Ministers want 60% of children walking or cycling to school by 2035

[ebikeerwidnes]

the problem I feel is that the people that design the stuff, dont have much of a feel for cycling generally, unlike their Dutch counterparts, and so they treat everything they implement as like a pedestrian but with wheels problem. pedestrians cross roads, so pedestrians with wheels end up doing so to, and so on.

certainly what Im seeing more of lately are schemes that tend to just rebadge already cycle ready routes, or quietways, as "cycling infra" often at great cost, maybe with some road priority changes or kerbing, even though they really dont improve things for cyclists that much, or provide much of a desire line style route.

I mean surely if the idea is to replace car journeys, you model your cycleways to mirror the kinds of journeys people take in their cars, you dont join up two random places on a map because it might look nicer, because people probably arent driving between those two places as else theyd be demanding you built a direct road instead.

consequently the infra doesnt move the modal needle at all, and all the motorists then complain what a waste of money it was and why didnt they spend the money on a bypass instead.

There is a bit locally where the shared path stops and cyclist have to go onto the road

but they do it with a split in the pavement where the left side just carries on but the right side slopes down onto the road and onto a section of road with a marked cycle lane

worked pretty well as you go from the shared path to the road with no stops or anything

nothing else like it - a lot of the others just stop and you are presumably expected to sort yourself out

 

[T4tomo]

The issue with this policy is whilst the kids will be willing and able to, the parents who wish to accompany their little darlings are probably too unfit or still in the PJ's and slippers at the appointed hour.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

The issue with this policy is whilst the kids will be willing and able to, the parents who wish to accompany their little darlings are probably too unfit or still in the PJ's and slippers at the appointed hour.

I did always find it weird at my daughter's school when some parents would pick their kids up in a dressing gown and slippers
and with curlers in

and with full make up

(before anyone says - it was just the women!!!)


the grand kids school must be posher - that never happens
or maybe times have changed!!!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I did always find it weird at my daughter's school when some parents would pick their kids up in a dressing gown and slippers
and with curlers in

and with full make up

(before anyone says - it was just the women!!!)


the grand kids school must be posher - that never happens
or maybe times have changed!!!

It's a relatively recent trend amongst certain demographics.

Personally, I find it beyond belief. But then, I am old, bigoted and my opinions have little import in the modern world. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Andy in Germany]

I still think the UK can be saved, we havent reached USA levels of you have to use a car to get anywhere because there is no public transport or provision for active travel, even though we green light new housing estates with no provision for active travel or bus routes/stops.

No, to be fair the UK isn't quite as bad, but having got used to the infrastructure that is fairly normal here, the UK it feels more akin to the US than to the rest of Europe, and I felt slightly trapped in York, it seemed that you needed a car to go just about anywhere, even fairly close to the edge of the city, and walking/cycling options were fairly constrained away from the tourist area.

...surely if the idea is to replace car journeys, you model your cycleways to mirror the kinds of journeys people take in their cars, you dont join up two random places on a map because it might look nicer, because people probably arent driving between those two places as else theyd be demanding you built a direct road instead.

consequently the infra doesnt move the modal needle at all, and all the motorists then complain what a waste of money it was and why didnt they spend the money on a bypass instead.

This is the main issue. People, that is most people who aren't cycling nerds, will choose the most convenient option. As long as that seems to be the car, and as long as people think they can afford driving, we won't see a modal shift.

(Un)fortunately, it's not possible to improve infrastructure for pedestrians, cars, et c, to the level required for a modal shift without reallocating space in a city, because currently cars take up so much of it. The anger of the entitled motorist, forced to take a slightly longer journey or park more than ten metres from the school gate, is terrifying to politicians.

On the other hand, wherever cities have had the courage to remove cars from the centre, , or make it less convenient to drive, they all discovered that when you do this, the city becomes far more pleasant for everyone else.

 

[Drago]

Theyll choose the laziest option, not the most convenient.

Its more convenient to cycle for 10 minutes than sit in a traffic jam for 30, yet the bulk would still choose the latter.