65% of Motorists "Don't Have a Clue" About Emissions

One of the main arguments made by UK politicians, and indeed many cycling campaigners, is that people can be "persuaded" to cycle more once they realise its health and environmental benefits. Accepting UK road infrastructure as "immutable fact", they believe that people can be "nudged" in the direction of cycling through little changes in behaviour. So how open to ideas about environmental benefit are non-cyclists? Well, a good place to start, given the tiny levels of regular cycling in the UK, is with motorists.

A new study by car comparison site car buzz  asked new car buyers what they looked for first in a new car. The result is summarised in the graphic above.  Most were, not surprisingly, most interested in price, seating space, and running costs. Only 1% considered CO2 emissions important, and of these two-thirds did so to save money. Only one in ten expressed concern about the environment, ie just 0.1% of all surveyed.

This echoes an earlier survey conducted by the Environmental Transport Association in 2008, which found that 65 per cent of drivers “didn’t have a clue” how much CO2 they produce when driving. The survey also found that men are less worried than their female counterparts about the effect their driving has, with younger drivers being more environmentally aware.

But most UK cyclists are also car drivers. Might there be some sort of conversion to environmentalism once we mount the saddle? Although there is no definitive equivalent survey for cyclists available - most cycling-related attitudinal surveys seem to be asking non-cyclists "what would make you cycle?" - anecdotal evidence such as the proliferation of T shirts like this one would suggest that at least some cyclists rank environmental reasons as important.  On the other hand, the few times cyclists are asked to say why they cycle, they come up with all kinds of other - often philosophical and contemplative - reasons. Helping the environment, it seems, is all a bit too altruistic for most people.

It is clearly a waste of time hammering on about moral reasons to get people cycling more. At the end of the day, cycling needs to be more convenient, cheaper, quicker and more pleasant than driving. Good quality infrastructure delivers this. But as long as our politicians gaze upon our urban roads without any awareness of how backward our urban environment has become, they will continue to declare that a UK cycling experience of necessity involves rubber knickers.

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CO2 Reduction More feasible With More Cycling Infrastructure

According to research bureau CE it is much more effective to reduce CO2 by improving bicycle infrastructure than by investing in a better flow of motor vehicles. It is however unknown how much CO2 benefit bicycle measures would provide. Therefore effects should be better monitored.

The CE-study 'Minder emissies door investeren in infrastructuur' has investigated several options to reduce CO2 emissions. These are measures to improve traffic circulation, change the modal shift and reduce energy use of vehicles. According to CE improving bicycle infrastructure provides the highest return of all 'mobility measures' studied.

Investments in (car) infrastructure primarily aimed at improving traffic flow prove to be ineffective in fighting climate change. Improved traffic flow does cause lower emissions per vehicle kilometre but in the long term also an increase in overall traffic, states CE.

A better bicycle infrastructure may contribute to a substantial CO2 reduction according to CE. CE works out that if, for example, bicycle policy in a town results in 2,500 people driving 5 kilometres less a day that would save 1 kilotonne of CO2. The maximum potential for the Netherlands might possibly be in the range of 100 to 250 kilotonnes a year. Improving bicycle infrastructure has many positive side effects on air quality, noise pollution and public health, besides climate effects. Various measures are feasible to improve bicycle friendliness by adapting infrastructure, like:
- construction and/or improvement of bicycle parking facilities;
- construction of bike paths or e.g. bicycle routes through residential neighbourhoods or town centres, preferably separate from car traffic;
- construction of bicycle tunnels;
- adjusting traffic lights and adapting priority arrangements at intersections and roundabouts. It is however hard to quantify the potential of these measures as there are insufficient evaluations which quantify the effects of improved bicycle facilities on the decrease in car use, CE states. Better monitoring of the effects on investments in bicycle infrastructure is therefore recommended.

A wealth of information about Dutch cycling initiatives and research available here, the website of Dutch cycling consultancy company Fietsberaad.

