Mayor kick-starts London's cycling revolution!

[Origamist]

http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=22158http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...still+leads+the+cycling+revolution/article.do

 

[summerdays]

I notice from that link that London has something similar to Bristol's Jam Busting June, but that they also include a new Schools challenge too... I have sent an email to Jam Busting June saying if London can do it why can't we in the West do it to. I have asked that question in the past too when they asked for comments at the end one year.

 

[Origamist]

I've just seen the latest M&C Saatchi posters for the "catch up with the bicycle" campaign:

http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/theWork/news/907945/gallery/4856/page/1/#4856

They look like over saturated Photoshop bodges and this makes them appear a bit otherworldly. It's as if they're enjoying cycling, but in a parallel universe - or perhaps more positively: they have found cycling nirvana in London...?!

Not much helmet or Hi Viz action either...

 

[yello]

Not much helmet or Hi Viz action either...

...and I hope that's a shared pedestrian lane being used in the park!

 

[Sittingduck]

Thanks for the link Origamist. Just signed myself up for the London Freewheel

Cheers,
SD

 

[zimzum42]

Put a picture of someone with a helmet and a hi viz and you instantly put loads of people off cycling, that makes it out to be dangerous.

Much as they sell cars with pictures of winding mountain roads with no traffic, we should not be ashamed to market cycling with a little touch of fantasy

Put up a picture of some bearded sandal wearer with all the safety gear and a mirror and you reinforce the idea that cycling is for freaks

 

[dellzeqq]

I'd agree with that. The single biggest impediment to an increase in cycle commuting in London is not safety but fear of perspiration.

 

[summerdays]

Apparently they can't include a school's challenge in Jam Busting June as

I notice the London event is aimed solely at cyclists whereas for Jam Busting June is for all modes of sustainable travel and promoting them as alternatives to driving, hence the main reason why we are targeting commuters.

My point in the email I sent them was that apparently school run mum's add 12 minutes to the average commute in Bristol (or UK - not sure where that fact was from ... it was on the local radio on walk to school week). So Ok the kids don't drive but if they get there in a car then encouraging them to cycle would have a knock on effect on car driving!! Kids love competitions and trying to beat their mates.

 

[Origamist]

I'd agree with that. The single biggest impediment to an increase in cycle commuting in London is not safety but fear of perspiration.

The wind has to be up there too - have you not seen the devastation wrought to a bouffant by a strong southwesterly? It's enough to put anyone off cycling for life.

 

[Origamist]

Put a picture of someone with a helmet and a hi viz and you instantly put loads of people off cycling, that makes it out to be dangerous.

Much as they sell cars with pictures of winding mountain roads with no traffic, we should not be ashamed to market cycling with a little touch of fantasy

Put up a picture of some bearded sandal wearer with all the safety gear and a mirror and you reinforce the idea that cycling is for freaks

I'd agree with all three points. However, the images are holiday brochure stuff; simulacra; poor tableaux vivants concocted and finessed through the limited imagination of a soon to be unemployed graphic designer. I know they are aimed at our imagination/desire, but if they were going for a visionary approach they should have been far bolder. The Mac images remind me of a tawdry reworking of vintage cycling posters...

FWIW, you could have got more appealing shots (à la Copenhagen Cycle Chic) of real/good looking people, cycling in real/beautiful looking environments, dressed normally or trendily, with expressions of post-orgasmic rapture that look like fantasy, but are in fact an everyday reality.

 

[dellzeqq]

........ with expressions of post-orgasmic rapture that look like fantasy.

I'm concerned. If commuting grants you post-orgasmic rapture, then what on earth can we expect on the FNRttC to Whitstable?

 

[Origamist]

I'm concerned. If commuting grants you post-orgasmic rapture, then what on earth can we expect on the FNRttC to Whitstable?

Multiple, post-orgasmic ecstasty, of course!.... Either that or I might have confused origamist with orgasmic in my last post...

This sounds better:

"with expressions of post-origamist rapture that look like fantasy, but are in fact an everyday reality"

 

[dellzeqq]

Absolutely. And this is what worries me about Johnson's twelve highways. The original TfL scheme was for big radial routes. If the vid is anything to go for we're going to get Sustrans (remember GOAL 2012?) cast-offs. Remember this is the chump who thinks bendybusses kill cyclists

Valerie Shawcross
When you said ‘“We should on day one, act one, scene one, hold a competition to get rid of the bendy bus. They wipe out cyclists, there are many cyclists killed every year by them’’ were you aware of the fact that no cyclist has been killed in collision with a Bendy Bus in London since they were introduced?
Answer from the Mayor:
There is a record of serious incidents involving cyclists and bendy buses. TfL defines serious incidents as those where a cyclist may have required treatment, including in hospital. There was one serious incident involving a cyclist in each of the years 2005/06 and 2006/07, and two in 2007/08.
Analysis that was undertaken by TfL earlier this year showed that bendy buses were involved in 32% more collisions in total and 36% more collisions with cyclists than non articulated buses serving a similar area, per vehicle kilometre.

 

[Origamist]

My last vote for London Mayor was based purely on transport policies and I voted for the Greens, as I thought that they did a decent enough job in advising Ken.

This is what Boris said late last year - notice the reference to "militant cyclists". What's all that about?

"I believe that the cycle-ised city is the civilized city but I want to reassure motorists and pedestrians that City Hall has not been captured by militant cyclists. With the right mix of policies we can reduce congestion, reduce emissions and reduce the overall stress levels of the public."

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...t+of+Park+Lane,+says+Boris+Johnson/article.do

Even as a joke it's unneccesary.

My considered opinion of this "cycling revolution" is that it's a token effort consisting of existing events. I have no faith that Kulveer, Boris' Director of Transport, sees cycling as an important part of London's transport infrastructure, and whose lobby is to be supported with the same passion as private London motorists.

The "miltant cyclists" quote came from the Mayor's "Way to Go" Nov 2008 planning document:

http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/publications/2008/docs/way-to-go.pdf

With Boris, it's like he's pissing down your back and telling you it's raining.