How to get the government to invest more in cycling infrastructure?

[georgina]

It seems washing facilities and good cycle storage are ways to encourage everyone to cycle more and drive less. Any suggestions for improvements to cycling infrastructure which would encourage colleagues to leave their car behind? Say there were cycle lanes (perhaps segregated) and priority for cyclists at junctions along major routes into city centres would that increase the number of miles cycled in the UK everyday? The government need to be encouraged that a large investment in cycling facilities will be "vale la pena" i.e. worth it! before they invest.

 

[johnr]

Welcome to the site Georgina .

Interesting question, though I think it will remain completely theoretical whilst the present regime rules. They are abandoning all socially responsible funding and slashing local government budgets beyond the point where 'frivolities' like safe cycling will be entertained. Perhaps if one of Lord Snooty's Eton or Oxbridge mates started a business providing cycling infrastructure....?

So what do we do in the meantime? First up, keep asking the question. We must keep the subject on the agenda. At a personal level we can all be 'ambassadors' for cycling. People have all sorts of reasons for not doing things, and when they run out of excuses Clarkson, the Daily Mail and other naysayers will give them more. Lots of the 'fears' are worse than the realities, we can talk to them about that. And the healthy glow we give off as we stroll into work after our invigorating commutes should be advert enough!

I hope you enjoy the site and that the debate you're starting takes off.

 

[snorri]

Welcome georgina

It seems washing facilities and good cycle storage are ways to encourage everyone to cycle more and drive less.

No, these are soft measures unlikely to have much effect. Many of us don't wash our bikes very often anyway.
Better to increase VED, introduce road tolling on peak hour motor traffic, increase tax on road fuel, reduce the number of on street parking places in urban areas, increase public car park charges, introduce taxation on workplace and supermarket parking.

 

[mcshroom]

Hi Georgina and

Many of us don't wash our bikes very often anyway.

I don't think they were for the bikes

What might be a cheaper and more effective way of encouraging cycling would be to introduce a law of presumed liability for a bigger vehicle hitting a smaller one (sometimes called strict liability). In this case a car driver would be presumed to be at fault in the event of a collision with a cyclist (and a cyclist at fault in a collision with a pedestrian) unless it was proven otherwise. It might just give more vulnerable road users some more respect.

Also put in bus lanes everywhere. They are a good width for cycling, usually gritted and almost always better maintained than cycle lanes that are often added as a tick-box extra to road schemes. They also restrict the road space available to cars so encouraging public transport and bicycle usage.

 

[beanzontoast]

The only way for cycling to receive more investment at the moment is for public money to be diverted from other areas of spending. Given the state of public finances for the forseeable future, it is hard to see where that money could come from without public outcry.

Sorry to sound negative, and more power to the visionaries who just see this as a challange, but I can't see it happening.

 

[summerdays]

No, these are soft measures unlikely to have much effect. Many of us don't wash our bikes very often anyway.

I don't think they were for the bikes

We now know Snorri's washing priorities ... bike not often ... but perhaps more often than other things?

What might be a cheaper and more effective way of encouraging cycling would be to introduce a law of presumed liability for a bigger vehicle hitting a smaller one (sometimes called strict liability). In this case a car driver would be presumed to be at fault in the event of a collision with a cyclist (and a cyclist at fault in a collision with a pedestrian) unless it was proven otherwise. It might just give more vulnerable road users some more respect.

Personally I think this could make the biggest change if ALL road users became more respectful of each other and less accepting of death as a side effect of motoring.

 

[ttcycle]

Hi georgina

Welcome to the forum!

There is a massive debate in cycling campaigns about integration and segregation, which I won't delve into here and now.

I also feel that with the current government there is not going to be any funds available- however to look for the change within government or statutory bodies is mistaken in my books at the way to change cycling is to get more people doing it - and that starts in the workplace/streets with something simple such as being a riding buddy for a nervous friend/colleague.

from the ground up!

 

[Davidc]

Of all the posible measures a strict liability law would do the most for walking and cycling, both of which have huge health and environmental benefits.

The chances of getting this in the UK without it being forced by an EU directive are small, and under this government zero.

