tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.comments2024-02-24T06:21:30.987+01:00A view from the cycle pathDavid Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comBlogger6641125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-77580011866740686572023-08-16T00:13:54.028+02:002023-08-16T00:13:54.028+02:00I've recently moved to Westcliff-on-sea and am...I've recently moved to Westcliff-on-sea and am attempting to commute on my bike to Rochford (about 4 miles inland) everyday. It's a difficult task which is such a shame given how relatively small, sunny and scenic Southend is! Thanks for posting a great article, doesn't seem like much as changed since sadly. Wish the council could see the long-term benefits of alternative Jessiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14586112417028391387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-48793122703497977742023-06-12T07:59:28.588+02:002023-06-12T07:59:28.588+02:00Andrew, thanks for your comment. It is terribly un...Andrew, thanks for your comment. It is terribly unfortunate that no progress has been made. Cycling remains an easy, inexpensive win for any council or any government in any country that cares to actually do something about it. They can improve air quality, reduce noise, encourage people to become fitter, reduce CO2 emissions, and reduce the cost of transport all in one. But does it happen ? David Hembrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-6213516569376287912023-06-12T03:03:46.603+02:002023-06-12T03:03:46.603+02:00Its nearly 9 years now since your article and yet ...Its nearly 9 years now since your article and yet nearly all your comments remain as relevant as if you had visited last week. However bad the initial schemes may or may not be, the town, now a city, has done absolutely nothing to develop cycling over the last decade. No problems have been sorted, no junctions improved, no changes to the permeability of cycling in the pedestrian areas. In Andrew Sugdenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02593158439386226455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-86760415452444984352023-05-06T16:10:54.494+02:002023-05-06T16:10:54.494+02:00The steady increase in cars doesn't seem to ex...The steady increase in cars doesn't seem to explain the sudden uptick in cyclist crashes (although it won't help). It would be interesting if there were data about the size of the vehicles involved. There has been an increase in cyclist and pedestrian deaths in the US as well. My hypothesis is the sudden proliferation of touch screen dashboards in new cars that require the operator toChris Wardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03898773609994280846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-21676156806693667992023-04-22T23:34:56.712+02:002023-04-22T23:34:56.712+02:00Of course I cast my municipal vote for parties tha...Of course I cast my municipal vote for parties that will make an effort to improve Amsterdam. And sign anything autoluw.nu asks me to. But what else can I do to prevent the foolish accommodation of large private cars?Hans Gerwitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03555456227853486710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-68288746328717401912022-11-30T18:28:08.925+01:002022-11-30T18:28:08.925+01:00Unknown: agreed, though I hope we're both wron...Unknown: agreed, though I hope we're both wrong. One of the problems with expensive solutions is that the expense becomes an extra reason for them to be difficult to get built. It seems that there are only a handful of cyclops junctions at the moment so they're still very experimental and later ones may be improved and simplified.<br />Of course the UK has suffered for decades from the David Hembrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-31873201850290151212022-11-30T17:15:34.875+01:002022-11-30T17:15:34.875+01:00Thanks for the reply David- I'm not convinced ...Thanks for the reply David- I'm not convinced that Cyclops works in areas with high pedestrian footfall. They seem like an expensive, over-engineered solution.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18052393905229203938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-45072969413114759402022-11-25T14:52:52.420+01:002022-11-25T14:52:52.420+01:00Unknown: I'm afraid I've not been followin...Unknown: I'm afraid I've not been following what's going on in the UK so I can't tell you whether it's more likely that Simultaneous Green is allowed now. Probably not, I would guess, as no-one seemed to be fighting for the changes which be required to make it possible. There is another design called CYCLOPS which has been built a couple of times in the UK and I think the David Hembrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-38818509641376327942022-11-25T13:28:31.252+01:002022-11-25T13:28:31.252+01:00Hi,