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An alternative to road pricing?

Copenhagen has been trying to implement road pricing (like London's Congestion Charge), but is being blocked by central government. So...

he has now proposed something City Hall calls 'Intelligent Traffic Control'.

It involves setting up sensors that measure air pollution in Copenhagen and the levels of pollution they report will regulate the traffic heading into the city.

If the pollution levels are too high on any particular day, all the traffic lights on the main roads into the city will turn red and stay red longer than normal. The time the traffic lights are green will be reduced by 10 percent.

More genius from Copenhazanize: Intelligent Traffic Control in Copenhagen.

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Inconvenient Truth in Darlington

Over 60 people, including many Borough Councillors, viewed ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, Al Gore’s Oscar winning film about climate change at the Friends Meeting House in Darlington on Wednesday 5th March. This successful event, organised by Darlington Friends of the Earth, was followed by a discussion with a panel of local councillors representing the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties supported by council officials. Darlington Cycling Campaign was also present.

Councillor Veronica Copeland, the Labour Cabinet Member with responsibility for Environment and Climate Change, told the meeting that every one would learn from watching the film and she would make it her duty to organise showings so every Darlington Borough Councillor can see the ‘The Inconvenient Truth.’

The consensus of the meeting was that on such an important issue, all politicians should pull together to use their influence to pursue policies to improve the environment and halt climate change. Several people present called on local councillors to set an example and lead from the front.

Darlington Friends of the Earth Coordinator, Kendra Ullyart, told the meeting that the group and its members will continue to pressure for change. She said ‘that in addition to our national campaign for a strong climate change law to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050; we will also be concentrating on local issues, and campaigning to get robust recycling policies in place throughout the area’, She then invited the audience to continue their interest in the environment and join the group. The next meeting of Darlington Friends of the Earth will be held on Monday 10th March at 7.30 pm where members will have the opportunity to quiz Ian Thompson, the Borough Council's Assistant Director of Environmental Services, about waste management policy and practice.













How politicians lead from the front - in Germany! Dr. Reinhard Loske, Environment Senator, Bremen.

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What's your carbon footprint?

According to the Government CO2 Calculator, mine is 1.06 tonnes per year (compared to a national average of 4.48 tonnes per year).

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Blogging for the Environment

October 15 is Blog Action Day, and the theme this year is the environment. If you have a blog and want to join in, all you have to do is use that day to post something related to the environment, in whatever way, shape, or form you prefer. You can pick an environmental issue that has meaning for you and let us know why it's important. Organize a beach or neighborhood cleanup and tell us about it. If you're into fiction writing, give us a story with an environmental theme. Have a podcast, videoblog, or photoblog? Join the fun! The idea here is to have a mass effect on public awareness by sharing as many ideas in as many ways as possible.

If you're game for participating, go register your blog with the 7,000+ other blogs (with 5 million readers!) that are already signed up. Also, see the Blog Action Day blog for more on how bloggers can change the world.

- Blog Action Day

That's next Monday. I'll try to post something here. If you have a Darlington- or bike-based blog and are going to take part, leave a link in the comments and I'll compile a list in a later post.

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The Magnificent Revolutionary Cycling Cinema

The Magnificent Revolutionary Cycling Cinema is a travelling cinema which is powered and transported using only bicycles.

The Magnificent Revolutionary Cycling Cinema is the only UK touring bicycle-powered cinema, uniting art, education and sustainability by:

* Screening D.I.Y films, independents and small productions
* Demonstrating how to generate power locally and independently of fossil fuels
* Engaging people in idea of sustainability
* Cycling the cinema from place to place

Throw in top hats, 50’s usherettes and a touch of the circus weird… and you’ve arrived at The Magnificent Revolutionary Cycling Cinema!

[via 32spokes.com]

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Cycling in Europe - Conclusions

So there it is, cycling in the Netherlands and Germany can be just as variable in quality as in any other country - although the standards by which quality gets judged tend to be much higher than those in the UK.

