A vision of my local area in idyllic world

[Oldhippy]

I also work for vulnerable people and we have Wheels for All locally who do a fantastic job on a very tight budget with volunteer staff. Sadly as local transport for people with disabilities the system is very risk adverse for shopping trips etc even on cycle paths with fully adapted bikes. That doesn't stop me making them see sense though as the guys get a lot out of it.

 

[Oldhippy]

Loads of practical obstacles I'm afraid the main one being the political will to actually do anything meaningful but I can but try.

 

[HMS_Dave]

All the idiotic policies of TfL are doing is creating more traffic congestion, longer journey times, increased business costs, and more pollution for everybody else. It's worse getting about in London now than before the Congestion Charge came in, and the justification for that was to cut congestion. Abject fail all round.

Nothing will stop London being congested when nearly 2 more million people live there since the charges came in on largely the same infrastructure for decades... The UK needs to decentralise the economy and realise that the UK borders extend beyond the M25.

Some of the most recent cycling proposals are a little bit without thought, but the fact is nothing will work until these issues are resolved and London keeps growing and growing on crumbling infrastructure. There needs to be an new and rapid rethink on how we travel in these cities and cycling is going to remain much in the thoughts the politicians as it should. Cars are very much an uneconomical way to travel in a squashed up city, often containing only one occupant. Like 2 opposite sides of a magnet being forced together, something will have to give...

 

[Oldhippy]

Indeed it will.

 

[Brooks]

Yep a total ban on private cars in city centres would be far more effective.

That won't happen due to the revenue streams from the congestion charge.

 

[Brooks]

All the idiotic policies of TfL are doing is creating more traffic congestion, longer journey times, increased business costs, and more pollution for everybody else. It's worse getting about in London now than before the Congestion Charge came in, and the justification for that was to cut congestion. Abject fail all round.

Nail on the head. People are taking to the streets protesting at the badly thought out schemes brought in with little to no consultation with locals. The net result is greater anti cycling feeling expressed all round.
Create congestion to justify congestion charging has always been the model in London.
Quiet ways with well thought out filtering is the best cost effective way of providing good cycle routes.

 

[raleighnut]

That won't happen due to the revenue streams from the congestion charge.

Ah well at least I know I'm never gonna go to the dump again, my days of working at Earls Court, Olympia and at Oxford St shops are in the past so no more Rat infested back alleys strewn with rubbish or sleeping in 'Hotels' (and I use the term loosely) that ought to be condemned on health grounds (the back of our vans were cleaner)

As for your cheeky 'Cockerknee' geezers, they must be the most bone idle skivers on the planet. The only people who seemed to do any work at all were Eastern European or Turkish, mind some of the Aussie Barmaids were nice but you had to watch the Australian blokes round Earls Court way

 

[HobbesOnTour]

If it's of any help....
A few years ago a German Warmshowers guest of mine was telling me about how his group had got together to buy a cargobike that was rented out (at a low cost) to people. Over time they added a few more and their most recent purchased had been a big electric assist one.
Basically, they paid for themselves.
Of course, that was Germany (can't remember the city, sorry) with good biking infrastructure.

I'd imagine there are a lot of similar ideas in Germany, NL, Belgium etc. Good inspiration and real examples.

I'd imagine the best way to go is to pick the most "oven - ready" idea and get that going and noticed. With a bit of a reputation behind you, the next should be easier and so on.

Good luck!

 

[Oldhippy]

Thanks for that Hobbes, getting one for a starter is a cracking idea as I am mates with a guy who has a zero waste shop and is always saying he would like to deliver locally but a big investment in one go is a stretch. A few of the local independently owned stores though and it sounds a good possibility. Great post thanks.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Thanks for that Hobbes, getting one for a starter is a cracking idea as I am mates with a guy who has a zero waste shop and is always saying he would like to deliver locally but a big investment in one go is a stretch. A few of the local independently owned stores though and it sounds a good possibility. Great post thanks.

No problem.
Just to clarify, though, the "market" for the cargo bikes were "ordinary people", for things like moving apartment, big shopping trips, etc. It wasn't geared towards businesses. I'd imagine the bike was well covered in advertising to alert as many people as possible to its availability.

When I lived in NL a local live music venue had a cargo bike they used to deliver (weekly) posters and fliers in the city. An expensive outlay, but very effective advertising over the long term.
Perhaps, ethically minded businesses could be encouraged to "sponsor" (in return for advertising) the first cargo bike of a new, eco-friendly service in your town or city?
(Of course, the possible downside is justeat/uber type riders trashing the rep of that business! )

Last year clearing out my house (in NL) I baulked at the price of renting a van and instead used my bike & trailer (6 panniers). It was cheaper and so much faster! No queuing at the recycling centre - I just rolled past the cars, vans and trailers. I'd never have thought it was so easy - until I tried it.

 

[Oldhippy]

Chatting with the guy from the zero waste shop today and bought up the possibility of doing delivery by cargo bike if it were an option. He was very enthusiastic so I have a small starting point and will check out the other local independently owned stores to gauge reaction. Thanks Andy in Germany!

 

[Andy in Germany]

While on a ride through Freiburg on Sunday I realised I was passing the Vauban quarter, which sounds a lot like the vision @Oldhippy was describing.

It is built to be a relatively ecological area, with limited car use, roads designed to discourage driving, and a variety of housing types that are built to be sustainable:

The main thing I noticed was that it is so quiet. Also so very relaxed and pleasant to be in. The tram was the noisiest thing in the area.

All these little streets are narrow and awkward to drive a car down, and generally had a small business in them. There were many load carrying bicycles as well.

This is one small part of the whole, I may return to take more pictures.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Black Forest the railways are being improved and upgraded...

Amongst other things, there are loads of extra bike parking. This is the old goods shed at Staufen:

On the other side of the railway there was an E-Bike loading station:

The roof is a stack of solar panels. This is provided by the locally owned electricity company; by "Locally" I mean a consortium of towns in the valley.