Tag Archives: Cycling

What’s Ken’s equivalent of the Congestion Charge this time?

Ken Livingstone’s first term as Mayor of London is intrinsically associated with the Congestion Charge. An unpopular idea at the start it is now impossible to imagine London without it. The quid pro quo for it was the investment in London’s buses, now almost without exception modern and disabled-accessible. The plan was visionary, bold, determined and – viewed over the medium term – right.

Fast forward to 2012 and Ken’s re-election bid next year and what has he got? The problem this time is that Ken does not look like the radical outsider he did in 2000. This time he is the institutional one, against Boris the buffoon who many still love despite his policy inadequacies. While Ken may struggle in the character stakes, he could partially make up for it with eye-catching policies… but what could those be?

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Bringing Copenhagen cycling to the UK

The film above is a short CNN report where Richard Quest looks at how cycling works in Copenhagen, and the new challenges the city faces as a result – cycle congestion. There are plenty of lessons in the film for UK cities in light of new research about cycling in the UK. Basically Brits are not going to take to their bikes in large numbers while they fear the consequences of doing so, and – as Peter Walker argues in a blog entry – this needs kilometres of segregated cycle lanes.

Why then does London Cycling not have this as one of its demands to candidates for Mayor of London at the 2012 elections? One of its 4 options on its 2012 election page – Continental-style high streets – is too wishy-washy in its wording.

The solution for cycling in London is simple but costly – segregate cyclists from traffic wherever possible and people will take to their bikes. Now which candidate(s) will advocate that I wonder?

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Bringing German cycle culture to the UK

I’ve spent the past 10 days in Berlin, ostensibly for a half marathon and an IT/politics conference… but as I’m sure anyone who reads this blog can tell, my mind works in strange ways and makes odd connections. So here’s a blog entry about German cycle culture.

In London I’m a determined cyclist, determined being the most important word – for it feels tough. Cycling in London has improved a lot over the years, but it feels like it needs considerable commitment. Lots of cyclists don’t cycle in their regular business clothes but instead keep spare clothes where they work, and shower upon arrival. Cyclists are in amongst the traffic and – even with the advent of cycle superhighways – it’s not something that just fits easily into life.

That’s the opposite of Berlin cycle culture. Walk out of the office, hop on a bike, into the relatively sparse traffic (or on pavements, but that’s not something I want to copy!) Few wear helmets, few wear yellow jackets and – importantly – the bikes themselves are different. Well designed city bikes with mudguards and hub dynamos. Luggage racks at the back equipped with sensible and yet smart panniers, OK to walk into a business meeting. Kids in seats on the back or in trailers.

In short German cycle culture is about efficient integration of the bike into your everyday life. It’s not as laid back as a Gazelle, or not as focussed on style as Copenhagen Cycle Chic or Bobbin Cycles. It’s epitome - in design terms – is VSF Fahrradmanufaktur.

London has a couple of dedicated Dutch cycle shops, but no dedicated German cycle shop as far as I can tell. About time to work out a way to open one? A shop that also has a decent website and good promotion via social media would be a handy addition as well.

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Lorries and cycle safety

A friend has mailed me a link to the ‘See Me, Save Me‘ campaign, run by the mother of a cyclist killed by a lorry turning. That campaign wants to pass a written declaration in the European Parliament, making it the position of the European Parliament that sensors and cameras must be installed on lorries. A written declaration is a long way from becoming EU-wide law (that would need a legislative draft from the European Commission) but the campaign is interesting.

It’s not too dissimilar from the ‘No More Lethal Lorries‘ campaign by LCC. Here the emphasis is different, with a 5-point plan: Cyclist-awareness training for drivers, Drivers must take more responsibility, Safer design for London lorries, Higher standards from lorry operators and More responsible procurement. I prefer their multi-faceted approach, but determining if these points are achievable is rather more complex, and how apply this to London only, when so much European law is involved in all of this?

I think there is also a lot of progress to be made on road and cycle lane design to help deal with this issue, a matter raised numerous times in the excellent ‘Traffic‘ by Tom Vanderbilt. Cycle lanes are often too narrow to allow safe passage along the inside of trucks waiting at traffic lights, and when cycle lanes are in place they often make lanes for traffic very narrow – that’s very much the problem with the Cycle Superhighway 2 currently in development though my part of London.

Anyway, in conclusion: I’m not going to mail my MEPs about the See Me, Save Me campaign, but I have finally got around to joining London Cycling Campaign. You can sign up here.

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A short Brussels journey by bike

Twitpic from @vertbrussels

Twitpic from @vertbrussels

Brussels on a bicycle is the fastest way to get around, but it’s often like some sort of assault course. Here’s an example.

I set off from home at 1950 last night, heading from St Gilles to a friend’s place in St Josse, going via Flagey, rue Gray, chaussée d’Etterbeek. Along the way I counted:

  • 10 cars double parked
  • 3 cars that were not road-worthy due to problems with their lights
  • 2 drivers not using indicators when turning at junctions
  • 1 driver jumping red lights

Why, oh why, don’t Brussels police do something about this? Surely they could earn plenty of cash by fining people? These sorts of things are what makes cycling hell. Then this morning someone tweeted the picture shown above, and all becomes clear.

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