What really puzzles me is this. Is traffic engineering in the 21st century really a science, or is it just a political football? I ask this honestly of the traffic enginners of Darlington, and of the politicians who rule them.

This trip clearly demonstrated that, when planning for cycling (as, we are told, Darlington, Cycling Demonstration Town, is doing) a raft of traffic measures is at the disposal of traffic engineers to consider, whenever a new scheme is developed. These include - all of which have been clearly illustrated on this blog:

*priority to cyclists at crossings with side roads
*cycle rings around roundabouts
*scrapping of centre lines on narrow roads to enable cycle paths to be created
*20mph zones
*shared space projects
*cycle paths that use both road space and pavement space at different times, depending on space availability
*making car driving in urban areas more difficult, to get people out of their cars
*cycle streets
*one way streets for motor vehicles that are two-way for cyclists

I genuinely ask - do these traffic engineering tools ever get considered in a town like Darlington, or are we victims of car-induced brain death in this department? Would it not be useful to at least have a traffic planning process that required engineers and politicians to explain why they have rejected such solutions, rather than never even having to consider them?

What this variation in cycling provision also suggests is that a grading of cycling provision - independent of country - is both appropriate and possible. The cyclist priority roundabout in Ijmuiden would get 5 stars, the cycle paths on country roads in Friesland only 2 or 3.

Similarly, our (current) right to cycle through Darlington's town centre feels something like a 4 star hotel, with no dangerous vehicles, plenty of space, and only the sudden changes in direction, and ongoing obliviousness, of pedestrians to consider. The ring road, on the other hand, could be classified as the equivalent of a whorehouse, with cyclists the unpaid prostitutes.

Just as houses are now subject to an eco-grading when they are sold (well, at least 4-bedroom houses at the mo), maybe we should introduce the same scheme for roads.

Ah well, back to the joys of the little island.

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Cycling in Europe 5 - Shared Space in Drachten

After the overnight in Sneek, a wet morning's cycling to the town of Drachten, comparable in size with Bishop Auckland, and with a Shared Space project on its inner ring road. Ten miles out from Drachten, the road - and cycle path - are closed for road works. What do we get instead? This specially constructed, temporary diversion for cyclists. This was in a small village, and it even had a nice lady at the end of it to stop traffic so that we could cross a busy road.

The Shared Space concept is one that is gaining increasing support across Europe. In Drachten, the project is based on the removal of traffic lights on the busy inner ring road, and their replacement with roundabouts, and junctions like the one in this video.



A bit like a zebra crossing for cyclists and pedestrians, but without the beacons! We used the crossings ourselves without a hitch, but what we noticed was that a routine was established by cyclists whereby they signalled their intention to cross with a wave of the appropriate arm, and local car drivers were waiting for the signal. In other words, local customs had developed to deal with uncertainty.

The one car that failed to stop was a Polish-registered vehicle. The cyclist in question, however, was alert to the possibility and probably stopped in time when he registered that the Polish driver was dreaming rather than looking. This, we conclude, is the hub of the problem. Like Poles, most British car drivers also currently dream in these situations, safe in the assumption that they have absolute right of way.

How can we change such behaviour to something more appropriate to urban driving? After so many years of motor dominance in our urban spaces, we are still trying to develop cycle routes in towns like Darlington on the assumption that the motorist should not be disturbed. Yet in contradiction, there is now said to be a hierarchy of traffic modes that puts the disabled, pedestrians and cyclists above motorists in terms of priority.

This theoretical commitment now needs practical application to tackle the major barrier to urban sustainable transport development - British car driver behaviour. Rather than run away from the issue, we badly need politicians, local and national, who will show leadership, and start the long haul towards more considerate - and aware - urban driving.

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20mph and a Speed Management Strategy

Just as we learn that Portsmouth City Council are working towards a 20mph speed limit throughout their city, and just three months after Darlington Cycling Campaign's call for similar measures in our town were dismissed as too ambitious, I accidently come across a consultation process for Darlington and County Durham's Speed Management Strategy.

