Green column: Think of cyclists as 'congestion busters'

QUOTE:
Cycling isn’t for everyone. There, I’ve said it. Whenever I make the case for getting more people to make more everyday journeys by bike it’s almost inevitable (SIC) that someone, thinking that I’m suggesting that everyone should cycle, replies with some shade of “I can’t cycle because I have ( a medical condition)� or “not everyone lives close enough� or “not everyone’s fit enough to tackle the hills around here�.

Let’s clear that up: I’m not saying that we should aim to get everyone cycling. I’m saying that, if we manage to get modest numbers of people to switch away from their cars for some trips, some of the time, that the impact on our towns will be transformative: far less congestion, and far better air quality. Not to mention the health benefits for those folks who use a bike to get about.

Let’s touch on those health benefits. If your GP offered you a treatment that’s been proven to halve your chances of dying from cardiovascular disease, reduce the likelihood that you develop cancer by 45%, reduce cancer mortality by 40% and all cause mortality by 41%, you’d jump at it, right? Well, that treatment exists: it’s commuting by bike. And health economists have calculated that every person who commutes by bike saves the NHS £630 per year. In my book, that makes folks on bikes healthcare heroes.

So what’s stopping people? A large scale survey commissioned by the Department for Transport found that 90% were physically capable of cycling, and just over half owned or had access to a bicycle. Almost half of the respondents said that they simply will not cycle on roads, with almost three quarters of women saying that the roads are too dangerous.

All very pessimistic. However, a subsequent survey by the cycling charity Sustrans gives us a glimpse of what we can do about that: it found that 65% of those that don’t cycle regularly would be more likely to do so if the roads were made safer by changes like lower speed limits, more segregated cycle lanes and if drivers took more care.

So what? Well, I suggest that as individuals we should push for and welcome more cycle lanes and reductions in speed limits, and, if you’re a driver, think of that cyclist you’re behind as a healthcare hero and a congestion-buster.

https://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/18568...stion-busters/

On 08/07/2020 15:18, Simon Mason wrote:
QUOTE:
Cycling isn’t for everyone. There, I’ve said it. Whenever I make the case for getting more people to make more everyday journeys by bike it’s almost inevitable (SIC) that someone, thinking that I’m suggesting that everyone should cycle, replies with some shade of “I can’t cycle because I have ( a medical condition)� or “not everyone lives close enough� or “not everyone’s fit enough to tackle the hills around here�.

Let’s clear that up: I’m not saying that we should aim to get everyone cycling. I’m saying that, if we manage to get modest numbers of people to switch away from their cars for some trips, some of the time, that the impact on our towns will be transformative: far less congestion, and far better air quality. Not to mention the health benefits for those folks who use a bike to get about.

Let’s touch on those health benefits. If your GP offered you a treatment that’s been proven to halve your chances of dying from cardiovascular disease, reduce the likelihood that you develop cancer by 45%, reduce cancer mortality by 40% and all cause mortality by 41%, you’d jump at it, right? Well, that treatment exists: it’s commuting by bike. And health economists have calculated that every person who commutes by bike saves the NHS £630 per year. In my book, that makes folks on bikes healthcare heroes.

So what’s stopping people? A large scale survey commissioned by the Department for Transport found that 90% were physically capable of cycling, and just over half owned or had access to a bicycle. Almost half of the respondents said that they simply will not cycle on roads, with almost three quarters of women saying that the roads are too dangerous.

All very pessimistic. However, a subsequent survey by the cycling charity Sustrans gives us a glimpse of what we can do about that: it found that 65% of those that don’t cycle regularly would be more likely to do so if the roads were made safer by changes like lower speed limits, more segregated cycle lanes and if drivers took more care.

So what? Well, I suggest that as individuals we should push for and welcome more cycle lanes and reductions in speed limits, and, if you’re a driver, think of that cyclist you’re behind as a healthcare hero and a congestion-buster.

https://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/18568...stion-busters/

QUOTE:
....a subsequent survey by the cycling charity Sustrans gives us a
glimpse of what we can do about that: it found that 65% of those that
don’t cycle regularly would be more likely to do so if the roads were
made safer...
ENDQUOTE

That is *rubbish* on the largest size of stilts available.

All it gives us a "glimpse" of is that people will say almost anything
when polled for a survey, particularly if it's about a subject that does
not obsess them as much as it does people like you.

If asked the leading question "Would the roads need to be made "safer"
before you would consider commuting by fairy-bike?", only the most
honest and blunt would reply "No" (meaning only that they would not
consider riding a fairy-bike no matter what). Others might well just
give whatever the answer they think the questioner is seeking, and with
Sustrans, there's only one such answer and no end to their determination
to refine any answer into the one they want.

On Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at 3:18:51 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:

So what? Well, I suggest that as individuals we should push for and welcome more cycle lanes and reductions in speed limits, and, if you’re a driver, think of that cyclist you’re behind as a healthcare hero and a congestion-buster.

https://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/18568...stion-busters/

I note that some liar has added the following comment to the piece:

QUOTE:
Just been in a queuebof (SIC) ten cars behind a congestion causer for half an hour.
ENDS

No you haven't.