There is still a little interest and also a big misunderstanding about cycling among the general public and councillors. Often, “driving” emotions take over when talking cycling. Most negative emotions regarding cycling have their roots in the simple fact that there has been no space for cycling in most infrastructure arrangements for over 50 years. This raises conflicts and inconveniences for all users.
Our forum cannot be hold responsible for general behaviours of people on bikes, as we also don't hold anybody responsible for general behaviours of peope in cars. We are not against driving. What we want to see that we all have the choice to cycle. If safe and convenient cycle routes were available on important short-distance travel corridors, many more people would cycle. So, lets move from the negative and let's look at the bigger picture. Below the big five reasons why cycling should be at forefront of transportation planning:
- Road
Safety: 1% of Britons are estimated road injured yearly and this percentage
is rising. 194,477 people were recorded
road injured in 2014; a 6% increase over 2013. Including unreported casualties 700,000 (1%) of Britons are estimated
road injured yearly. The vast majority involved motorists hitting
people. “Health and Safety” is strongly embedded in government and company
policies, except when it comes down to the provision of safe conditions for
cycling and walking. Transport policies have been favouring driving over all other
transport means for decades. In many places, there is no place for anything
else. 61% of people in the UK feel it is too dangerous to cycle on the road. Statistics show that people's instinct is not wrong. It is time for safety for all.
- Public Health: Inactivity as a result
of passive travel habits is a large contributor to the ruinous growth of
obesity and health-related issues in Britain. The UK has higher levels of obesity and
overweight people than anywhere in Western Europe, save for Iceland and Malta.
The UK also has one of the lowest levels of children walking or cycling to
school in Europe.
Without taking action on active travel, the Association of Directors of Public
Health expects the national health bill as a result of obesity to tally up to 20
billion pounds per year by 2020. If we really want to see levels of obesity declining in the UK, we have to move on from the rhetoric. We need to see a visible investment in infrastructure that makes cycling and walking the travel modes of choice for people across the country.
- Climate
change and environment: On many
urban main roads in the UK, particle pollution is beyond the annual set
limits. One in five British homes has someone living with asthma. To
be able to meet the UK’s Carbon Emissions target for 2050 requires reducing
domestic emissions by at least 3% a year. There are many environmental reasons
why we should be discouraging driving. It is about time to start asking the
question why we allow motorised traffic to occupy so much public space,
especially in our town and village centres. If you plan for cars and traffic,
you’ll get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places you get people
and places.
- Congestion
reduction: The majority of car journeys
are three miles or less. Cycling
has the potential to take 25-30% of this traffic flow. 1970s Dutch pilot projects with continuous
safe cycle routes generated a 30-75% increase of cycling levels on these travel
corridors. London’s traffic-free Tavistock Place cycle path, built in 2002,
takes up to 1000 cyclists per hour today. Build it and they will come. The
Tarka Trail has put cycling levels in North Devon already well above national
average. Every person on a bike is a car less on the road!
- Value
for money:
It is a myth that cycling
infrastructure is expensive. Infrastructure for driving is. For example, the
recent Roundswell roundabout extension costed £ 2 million of tax-payers money
and will
only bring short-term congestion relief. For £800.000 (just
40% of the Roundswell expense) we can create a safe cycle network for
Barnstaple Town Centre and ALL surrounding areas, providing the public with a real choice
between driving and cycling or walking. Small schemes, BIG changes; simple.
National campaigns for better facilities for cycling in the UK, such as Sustrans, CTC, Cities Fit For Cycling Campaign and the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain all address the issues above and have a growing following. They have started to break the resistance of government and Department for Transport to take cycling as means for transport seriously. In cities such as London and Bristol campaigning groups are starting to reshape their cities. There is also a similar campaigning group in Exeter.
Rural areas such as North Devon generally miss out, but decisions on infrastructure are taken on county and local level. Especially with so many new proposed housing and trading estate developments in the area, a local campaigning group for North Devon is needed as well. Only bare minimums are proposed to connect new areas to our towns, with traffic levels increasing on existing roads. Without extended infrastructure for cycling, cycling conditions will worsen.
How can you help?
- Support the
construction of short, missing links, utilising what is already there. Solve bottlenecks and give maintenance
and signage of routes priority.
- Support the call
for a default 20 mph speed limit for urban and village streets, with only
occasional 30 mph exceptions.
- Be proactive and
be cycling minded. Not painting a centre road line back in after resurfacing
can already be a big improvement. It reduces average speeds on local roads, as drivers have to work their senses more. By removing the centre road line, roads become more shared spaces, with drivers naturally slowing down for cyclists and horse riders. Being out there on a bike or on a horse, you feel less "in the way", reducing the feeling of discomfort if cars approach from behind.
- Be critical to
plans for new developments. “Island thinking” prevails. Chances are high that
cycling needs are not well addressed. Cycle routes shouldn't be dead ends on housing estates, but properly connect to the places where people work, shop and study, providing an alternative for that busy or high-speed road.
- Don’t let “driving”
emotions take over when talking cycling.
Don’t blame the victims. Keep looking at the bigger picture and work towards a world where there is a choice of transport where-ever we live and where-ever we need to go.
We love to discuss
ideas, plans and proposals in detail with you; where-ever you are in North
Devon. Don’t hesitate to be in touch.