Naturally enough, the Campaign was not alerted or informed about this consultation process, and the deadline for responses is today, June 4th. One of the key objectives of the proposed strategy, which is billed to run until 2011, is to reduce the risk to vulnerable road users. Hmm, wonder if that might mean cyclists?

If anyone can manage in the next couple of hours, you can email comments on the strategy to traffic.management@darlington.gov.uk.

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Benefits of a car-light culture

We realize now that the cocoons of our cars kept us well insulated from the people around us. Our genuine interactions were with family and coworkers, the only people who saw us stripped of the metal that clothed and protected us. Our neighbors, we discovered, were virtually strangers.

In Confessions of an Empty-Nester, the writer talks about some of the positive changes that may come about if more people started using their car less. I'm convined that a car-light community would see reductions in anti-social behaviour, as well as the environmental and safety improvements; turning life in a town into something like rural living used to be.

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Plan is unveiled for UK's largest eco complex

A PLAN to create the UK's biggest eco village on the site of a disused wool factory have been unveiled.

The former Paton and Baldwins factory, on the outskirts of Darlington, will be transformed into a flagship ecological community.

The vision would result in the 110-acre Lingfield Point business park, as the site is known, being transformed with more low energy offices, eco homes and leisure facilities powered by renewable energy.

There would also be sustainable transport links, such as bus services, all designed to protect the environment.

Central to the vision is the new Darlington Eastern Transport Corridor, now under construction, which will link the A66 to central Darlington.

- Northern Echo: Plan is unveiled for UK's largest eco complex

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Resolution Passed at 2007 AGM

The following resolution was passed at the Cycling Campaign's 2007 AGM today:

Darlington Cycling Campaign calls for a blanket 20 miles an hour speed limit across Darlington.

Traffic research has shown that 94% of Darlington people are against an increase in the number of cars on the town’s roads, but fear there will be more by 2010. 82% of residents surveyed consider that the risk is too high for them to cycle in the town. Even 53% see walking as a danger.

Clearly the big obstacle to improving the safety of cyclists, and thus making cycling more attractive to non-cyclists, is to deter car drivers. The increase in the region’s road traffic over the past 10 years is 17.4%, higher than the national average. Darlington this week was dubbed the 4th noisiest town in the country. The softly softly approach doesn’t seem to be working. Tougher measures are needed, and a 20mph limit could encourage car drivers to take more notice of the safety of cyclists, pedestrians, and the disabled.

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Darlington fourth noisiest place in country

[Darlington] has been given the dubious honour of being named one of the loudest places in the country for traffic. With a reading of 78.3 decibels (DB), it ranks joint fourth with Doncaster in the noise table.

- Northern Echo: Being driven to distraction on the noisiest road in town

The noisiest place in the town is the junction of Alexander Street and Haughton Road. I've found that, to have a conversation with someone while walking down Haughton Road, I need to raise my voice. Hearing what my daughter is saying is almost impossible.

Professor Deepak Prasher, of the Ear Institute at the University College London, said: "Noise not only annoys, but also can raise our stress levels and associated hormone levels. It can disturb sleep and increase the risk of heart disease, and if the noise is loud enough, it can lead to permanent hearing impairment and tinnitus."

More proof that car use 'taxes' others.

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The City That Never Walks

In The City That Never Walks, Robert Sullivan discusses the changes that some American cities are making to encourage their residents to walk or cycle, rather than taking the car:

places like downtown Albuquerque, where one-way streets have become more pedestrian-friendly two-way streets, and car lanes are replaced by bike lanes, with bike racks everywhere

Some of the schemes listed are already taking place in Darlington, but lots are not.

* a walkable town centre
* purposely limited parking
* a new bus plaza that is part of a mass transit renaissance
* an urban walking and biking trail [linking] neighbourhoods
* charges drivers a fee to enter the core business area
* police sting operations arrest speeding drivers
* replaced parking spaces near a subway station with rows of bike racks
* some traffic lights are programmed to change for approaching buses

We have the Pedestrian Heart, but what of some of the other schemes?

