News from Elsewhere

More Low Traffic Suburbs – The Ranty Highwayman

Steven Edwards • 17/10/2020

It’s simply wonderful to see Low Traffic Neighbourhoods spreading across the UK, although at least in my part of the world, I wish I did’t have to cycle quite to far to find one. Hot on the heels of the LTNs in Redbridge starting to be rolled out, another interesting scheme is running.

In the first cross-authority scheme I am aware of (please let me know if I am wrong here), the London Boroughs of Newham and Waltham Forest have joined forces to create two new LTNs straddling their boundary. The Maryland and Odessa LTNs remove the ability for drivers to cut through a large residential areas which contains some nice surprises.

News from Elsewhere

UK bans any use of mobile phones while driving | The Guardian

Steven Edwards • 17/10/2020

Government updates law to ban drivers from using phone in any way, not just calling and texting

Gwyn TophamSat 17 Oct 2020

Drivers who use hand-held phones in any way behind the wheel will face £200 fines and possible bans when changes in the law take account of smartphones.
While making calls or texting on a hand-held mobile while driving is already illegal, taking photos, scrolling through a playlist or even playing games on phones has not been outlawed until now – allowing drivers to escape charges when spotted with a phone.

News from Elsewhere

Hackney did just low traffic neighbourhoods for 10 years. The result? – LCC

Steven Edwards • 17/10/2020

In a ten year period between census dates of 2001 and 2011, Hackney Council focused almost exclusively on low traffic neighbourhood or modal filtering schemes according to a recently unearthed report by noted engineer, Brian Deegan. During that time, cycling trips more than tripled, cycling mode share for work trips more than

News from Elsewhere

Waltham Forest mini-Holland evidence – LCC

Steven Edwards • 17/10/2020

Our infrastructure campaigner Simon Munk lives in Waltham Forest and was heavily involved in campaigning for the mini-Holland schemes there. The schemes were controversial when they started going in over 5 years ago, and the evidence arising from them has been recently heavily contested by those opposing “Low Traffic Neighbourhoods” (LTNs) across London. Simon has now written a long assessment of the evidence from Waltham Forest and some of the common attacks on it, here. For the short of time, here’s our summary

News from Elsewhere

London amongst the worst major cities for cyclists, finds Wiggle Study – Cycling Industry News

Steven Edwards • 17/10/2020

Liberty Sheldon13 October, 2020

Multi-sports retailer Wiggle has given London a dressing down in research detailing the best and worst cities for cyclists in the UK

The data, which analysed sentiment from over 6,000 UK sports enthusiasts, reveals which cities across the UK are the most, and least, cycle friendly. The research found that London is among the worst cities for cycling while the city of Newcastle has ranked the best.
54% of London cyclists surveyed stated aggressive drivers in the capital as a reason they don’t feel safe on the roads, closely followed by drivers in Brighton and Hove (50%), Glasgow (49%), Leeds (49%) and Liverpool (49%). Welsh drivers are thought to be the friendliest, with just 24% of Aberystwyth cyclists feeling concerned about inconsiderate drivers.

News from Elsewhere

Delfast launch e-cargo trike for businesses, with a huge motor and 300kg weight limit | electric bike reviews, buying advice and news – ebiketips

Steven Edwards • 17/10/2020

The Ukranian e-bike brand Delfast are renowned for producing hugely powerful e-bikes that are way beyond anything that can be ridden without a licence in the UK and Europe… and they’ve now extended that to cargo vehicles so businesses can make super-charged deliveries, unveiling their all new Trike after six months in development.

News from Elsewhere

Is this hubless e-bike the future? Reevo has storage inside its wheels and ‘impenetrable’ theft protection | electric bike reviews, buying advice and news – ebiketips

Steven Edwards • 17/10/2020

“Spokes are so last year”, say Beno Technologies of their new, very unique-looking creation called Reevo, which was the result of four years of R+D, prototyping and testing before arriving at the finished product. Aimed at the urban cyclist, Reevo has hubless, spokeless wheels, a beam-style frame and one-sided fork, and can even be locked and unlocked with your fingertip.

News from Elsewhere

Low Traffic Suburbs -The Ranty Highwayman

Steven Edwards • 17/10/2020

One of the issues about working from home and keeping off public transport has been that cycling around to look at stuff has been that my range has been somewhat restricted and generally, positive street changes in my wider neck of the woods have been few and far between.

News from Elsewhere

The growing gap in pedestrian and cyclist fatality rates between the US & the UK, Germany, Denmark, & the Netherlands, 1990–2018 – T & F Online

Steven Edwards • 17/10/2020

Using official national data for each country, this article calculates trends in walking and cycling fatalities per capita and per km in the USA, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark. From 1990 to 2018, pedestrian fatalities per capita fell by 23% in the USA vs. 66%–80% in the other countries; cyclist fatalities per capita fell by 22% in the USA vs. 55%–68% in the other countries.

News from Elsewhere

How Oslo Achieved Zero Pedestrian and Bicycle Fatalities, and How Others Can Apply What Worked | TheCityFix

Steven Edwards • 14/10/2020

Anders Hartmann

In 2015, the City of Oslo, Norway, made a commitment after years of rising transportation injuries to reduce car traffic and prioritize the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and the environment. Unlike in the United States and other countries where transportation fatalities are often viewed as unavoidable, the government of Norway made a strong commitment to eliminate serious injuries and fatalities on their roadways nationally and has worked towards this vision for nearly two decades.