Not sure if this is new or now but an interesting pamphlet about cycling in Edinburgh from the Council & Sustrans.
I recognise a few CCE'rs but not many. Maybe there are people on bikes in Edinburgh not on here...
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Cycling News
Bike Life Edinburgh
(9 posts)-
Posted 9 years ago #
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Interesting chart on page 10 showing only 33% "don't want to ride a bike".
How can anyone argue against building safer cycling infrastructure for the remaining 67%? Even if you remove "experience, regular bike riders", its still more than half who would benefit.
Posted 9 years ago # -
There's at least one CCE'r in this (not me though)
Posted 9 years ago # -
"I recognise a few CCE'rs but not many."
Indeed
"Maybe there are people on bikes in Edinburgh not on here..."
Surely not.
Good reminder that 'we' are a subset of a subset of a subset. (But an important one, obviously...)
Posted 9 years ago # -
There are some good stats in that report. Most people have positive attitudes to cycling, at least in theory. Suggests that when we're on a bike a vocal (or inconsiderate/aggressive/incompetent) minority - and infrastructure design which is stuck in a motorised rut - can make it feel like the world's against us.
What this tells me is that we need to be careful when talking about how bad things are... the more normal we make it seem to hate people on bikes the more we give the minority permission to continue hating. Few people like to stand out from a crowd - if we can make it clear to the haters that they aren't actually standing with the majority, but actually that they stick out, then (some) may behave better.
So let's repeat... in Edinburgh:
8 out of 10 people support increasing the safety of cycling
74% of people want to see more spent on cycling
72% say that they like to see people out on bikes
72% say that things would be better if people in general rode bikes more
62% say that more people riding bikes would make Edinburgh a better place to live and workPosted 9 years ago # -
Yeah good stats - hope from decent sample (size and variety).
I think it's increasingly obvious that 'EN commenters' (for instance) are a minority of a minority.
Fortunately so are saviours of Roseburn Park trees and 'right to park illegally' protesters.
But they are noisy and make 'news' and seem to scare some politicians.
On a local political level it might be better if AB + LH were still in charge after next year's election, but it would be safer to allow for an SNP victory in Edinburgh and (after the Holyrood elections) work on the likely councillor candidates, but not as 'we are cyclists and we want more'.
As gembo often argues (for those who are) better to say 'as a driver who chooses to cycle' etc.
Also I think 'we' are well aware that the issues are less about improving things for existing cyclists but making it possible for 'nervous adults' and those too young to have a driving license to get around the city in relative safety.
Also it's even more about pedestrians (and bus users) and the way they are (literally) sidelined in favour of people who choose to drive (often alone), often, without sufficient regard for others.
Lots of free-flowing traffic isn't the best indicator of a prosperous, healthy, attractive city.
Posted 9 years ago # -
As IWRATS posted on another thread
This is the tack to take with our politicians. Most of them seem to see themselves as middle managers in a business anyway.
Posted 9 years ago # -
"
There may have been a more practical explanation for the end of the media frenzy: The polls started coming in. A Quinnipiac University poll found that 54 percent of New Yorkers said that bike lanes were “a good thing.” This was the first of many polls that would be released in the coming months, two putting bike lanes’ popularity as high as 66 percent — higher than the approval numbers for the politicians who railed against the lanes. Judged by the polls, what had sounded like a chorus of opposition in the media was actually a small but determined section of the population.
It became clear that we didn’t win the public debate by outwitting the opposition. The battle was won by the projects and by New Yorkers themselves. New Yorkers were way ahead of the press and the politicians. They took to changes on the street with an enthusiasm immune to the government that built them, to the advocates pushing for the changes, and to the opponents arrayed against them. They were just looking for new ways to get around and saw in the transformation of the streets the fulfillment of a long-dormant promise. Change is possible. They weren’t Lycra warriors or ideologues out for blood, and in fact there was less blood on the street than there was at the start of the process. And it wasn’t about bike lanes. It was about an idea about our streets and who they are for.
We succeeded in building as many bike lanes after the bikelash as before it. The number of riders doubled from 2007 to 2013, representing a fourfold increase measured over a decade.
"
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/bike-wars-are-over-and-the-bikes-won.html
Posted 9 years ago # -
The book -
"
“Cities are where innovation, creativity and the unexpected happens, and Janette has helped make ours, New York City, safer, more livable and more profitable all at once. I watched these exciting changes happen, but the really interesting part is how she managed to implement these changes quickly and cheaply. That’s where other cities can use this as a manual for change on issues like health reform, education and the arts. This, then, is not just a book about transportation.”—David Byrne, musician, artist
"
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318945/streetfight-by-janette-sadik-khan-and-seth-solomonow
Available in the UK via Amazon.
Posted 9 years ago #
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