Someone needing to travel between Bishop Auckland or Newton Aycliffe and Darlington for work or education has very little choice but to drive. Should Darlington not be pushing for changes to the train timetable?

Any new scheme in the centre of town seems to need more car parking. When the TK Maxx building was built on the Crown Street car park, why did it need the car park addition? When the Commercial Street development takes place, will the multi-storey car park built near Gladstone Street increase traffic in that area? What will this do to the residents' health and lifestyles?

Some work is being done to increase the number of off-road walking and cycling tracks around the town, but could more be done? I can almost get from my house to the town centre without touching a main road. Almost. Whatever way I go, I end up having to make the last part of the journey on North Road or Haughton Road. We need these last missing links putting into place.

We could go even further than that, it is possible to link Hurworth village into the Riverside Path/McMullen Road cycle path that gives an off-road link to the town centre and both Further Education colleges, but part of the route is along a muddy bridleway. Imagine being able to ride from Hurworth to the town centre without having to use a main road. It's possible.

I've seen speed cameras on North Road recently, but not as often as I've seen speeding cars. I've seen traffic wardens, but I see a lot more illegally parked cars, vans and trucks. I see buses sat in queues of traffic, and cyclists on the pavement because they've been hounded off the roads by bad driving and too many cars. I hear of people driving to Northallerton, Teesside or Tesco to shop, because it's so hard and unpleasant to get into the town centre.

Anything put forward as an idea to kerb car use is "branded as anti-car, and thus anti-personal freedom". Increasing parking charges or a bringing in a congestion charge or road toll is seen as yet another tax on the motorist.

But as matters now stand, the pedestrian [and cyclist] is taxed every day: by delays and emissions [...]. Though we think of it as a luxury, the car taxes us, and with it we tax others.

So, let's see some of the car parking spaces in Abbots Yard or Skinnergate replaced with bike racks. Let's see some pressure on the train operators to make their timetable useable and useful. Let's see a crackdown on irresponsible driving before a crackdown on irresponsible cycling. Let's see buses given more priority at more junctions. Let's see some effort put in to try and create the missing last sections of the cycle network. Let's see a blanket 20MPH speed limit across the town.

Let's stop 'taxing' our pedestrians and cyclists and let's make Darlington a real Sustainable Transport Town.

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You've got to ride it to believe

Todd at Clverchimp has posted quite an old video showing Selling the Revolution, a thirteen-minute documentary from 2000 about launching the then-new product, the Xtracycle.

I'm on the Xtracycle mailing list, so I might see if I can arrange a local test ride with someone on the list.

Anyone who hasn't seen an Xtracycle before need to take a look. If you're looking for a way to extend the way you use your bike, these are for you.

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Bikes on Trains provision

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Make the provision for Bicycles on Trains Free and Compulsory by all train operators.

Make the provision for Bicycles on Trains Free and Compulsory by all train operators. This would make door to door journeys via trains more attractive, reduce road traffic, and reduce CO2 emissions.

I just signed this e-petition, you probably should too.

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Miliband plans carbon trading 'credit cards' for everyone

Every citizen would be issued with a carbon "credit card" - to be swiped every time they bought petrol, paid an energy utility bill or booked an airline ticket - under a nationwide carbon rationing scheme that could come into operation within five years, according to a feasibility study commissioned by the environment secretary, David Miliband, and published today.

In an interview with the Guardian Mr Miliband said the idea of individual carbon allowances had "a simplicity and beauty that would reward carbon thrift".

- Miliband plans carbon trading 'credit cards' for everyone

This idea appeal to me, as I think we have to do something to force people to change their lifestyles and habits, but it's Big Brother-like tracking capability scares me a little, and the government's not great at getting large IT projects to work properly anyway.

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