I'm looking into Simultaneous Greens as I...Hi,<br /><br />I'm looking into Simultaneous Greens as I'm convinced that they are the cheapest, simplest and safest design available. Do you know whether anything has changed since you wrote this blog that makes it any more likely that their use is permitted within the UK?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18052393905229203938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-20668453255135994462022-04-20T21:39:22.682+02:002022-04-20T21:39:22.682+02:00Interesting if sobering reading. Here in the US I&...Interesting if sobering reading. Here in the US I've admired the tweedehandsfietsen model for selling used electric bikes for reasonable prices with delivery to any bike shop in the Netherlands, I wish we had something like it. <br /><br />You are right to point to the issues around sustaining ebikes over the long term. A North American example is Bionx the Canadian manufacturer that went outPaulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10829392081380626664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-89362272322349501912022-04-08T18:53:12.125+02:002022-04-08T18:53:12.125+02:00"Our government immediately announced huge de..."Our government immediately announced huge decreases in taxation for motorists."<br /><br />On the one hand, it's nice to know that such boneheaded nonsense isn't limited to only the United States. On the other hand, if even the Dutch are making these sorts of mistakes, then I have little confidence our future. Jeffrey Jakucykhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04092631645389171565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-43393959528059116062021-11-21T21:23:00.266+01:002021-11-21T21:23:00.266+01:00Thanks David. I've been reading your blog for ...Thanks David. I've been reading your blog for a number of years but hadn't realized until now that you are from New Zealand. The 1971 documentary about Wellington that you wrote about, now approaching its 50th anniversary, has a comment that stayed with me: "People are not progressive and they don’t like to disturb the status quo, because there’s too many interlocking agreements in Robert McLachlanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524329737512668181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-58046288738126253702021-09-17T20:41:09.880+02:002021-09-17T20:41:09.880+02:00I'd like to add something I just read on a blo...I'd like to add something I just read on a blog I recently dicovered, with lots of computing stuff - I didn't go there for that, but for a number of articles on cycling comparing the Netherlands to Gerrmany - and a few other topics. This one is about infrastructure in the Netherlands, the draining of Haarlemmermeer, and the author writes this, which illustrates beautifully what I've marmotte27https://www.blogger.com/profile/13546042630903943203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-79285988254959776822021-09-16T19:53:03.713+02:002021-09-16T19:53:03.713+02:00Having just been to the Netherlands (wanted to go ...Having just been to the Netherlands (wanted to go by bike, but the frame broke in Coblence after four days), I've finally seen a bit of the cyclig infratsructure in and around Amsterdam for myself (Not ecerything was perfect, but you say, elsewhere in the country it's better. To be able to cycle everywher completely stressfree was so liberating... Well, in he city you've got to have marmotte27https://www.blogger.com/profile/13546042630903943203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-67360642715748494332021-09-16T10:04:09.884+02:002021-09-16T10:04:09.884+02:00The lockdown period was blissful here as well but ...The lockdown period <a href="http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2020/04/a-glimpse-of-better-future-where-are-we.html" rel="nofollow">was blissful here as well</a> but unfortunately a lot of people seemed to be in a headlong rush to go back to "normal".<br /><br />I take your point about FPTP and its effect on elections. I voted in 8 UK general elections and no-one who I voted for everDavid Hembrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-50732760333388138982021-09-16T04:47:53.593+02:002021-09-16T04:47:53.593+02:00Nice perspective David, and definitely some intere...Nice perspective David, and definitely some interesting parallels. There are certainly many of us in NZ trying to work out how the Govt can move so decisively and dramatically on stamping out death and illness for Covid (and getting the country right behind it) while being relatively blasē about the ongoing deaths and injuries on our roads... Ironically, during the (blessedly brief) periods of Glenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05378774855988056741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-23951738017476003882021-05-04T16:15:33.514+02:002021-05-04T16:15:33.514+02:00Thank you for this blog post, very interesting to ...Thank you for this blog post, very interesting to read. I was in Trondheim in 2018 and cycled through the city center. My experience was that car drivers were much more used to cyclists and much more considerate. I didn't have any close encounters at all (and part of