:excerptstart16 th March 2021 [LONDON] Following the removal in December of the protected cycle lane on High Street Kensington after only seven weeks, today volunteer group Better Streets for Kensington and Chelsea (Better Streets) has given the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) a plan for the council to solve their self-inflicted legal problems, start delivering on national policy, show their commitment to being […]

:excerptstartStudy links fall in street crime and low traffic neighbourho Introducing low traffic neighbourhoods in Waltham Forest has led to an overall reduction of street crime, particularly violent and sexual offences, according to a study by academics Anna Goodman and Rachel Aldred.The research shows there was a 10% fall in street crime over one year, which compares “favourably” with

Carlton Reid
The Science and Environment Unit of BBC News has been accused of spreading falsehoods in a TV report on Low Traffic Neighborhoods (LTNs) broadcast on March 17.
The report is the “most-watched video on the BBC website at the moment,” said a TV news anchor at the end of BBC London News last night, and “rightly so,” he added.
“It’s neighbors fighting neighbors over the issue of Low Traffic Neighborhoods,” the anchor said.
“You need to see it to believe it.”
Indeed, in several ways, the report was unbelievable, including, says one parliamentarian, because it appears to breach BBC impartiality rules.
Lord Berkeley has written to the BBC’s director of editorial policy and standards, claiming that the report failed to meet the broadcaster’s editorial guidelines.
Among several other claims, a “contributor made a statement that a taxi driver could not access her property and this went unchallenged,” wrote Lord Berkeley, patron of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cycling and Walking.
“All residential properties remain accessible, albeit via a slightly longer route,” he stated.

Dear subscriber,
The ferocity of the arguments over low traffic neighbourhoods still never ceases to amaze me. I wrote, in a piece for LabourList, only half-jokingly that they had become the most controversial transport issue of the day, greater even than HS2 or the £27bn roads programme. The rows have continued and several LTNs have been removed by councils after strong opposition campaigns.
But how real are these campaigns? And what is motivating the people behind them? 

In last week’s blog about the various barriers to inclusive cycling, one of the barriers I talked about was routes being too narrow and cited a pop up cycle lane that had been recently installed.
There was quite a lot of chat about this on Twitter so, in this week’s post, I’ll be expanding on that topic by looking at some other examples where trials and pop up infrastructure have not been inclusive and talk about what we should be doing going forward.
Pop up cycle lanes
Firstly, let’s look at pop up cycle lanes in a bit more detail.

Matthew Taylor
Thu 11 Mar 2021
Choked Up group demands action from mayoral candidates to tackle traffic pollution

A group of teenagers who live in some of London’s most polluted neighbourhoods are putting “hacked” road signs up across the capital to highlight the disproportionate impact that toxic air has on people of colour.

Choked Up, a group who describe themselves as “black and brown teenagers from south London”, have set up the campaign, which is being backed by more than 100 doctors.

:excerptstartTransport minister cites £2bn fund as evidence of commitment to supporting ‘active travel’ The public’s growing enthusiasm for walking and cycling around UK towns and cities must be supported and encouraged as the country emerges from Covid-19 lockdowns, a minister has said.The transport minister Chris Heaton-Harris said there was huge interest in “active travel” in the UK and

Survey reports 81% of parents and carers supported the measures at their children’s school

:excerptstartLiberty Sheldon17 March, 2021 Spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic, bicycle sales rose 65% in the United States between 2019 and 2020, according to a report in the New York Times. Researchers at the NPD Group, which supplied the findings, also claim that electric bike sales grew by 145% in the same period. :excerpted link to original