists who overtake cyclists too closely, when the driver – seemingly unaware of an oncoming lorry – decided to pass him on a bend.
The motorist then had to sharply swerve back in front of the cyclist as the lorry approached, narrowly avoiding a collision with both the HGV and the police officer.
The officer, who captured the dangerous overtake on his helmet camera, reported the motorist to court for driving without due care and attention.
West Midlands Local Transport Plan focuses on tackling climate emergency – transportxtra.com
Peter Plisner 31 January 2022
Policy
The LTP seeks to encourage more people to ride rather than drive
The board of the West Midlands Combined Authority has approved a draft of the core strategy for the region’s fifth Local Transport Plan (LTP). The document, being put together by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), sets out the overall aims, vision and approach that will map out the development and delivery of transport policies until the end of 2041.
The plan seeks to address what it terms the ‘challenges and opportunities’ currently facing the region’s transport system. After decades of under investment, the document states, the region is beginning to turn things around. But that significant challenges remain in “tackling the defining issues of our time”, such as climate change, air quality, health issues and the recovery from the pandemic.
‘Get yourself a car, you loser… who do you think you are! – Cycling Professor – Twitter
Cycling Professor @fietsprofessor
‘Get yourself a car, you loser… who do you think you are! …..AAAAARGH!’ By
@Ruvsjonvarp
: Icelandic Lampoon show 2019
MEDIA RELEASE: London boroughs must take more action on parking – CPRE London
cprelondon.org.uk 10th February 2022
CPRE London is calling on London boroughs to re-assess their parking policy as they launch a new Parking Policy Benchmark Assessment Tool designed to enable boroughs to identify areas for improvement. They say most London councils are nowhere near making best use of their parking powers [1].
Alice Roberts of CPRE London said: “After a preliminary assessment of a sample of borough policies, we noticed very low ambition in using parking policy to tackle serious issues like climate change and air pollution, so we decided to try to raise the bar by creating a benchmark, which we have done in consultation with sustainable travel organisations.
Private car ownership can “represent a cost equal to housing” says research – transportxtra.com
Juliana O’Rourke
08 February 2022
Table 5: Lifetime earnings in comparison to private car ownership cost, The lifetime cost of driving a car, Ecological Economics, Volume 194, April 2022
The car is one of the most expensive household consumer goods, yet there is a limited understanding of its private (internal) and social (external) cost per vehicle-km, year, or lifetime of driving, says a new research study based in Germany.
This comes as MPs urge Government to urgently explore the options for a distance- and vehicle-type national road-pricing scheme in the UK.