Back in May 2021, the Active Travel Academy (ATA) at the University of Westminster said it was ‘delighted’ to finally launch the UK’s first media reporting guidelines for road collisions during UN Global Road Safety Week 2021. However, most media still reports collisions with ‘cars’ and not ‘drivers’
London Borough Healthy Streets Scorecard 2021 Tickets, Tue 6 Jul 2021 at 10:00 | Eventbrite
For the third year running, the Scorecard Coalition compares London boroughs on the action they’ve taken to promote active and sustainable travel in line with the Mayor’s Transport Strategy targets. Which boroughs are taking action? Which boroughs need to do more?
Find out which boroughs come top this year, and which boroughs need to do more
Simon Munk London Cycling Campaign
On behalf of the Scorecard Coalition – their take on this remarkable year
Philip Glanville
Caroline Pidgeon
Cllr Shama Tatler
Cllr Caroline Russell
Cllr Jim Glen
The Scorecard Coalition:
CPRE London | Future Transport London | London Cycling Campaign |
London Living Streets | Possible | Roadpeace | Sustrans London | Wheels for Wellbeing
Why equitable streets matter more than ever post-Covid – transportxtra.com
Andi Adams 29 June 2021
Now here’s a startling fact: two people can travel along the same street at the same time but experience the journey in very different ways. One person’s 800m sprint is another person’s hurdles depending on age, gender, race, religion, belief, mobility (including ‘hidden’ disabilities), sexuality and more.
After the kidnapping and murder of Sarah Everard, thousands of women told their stories about how they walk with their keys gripped between their fingers, ready to become a makeshift defensive weapon. They told how they try not to travel alone at night or cross the road to avoid sharing the pavement with a stranger. Trans women, queer women and women of colour, women who wear garments such as the hijab or the burka may experience additional threat or sense of threat due to the compounding of intersectional characteristics. Existing in public as your authentic self can be dangerous. It can also be expensive.
A study from New York showed that women on average spend between $26 (£18) and $100 (£72) a month more than men on transport, attributed to a need to feel safe (i.e taking a cab instead of the subway).
Do inclusive transport strategies really consider the needs of all users – transportxtra
Lucy Marstrand-Taussig 29 June 2021
Describing children as ‘vulnerable road users’ shifts the focus to the potential victim – we need to recognise that vulnerability is largely created by the physical environment, attitudes and laws, writes Lucy Marstrand-Taussig
Children are often described as ‘vulnerable road users’ which shifts the focus onto the potential victim rather than the external facts such as insufficient priority crossings
Figure 1: Temporary Strategic Cycling Analysis for Streetspace Plan 2020. Spider diagram routes are focussed on trips into and out of the city centre. Source: Appendix Four Analysis for the Temporary Strategic Cycling Analysis v1, TfL
Road development scheme´s `undesirable´ climate impact ignored, High Court told | Daily Mail Online
In March 2020, the Department for Transport (DfT) set out its Road Investment Strategy 2 (RIS2) for major roads in England from April 2020 to March 2025.
The strategy is made up of 50 major road schemes, including controversial plans for the A303 Stonehenge tunnel and the Lower Thames Crossing linking Kent and Essex.
The Transport Action Network (Tan), which supports sustainable transport campaigns, has accused Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and the DfT of unlawfully failing to take account of the ‘obviously material’ impact of RIS2 on achieving climate change objectives.
At the High Court on Tuesday, Tan argued the Government failed to consider commitments to tackle climate change, made up of the use of carbon budgets and the legally binding target to cut emissions to net-zero by 2050.
New cycle parking standards available: feedback welcome – transportxtra
In a bid to address the increase in cycle theft, the standard is for people purchasing, installing and managing public cycle parking in the UK. It is to ensure that the installations which they procure are easy to use, safe, secure, long lasting and in compliance with UK legal requirements
Government to roll out Mini Holland schemes beyond London | road.cc
The Department for Transport (DfT) has reportedly made £239 million available for around 12 such initiatives across the country.
Local authorities interested in bidding for a share of the money were invited to do so in a letter sent to them last week by DfT deputy director Rupert Furness inviting applications for grants from the government’s Active Travel Fund.
In the letter, excerpts of which were quoted on Forbes.com by transport author and journalist Carlton Reid, Furness made it clear that schemes would need to include proper segregation in accordance with the LTN 1/20 standard, and that cycle lanes demarcated solely by paint would be rejected.
Furness told local authorities: “Mini Hollands involve intensive spending on local roads and streetscapes to make them, over time, as cycle and pedestrian-friendly as their Dutch equivalents.”
High Court judge rejects challenge to Lambeth’s Low Traffic Neighbourhoods | road.cc
Council acted in line with regulations and did not discriminate against disabled people who rely on cars for transport
A High Court judge has today rejected a legal challenge to low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) introduced last year in the London Borough of Lambeth, ruling that the council acted in line with regulations governing their implementation and that they did not discriminate against people with disabilities.
The case had been brought, with the backing of the anti-LTN group One Lambeth, by a disabled resident of the borough, Sofia Shaekh, who lives close to the boundary of the Railton LTN in Brixton, and who relies heavily on using her car for transport.
Ruling against Streetspace overturned by appeal judges -transportxtra
By Mark Moran 29 June 2021
The Streetspace programme is designed to promote active travel after the Covid-19 pandemic hit and aimed at giving more space to cyclists and pedestrians.
In January, High Court judge Mrs Justice Lang ruled that TfL’s programme was unlawful after taxi drivers launched a legal action complaining…
Sinkholes: when the ground fights back after centuries of exploitation – the conversation
Arya Assadi Langroudi March 15, 2021 2.29pm GMT
First, it swallowed a car. A few hours later, two terraced buildings. At 9pm on January 20, a crater measuring 4 sq metres appeared in Walmer Street, Manchester. Another sinkhole shocked local Scottish walkers, swallowing a section of coastal path between Dysart and West Wemyss on February 4. And, in early March, a sinkhole in Cumbria opened up beneath a farmer riding a quad bike. He was rescued by firefighters and taken to hospital.
These are only recent examples from the UK. The ground opening up and engulfing whatever lies in its path is a pretty common occurrence. Globally, for every 0.1℃ rise in temperature, the number of sinkholes increases by 1%-3%.