Carlton Reid Jul 27, 2021
Birmingham—once, proudly, the U.K.’s “motorway city”—has plans to reduce motoring by making motor vehicle journeys longer and inconvenient. At the same time, journeys by bus, bicycle and on foot will be made quicker, easier and safer.
The city will be split into “segments” and, rather than driving direct, motorists will have to use a ring road for all segment-to-segment journeys. The changes are required in order to achieve carbon targets, says Birmingham’s city council.
Birmingham must “build a future in which the car will no longer be king”, said the council’s cabinet member for transport and environment Waseem Zaffar, speaking two years ago launching the outline plans for the scheme. Firm plans were released today with the start of a public consultation.
2019) Extinction Rebellion’s car-free streets showcase the possibility of a beautiful, safe and green future – The Conversation
Paul Chatterton October 16, 2019
Standing in the middle of a usually busy central London street during Extinction Rebellion’s protests, the air noticeably cleaner, the area quieter, I was struck by the enormity of the challenge ahead of us. We need to create a transport system that is zero carbon in only a few years. Despite London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone, the daily reality is still toxic traffic fumes, unjustifiable road deaths and high levels of transport carbon emissions (up to one-third of all emissions in many places). There are over 9,000 extra deaths a year in London due to illegal air toxicity, much of which is from road transport.
But some cities have created more car-free, healthy and safe places. Copenhagen and Amsterdam are known for their amazing cycling culture. Curitiba, in Brazil, has an amazing bus transit system that functions like a subway network. Helsinki has committed to going car-free as soon as possible. Tokyo has some of the lowest levels of car ownership in the world. And Venice hasn’t seen a car in its history.
Over half of all Brits considering buying an e-bike, study finds | Cycling Weekly
Bosch eBike Systems poll suggests for the first time the majority of UK is ready to embrace e-mobility
Simon Smythe 1 day ago
More than 25 million adults in the UK are now considering turning to two-wheeled e-mobility for the first time, as commuting and leisure habits evolve in the post-pandemic world.According to a study by Bosch eBike Systems, 55 per cent of British people are considering purchasing an e-bike following last year’s lockdown, while 32 per cent say they would use their car less in favour of electric pedal power. Critically, 66 per cent would consider buying an e-bike if the government committed to proposed subsidy schemes.
Can road closure schemes really make traffic ‘disappear’? – Steve Melia – transportxtra
‘Easier’ road closures may avoid disruption, but it is the schemes covering strategic routes or a wider area that will ultimately cause traffic reduction, writes Steve MeliaAll around Britain – and in many other countries – transport authorities have been closing roads to general traffic, pedestrianising in some cases and filtering in others. These experiments have proved controversial. Claims and counter-claims have been flying across mainstream and anti-social media. What happens to the traffic when you close or filter a road? Does it just squeeze onto the surrounding roads, worsening congestion and pollution, or does it ‘disappear’, and if so, what happens to the people who used to drive there?
Steve Melia is a senior lecturer in transport and planning at the University of the West of England. Hs book, Roads Runways and Resistance – from the Newbury Bypass to Extinction Rebellion, is published by Pluto Press. Melia, S. and Calvert, T. (2021) Does Traffic Disappear When Roads Are Closed? is available on: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7520712Want Safer Streets? Start Regulating Car Commercials. – Bloomberg
What if car companies were banned from boasting their trucks can “conquer,” “intimidate” and “thrill”?August 4, 2021,
A few months ago, Dodge posted tweet: “Fill in the blank. More horsepower means more _____.”
The U.S. Twitterverse immediately responded with the reality of living in a country where traffic crashes kill nearly 40,000 and injure over four million people every year:
“More horsepower means more dead kids.”
“More horsepower means more dead pedestrians.”
“More horsepower means more dead cyclists.”
Dodge removed the tweet. But bragging about horsepower was not a one-off error of judgment. Rather, marketing speed, power and reckless driving as a selling point for cars is part of a longstanding advertising tradition for automakers who, in 2018, spent more than $35 billion on advertising.Cycling UK call for end to loophole that allows drivers with 12 points to avoid ban | road.cc
The group want the law to be better defined so that only the most extreme examples are acceptedCycling UK is calling for an end to the ‘exceptional hardship’ loophole which allows drivers to avoid bans, despite having 12 penalty points on their licence.
To emphasise the devastating human impact of the loophole, the organisation has published a report detailing the tragic events that have happened partly as a result of the law.
Cycling UK’s new study, released this week, examines the ‘exceptional hardship’ loophole which drivers can use to avoid a driving ban despite totting up 12 or more penalty points.
The group say ‘the widespread acceptance’ of these pleas in the courts ‘encapsulates the pervasive view of dangerous driving as just one of those things’.New Congestion Charge proposals | Have Your Say Transport for London
The proposals we are now consulting on are:
•A daily charge of £15
•Reducing the hours of operation from 07:00–22:00 each day, to between 07:00-18:00 M–F and between 12:00-18:00 at wkends & Bank hols
•There would be no charge between Christmas and New Yea
•A discount of 90% for residents living in the Congestion Charge zone
•A pay next day charge of £17.50, and the deadline for making a delayed payment is three days after the day of travel
•No discount for payments made by Auto Pay or Fleet Auto Pay
•Retain reimbursement arrangements which would apply in exceptional circumstances
•Have your say•You can do this by completing the online survey no later than Wednesday 6 October 2021.
By enabling people to cycle for daily journeys, and borrow cars for specific trips for which they’re the best ‘tool for the job’, we can cut traffic in London and the amount of on-street car storage – LCC / Twitter
11:31 AM · Jul 28, 2021
By enabling people to cycle for daily journeys, and borrow cars for specific trips for which they’re the best ‘tool for the job’, we can cut traffic in London and the amount of on-street car storage, with cars being unused and unmoving for the vast majority of the time – LCC (Twitter)“Unfair and unjust” – Haulage trade body RHA slams Highway Code changes aimed at protecting vulnerable road users | road.cc
Chief executive says hierarchy of road users is “inherently unjust” on driversUK haulage industry trade body the RHA claims that forthcoming changes announced last week to the Highway Code are “unfair and unsafe, and could put vulnerable road users at risk.” The assertion was made in a blog post published yesterday, the same day a cyclist was killed in a crash involving a lorry in central London.
The new version of the Highway Code, to be published in the autumn, will set out a hierarchy of road users under which those with potential to cause the most danger to others will be deemed to have greater responsibility to those who are more vulnerable than them.The Ranty Highwayman: Rain Gardens
One of the impacts of climate change for the UK is that storms are going to get more severe with greater intensities of rainfall. Unless we start climate-adapting our streets now, we had better start getting used to flash flooding.I should at this point check our privilege because there are places in the world who have long suffered catastrophic flooding and consumption by rich countries has and will only make things worse; by comparison, the UK has been getting of lightly.
I need to separate out a couple of the flooding mechanisms. At the macro-level, there will be issues with how a water catchment operates. By catchment, I mean the area that captures rainfall (or melting snow) which ends up in watercourses.