James Woodcock
1. Introduction
There is international academic and policy interest in cycling. Reasons range from spatial and temporal efficiency to health, the local environment, and climate change, compared to other modes. However, cycling levels vary widely. In Western Europe, variation in cycling mode share (e.g. 2% in United Kingdom (UK) vs. 26% in the Netherlands: Buehler & Pucher, 2012b, & John Pucher (Eds.), 2012b. International overview: Cycling trends in Western Europe, North America, and Australia. City Cycling (MIT Press), 9–29. [Google Scholar]) indicates substantial scope for increasing levels of cycling. Such variation also exists within countries; for instance, many cities in the UK have cycle commuting rates of ∼1%, but in Cambridge this figure is 33% (Goodman & Aldred, 2018Goodman, Anna, & Rachel Aldred. 2018.
I’m fighting to save my Greenwich LTN. It’s how a city should be -standard.co.uk
Michael Perry
Greenwich is at the Eastern edge of the bowl that forms London. It’s one of our oldest towns, is home to the Maritime Museum, the Old Royal Naval College and the Royal Observatory and thriving markets. It is a beautiful place. However, much of London’s pollution flows our way on the wind – we are, as they say, at the “arse end of the whale”. On winter mornings you can see the smog lying below the hill and across to the City. That’s the reason the West Greenwich Low Traffic Neighbourhood has been such a breath of fresh air: we no longer have traffic adding to that smog.
Brilliant response and to reach our target of 7500 so quickly was such an amazing achievement. – Stop the Wensum Link Road
Smashed 7500 supporters
David Pett Ringland 6 Feb 2022
Stop the Wensum Link Road – www.stopthewensumlink.co.uk
So our next target is 10,000. With a public consultation around the corner it would be fantastic to be able to present the petition containing such as high number of supporters. So please continue to share.
In the meantime please time out to watch this awesome video produced by Greg’s Wildlife
WYCA commits £40m to meeting net zero targets – transportxtra.com
09 February 2022
WYCA’s ‘maximum ambition pathway’ estimates an 83% reduction in emissions could be achieved in West Yorkshire by 2038
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has allocated £40m from the Mayoral devolution deal to tackle the climate change. The Climate Fund, which will come mostly from WYCA’s £1.8bn devolution deal with the Government, will be used to deliver the West Yorkshire Climate and Environment Plan. This maps out how the region will meet its net zero targets by 2038.
The plan considers a ‘maximum ambition pathway’, based on the emission reductions that could be achieved with a predominately electricity led approach to decarbonisation. This would include:
New London road tunnel ‘devastating’ for ‘UK’s most polluted borough’ independent.co.uk
A new road tunnel in London – due to start being built within months – will be “devastating” for a local borough that is “already the most polluted” in the UK, according to campaigners.
They urged the mayor to scrap plans for the Silvertown Tunnel, claiming it will be incompatible with targets to reduce traffic in the capital and worsen air quality.
The call came after a meeting with Seb Dance, the city’s deputy mayor for transport, on Tuesday – the anniversary of the death of nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah from south London, for which air pollution was a contributing factor.
Greenwich residents campaign to save LTN to avoid flood of commuters – standard.co.uk
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…