the reason was the awesome cycle lanes provided). <br /><br />I am from Germany and maybe it's why I thought cycling in Muellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04884914869268228591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-86231788135310901272021-02-16T05:26:30.760+01:002021-02-16T05:26:30.760+01:00Totally agree no car is green. Embodied energy in...Totally agree no car is green. Embodied energy in an ev is still significant. And then there is the massive embodied energy of ever larger "life support" systems for cars (motorways and carparks). Cars demand life support because they would not be a viable transport mode otherwise. The blessing and curse of active transport is the (relatively) low demand for support, so they get rohloffscale30https://www.blogger.com/profile/06912479826906329658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-91961028119280126352021-01-07T12:55:52.764+01:002021-01-07T12:55:52.764+01:00Unknown: The examples above are mainly in an histo...Unknown: The examples above are mainly in an historic city centre where the streets were very narrow. The first two photos show a situation where if you stand there now it's very hard to believe that two way traffic with trucks was ever permitted, but it was. Many British town centres still have locations like that.<br /><br />Further out from the historic centres you'll find that lane David Hembrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-41184860914300589602021-01-07T12:38:38.125+01:002021-01-07T12:38:38.125+01:00I'm trying personally to get my head around ho...I'm trying personally to get my head around how my area could improve cycling. Unfortunately I'm not someone who cycles much now because of a lack of confidence to ride on high-traffic roads due to a lack of education, however I recognise there would be personal health benefits for myself if I were to cycle, especially over short distances.<br /><br />However, many of my thoughts come to Jèrriais newshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00059228370845473488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-36293574502075806722020-10-01T04:30:46.137+02:002020-10-01T04:30:46.137+02:00This is particularly disturbing because sea level ...This is particularly disturbing because sea level rise due to global warming will put The Netherlands underwater. One would imagine that the threatened destruction of the entire country would result in a change of behaviour. Sadly, not so.<br /><br />Meanwhile, in Canada, a not-so-hidden secret is that Canada will make some large gains from global warming. In particular, the Great Clay Belt Kevin Lovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13186428862833389619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-68348454964158501802020-09-30T22:27:14.511+02:002020-09-30T22:27:14.511+02:00Although car use does indeed cause global warming,...Although car use does indeed cause global warming, it has been my experience that when it comes to advocacy this is of little value. People tend to say things along the lines of, "The reduction or elimination of car driving in our community will make little difference." And they are right.<br /><br />It has been my experience that it is far more useful to talk about people dying of Kevin Lovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13186428862833389619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-18301191756658958132020-09-23T12:57:47.087+02:002020-09-23T12:57:47.087+02:00Richard: In March we switched from physical lesson...Richard: In March we switched from physical lessons to using MS Teams. It's not a great way of doing it. Not nearly so good as being there in person. During the holidays it was announced that they'd switch back to lessons in a classroom at the start of September when all the schools went back. I left the course in August, before the lessons re-started, because going into a full classroom David Hembrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-57491307551243715442020-09-23T12:33:55.595+02:002020-09-23T12:33:55.595+02:00Aren't there lessons available over video call...Aren't there lessons available over video calls using something like Zoom or Microsoft Teams? That would be good from the social distancing point of view and they would also be accessible for people in any location in the world.Richard Adamfihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08694637403939363693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-86953414817933564342020-09-23T10:59:30.726+02:002020-09-23T10:59:30.726+02:00Richard: I'm very much still learning. It'...Richard: I'm very much still learning. It's another thing for which there's no quick fix: much time and practice required. If you're in the Netherlands then there are lessons available at colleges, some of which are quite expensive. If you're elsewhere then I don't know what's available to you. I started off when we were still living in the UK by reading Jip en JannekeDavid Hembrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com