News from Elsewhere

This article comes courtesy of electricbikereport.com contributor Richard Peace, who in today’s long read explores the often fraught issue of rights access for bike and e-Bike riders in the countryside.
The Lost Miles
What did the Romans ever do for us? So goes the famous refrain in Monty Python’s Life of Brian film, quoted a million times since. As it happened they pioneered good quality roads throughout much of the country and began a long history of laying down horse (and often cart) friendly rights of way in the pre-motor vehicle era, that could help provide a 21st century revolution in access for those on two wheels.

I’ve long held the suspicion that the use of ‘encouragement’ in relation to cycling is a classic example of a weasel word. It’s a word that sounds positive (after all, who could possibly object to cycling being encouraged?) – but that, when it comes to its use in practice, amounts to an abdication of responsibility. ‘Encouragement’ involves persuading people to do something, and… that’s about it. We want you to cycle, but we’re going to do very little to help you. In fact, we might even ‘encourage’ you to cycle while we are actively making things worse.

Annual bike sales will run at more than double new car registrations by 2030, according to new forecasts by a trio of European cycling organisations.
The trend analysis of 30 European countries by CONEBI, CIE and the ECF illustrates that based on the current trajectory 10 million more bikes are expected to sell per year in Europe by 2030, representing a 47% rise on the 2019 tally. Once reached, the 30 million bikes sold annually will run at more than double the number of passenger cars registered per year in the EU.

Four in 10 Londoners (39 per cent) say they are cycling more since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new survey from Halfords – and almost all (87 per cent) are doing so either to avoid the risk of infection while using public transport or to avoid adding to air pollution and traffic congestion while driving, or both.  

SADIQ KHAN today suggested he was seeking to seize control of Kensington High Street in order to reinstate cycle lanes being ripped out by the Tory council.
The Mayor said Transport for London was considering “all other options” in addition to seeking a refund of the £320,000 of public money given to Kensington and Chelsea council to install the segregated lanes on either side of the high street.
TfL can apply to convert a major road into a “red route”, thus bringing it within its strategic route network, if the borough agrees. If the borough objects, it is up to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to decide.

Around 200 people took to their bikes on Kensington High Street this morning in protest at the decision of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea’s decision to remove emergency cycle lanes there this week – a decision that the head of London Cycling Campaign (LCC) has described as “shameful, callous and retrograde.”
The protest, held in accordance with lockdown rules, came as Londoners are being urged to continue cycling and walking to ease pressure on the city’s public transport network ahead of restrictions being lifted at midnight tonight.
This morning, cycling and environmental campaigners – plus at least four dogs in bicycle baskets – joined children, parents and staff from the Fox Primary School in Kensington to protest against the removal of the lanes, which had only been installed in September.