News from Elsewhere

Between 1934 and 1942, Britain’s Ministry of Transport paid local authorities to install cycle tracks. As seen and heard on the BBC, more than 100 or so schemes were built, resulting in perhaps as many as 500 miles of cycle tracks, some of them protected with curbs. The great majority were built next to the new bypasses of the era; some more were built on trunk roads through residential areas. A successful Kickstarter campaign in May 2017 enabled us to start researching some of these cycleways, and now in 2021, thanks to support from the Department for Transport and Sustrans, we’re in the process of rescuing some of them.

SUPPORT THIS PROJECT

Even though the Kickstarter campaign is no longer live you’re still able in 2021 to get the same emails and reports and other benefits as the original backers. This extension was created after people got in touch after the campaign ended asking how to get involved. 

Peter Walker and Niamh McIntyre
The number of cycling trips made by women in England rose by more than 50% in 2020, official statistics show, as the quieter roads of lockdown seemingly helped to tempt a demographic known to be more wary of traffic danger on to their bikes.
While for men there was a 12% overall rise in the average number of cycle “stages” – rides that formed part of a greater journey – made per person in 2020 compared with the year before, for women the increase was 56%, Department for Transport (DfT) statistics show.
Overall, men still cycled more on average over the year, as has long been the case. However, while in 2019 men cycled almost three times as many stages as women, in 2020 this fell to twice as many.

Josephine Moulds
Italy could be forced to pay millions of pounds in damages to a UK oil company after banning new drilling near its coast.
The case has sparked outrage at the secretive international tribunals at which fossil fuel companies can sue governments for passing laws to protect the environment – amid fears that such cases are slowing down action on the climate crisis. It is also fuelling concern that the UK is particularly exposed to the risk of oil firms suing to prevent green policies, potentially hampering climate action.
Rockhopper Exploration, based in Salisbury, Wiltshire, bought a licence to drill for oil off Italy’s Adriatic coast in 2014. There had already been a wave of opposition to the project, with protests that drew tens of thousands of people. Within two years, the campaign won over the Italian parliament, which imposed a ban on oil and gas projects within 12 nautical miles of the Italian coast.

Aubrey Allegretti

A fifth of London’s schools are now susceptible to flooding and millions of people living in the capital are at “high risk” of suffering from the effects of the climate crisis, according to analysis from City Hall, as Sadiq Khan warns time is running out to tackle the issue.
In a speech on Thursday, the London mayor is due to pile pressure on the UK government to ensure bold action is taken when it hosts world leaders for Cop26 in Glasgow in two months’ time, and add that without a significant commitment there will be “catastrophic” impacts on the environment and air quality.
The outcome of the UN conference will “determine whether we are going to avert the worst consequences of climate change, which could be devastating”, Khan is expected to say, alongside the launch of a public awareness campaign designed to encourage residents, communities and businesses in London to do their bit.

The idea of tolls for some drivers on two of Wales’ busiest stretches of road has been raised by Welsh government.

It asked for the public’s views in a survey about some motorists paying to use parts of the M4 motorway and A470 in a bid to tackle air pollution.
The survey asked for views on tolls for older cars on the M4 around Newport, Wales’ busiest stretch of motorway, and the A470 around Pontypridd.
But the survey said a “clean air zone” is not proposed “at this stage”.
An air pollution expert said any suggestion would be unlike any other air pollution measure in the UK, which normally charges motorists for driving into cities rather on stretches of road.
The Welsh government has declared a climate emergency and has committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
The government survey asked drivers if their commuting or travelling habits would change if some vehicles had to pay to use those stretches of road.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking (APPGCW) has released its inquiry report into the Government’s upcoming 2nd Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS2).
The inquiry, exploring what CWIS2 should look like, took place in July and the list of witnesses can be found online. Three evidence sessions were held.
The report makes a number of detailed and wide-ranging recommendations – which are based on evidence received from a variety of stakeholders, provided both in virtual sessions and in writing. 

Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City. This lecture, given by Peter Norton at the 2012 CNU Conference, provides a summary of Norton’s fascinating 2009 book about how automotive traffic came to dominate the American street.
Peter Norton teaches history of technology, social dimensions of engineering, research, and professional ethics in the Department of Engineering at the University of Virginia.