Beyond that it needs a small proportion of the roads budget spent on cycling infrastructure, the Netherlands being a good model of how to do it. Political discussion of public spending is for P&L, however the simple fact is that the present government won't be doing it or funding local authorities for it, so we'll have to wait at least 4 years before there's any action.

 

[XmisterIS]

Call me cynical if you like, but it seems to me that the govt. is doing the following things:

1) Charging more and more for petrol (not entirely their fault).
2) Charging more and more for public transport (to the point where it is MUCH cheaper for me to drive from A to B than take the train).
3) Cutting bus routes all over the place - this hits very hard in rural areas.
4) Not promoting any alternatives, or even entertaining the possibility of doing so, with the result that many people living in the countryside have little alternative but to either cycle on roads where the cyclist is an afterthought, or use the car.

 

[Dan B]

Of all the posible measures a strict liability law would do the most for walking and cycling, both of which have huge health and environmental benefits.

The chances of getting this in the UK [are] zero.

Which says to me that you're using a definition of "possible" which is wide enough that one could consider it unhelpful ;-)


So what about measures which are possible and have a non-zero chance of implementation? Bus lanes are my favourite (as a previous poster already said). I also like the Cycle Superhighway approach of painting bike signs in the carriageway to remind drivers that we're supposed to be there. Increasing permeability by putting bike cut-throughs in where roads have been closed at one end - also a win. I'd also like to see camera enforcement of cycle lanes/ASLs/traffic lights with local councils collecting the cash - anyone who's ever had a parking fine or a box junction fine will know they're much much more diligent about extracting their £120 than the police will ever be.


All of these are cheap. Some might even be self-funding ;-)

 

[marinyork]

All of these are cheap. Some might even be self-funding ;-)

Just out of interest, how is bike cut-throughs cheap? It's exactly the sort of measure that breaks the bank for councils. It's a great measure, but almost impossible to implement.

 

[mark barker]

Why is it always assumed that any changes need to be paid for by the government? From a road safety campaign point of view then sure its a government policy issue, but anything beyond that isn't. For example urban secure parking areas for bikes with shower facilities could be set up by anyone, and not cost the government a penny. How about getting the people that profit from cycling to pay for them? Halfords could open them around the country and have a little "bikehut" service desk at each location.

 

[XmisterIS]

Why is it always assumed that any changes need to be paid for by the government? From a road safety campaign point of view then sure its a government policy issue, but anything beyond that isn't. For example urban secure parking areas for bikes with shower facilities could be set up by anyone, and not cost the government a penny. How about getting the people that profit from cycling to pay for them? Halfords could open them around the country and have a little "bikehut" service desk at each location.

The trouble is that there's a firmly and stubbornly entrenched anti-cyclist point of view in British culture. I remember reading some years back about an entrepreneur who had an idea to start up a chain of just the kind of facilities you're talking about - secure bike parking behind a locked door, together with shower and all-day locker facilities. It would be paid for by cyclists and sponsored by the bike companies; you'd either pay a daily charge or a yearly membership. As I recall, it received an incredibly dim reception by the authorities, who went out of their way to make sure it didn't happen.

 

[suecsi]

The trouble is that there's a firmly and stubbornly entrenched anti-cyclist point of view in British culture. I remember reading some years back about an entrepreneur who had an idea to start up a chain of just the kind of facilities you're talking about - secure bike parking behind a locked door, together with shower and all-day locker facilities. It would be paid for by cyclists and sponsored by the bike companies; you'd either pay a daily charge or a yearly membership. As I recall, it received an incredibly dim reception by the authorities, who went out of their way to make sure it didn't happen.

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/active-commuters-to-get-private-members-clubs

In London anyway - very recently announced. I don't want to debate the costs or anything - but considering what people pay for gyms etc, a step in the right direction if it takes off.

 

[Dan B]

Just out of interest, how is bike cut-throughs cheap? It's exactly the sort of measure that breaks the bank for councils. It's a great measure, but almost impossible to implement.

I don't know, I fondly imagined that the cost would be lowering a couple of kerbs and putting a sign up, which should be about £1000 if the work involved is comparable to adding a dropped kerb for a homeowner to gain vehicle access to their property over the pavement. . Yes, probably more than another 0.7 metre wide green paint exercise, but still less than e.g. Torrington Place and certainly less than any scheme that requires additional road space to be purchased from landowners.