The Dutch masterclass that shows how Britain is falling further and further behind.

As David Hembrow of A View from the Cycle Path fame is often keen to point out, the clock is ticking.

On the 4th March 2013, Andrew Gilligan, the Mayor of London's Cycling Commissioner, stated that "it took 40 years to turn Amsterdam in to Amsterdam".  But of course it will take even longer to turn London in to a cycling nirvana on a par with Amsterdam if we never start.  Indeed, we were 40 years behind Amsterdam over 100 days ago.  That's 40 years plus 100 days of unnecessary road danger, unpleasant cycling conditions and avoidable deaths and serious injuries of people on bikes.

Gilligan and others ride "OV Fiets", the Dutch national rail hire bicycle.

Lucky for us then, that news reaches ibikelondon that Mr Gilligan and a number of Transport for London bods have recently spent some time cycling in the Netherlands and admiring some of the country's finest cycling infrastructure, alongside Kaya Burgess of The Times who spearheaded that newspaper's excellent and ongoing Cities Fit For Cycling campaign.  Who knows, maybe they learnt some valuable lessons from the safest place to cycle in the world, where more people cycle than anywhere else?

And for those looking to learn from the Dutch model, in this hyper-connected world in which we find ourselves living there's a whole host of learning resources floating around for free on the internet.  It should not take us 40 years to stop "being behind" because it is now so much easier to learn and implement new ideas in our information-enabled age.  If they so wished, engineers at TfL HQ could send a design brief for a new bike-friendly roundabout design to a consultancy in Rotterdam and have PDFs of draft Dutch proposals back by tea time, something almost unimaginable just 13 years ago.
 
And 13 years ago, the Dutch were not just making liveable cities; they were making the following video too.  "Fiets 2000" is fascinating on a number of levels.  Firstly because it shows the Dutch at their best; going about their daily business by bicycle, in an environment where young and old alike have priority over the movement of motor vehicles around packed cities - always a joy to behold.  Secondly, because it shows how planning for moving people is really carefully thought out, in an integrated fashion, and the extent to which cycle infrastructure is key to this.  The video really is a masterclass in how serious cycle planning should be, and what its positive impact will become.  
Lastly, and most importantly, this video from 2000 is interesting because it shows that we are not 40 years behind the Netherlands, but that we are constantly slipping further and further back in time.

Utrecht, which features throughout this video, was extensively remodelled in the post-war period like most British cities in order to accommodate growing motor vehicle use.  Since this video was made, the entire city centre has been completely remodelled again in order to reduce the impact of the worst excesses of 1960s modernist planning, to create more public space by returning one of the main canals to the city centre (by completely removing a dual carriageway which had covered it) and to replace some office and retail building stock which was in need of an update.  Tens of thousands of bike parking spaces have been moved, tram routes have been re-directed, road space has been removed and water and public space returned.

Catherine Bridge in Utrecht through the ages, courtesy of BicycleDutch

Of course, during all of this building work the Dutch haven't simply closed down the centre of the city and ordered people on bikes to dismount; they've built an extensive network of detours and alternative routes in order to stop the city from grinding to a halt; 22,000 cyclist a day cross the viaduct over the old canal / dual carriageway.  Mark from the superb BicycleDutch blog has an excellent over view of the work taking place, and how the city is handling the thousands of displaced cyclists during the construction period.

Here in Britain, and more specifically London, we are also capable of re-building elements of our city at speed when we want to.  We designed, built and delivered the best Olympic Games in just 7 years.  Crossrail, the new high-capacity cross-city underground train line which is currently tearing up great swathes of central London, is on schedule to open in 2018 just 11 years after construction works broke ground.

But we are also capable of circuitous decades of hand-wringing, and dithering on a national scale.  Utrecht may have been completely reborn in the past 60 years, yet our national cycling campaign the CTC can't - after 135 years of existence - even bring itself to publicly admit that the Dutch way of planning and building for people on bikes is the best way.  As David Hembrow puts it "What do we want? Gradual Change! When do we want it?  In due course!"

I'm heartened to hear that our planners and politicians are starting to visit across the water for lessons on how truly to bring about a cycling revolution, but with the clock ticking all the time there really isn't any time to loose.

The Mayor and Andrew Gilligan must understand that when you say you're 40 years behind your cycling rivals, saying so doesn't stop the onward march of time.  As the Netherlands re-plan and re-pave their cycle-friendly cities we are always falling further behind.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

If you want to help put pressure on our politicians to really "Go Dutch", join over 60,000 others and add your signature to the Get Britain Cycling petition.

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Deeds of Derring-do! The Edwardian trick cyclists who could teach us a thing or too in "Fancy Cycling" by Isabel Marks

Move aside hipsters of East London, there's some new kids on the bicycle block ready to casually steal the mantle of cool from under your wheels.  Who are these brave new trend setters, these leaders of the cycling pack?  A bunch of Edwardians in hoop skirts, bonnets, and wool suits who've been putting your bike skills to shame since 1901, that's who.

"Fancy Cycling" by Isabel Marks was first published over a hundred years ago, and a beautifully bound hard cover facsimile edition is soon to be re-released by Old House Books.

 Don't try this at home kids.  Actually, do.

Our straight-faced Edwardian cycling subjects are arranged in a variety of impressive, unlikely and down-right fanciful bike trick demonstrations.  And they want you to learn their extraordinary array of skills, too!  "..the saving quality of grace, the acquisition of a perfect balance, of a correct position, and of exact ankle action should be to the cyclist even as Mecca is to the follower of the Prophet - the goal of his desire" excited Ms Marks.

And there are not just flourishes of encouragement herein, but exact and detailed instructions on how to perform effective track stands, coasting on the handle bar, riding backwards, standing on the saddle and efficient skidding.

Eat your heart out, Florence Welch.

But all that is mere child's play and once mastered will provide a solid foundation for the more accomplished bicycle tricks such as the (surely once legendary?) "cycling butterfly dance" (pictured), knitting whilst awheel, jousting by bike, picking up handkerchiefs from the saddle, removing your jacket whilst riding (shocking!), balancing your bike on top of a table, or better still, balancing your bike on top of a tight rope on top of a table, skipping with a hoop on your bicycle, and my personal favourite - and surely only to be attempted by the most scandal-proof of cyclists - a move for a rider and his closest two friends that is simply described as "a venturesome trio".

There's tips on how to select the best gear ratios, how to prepare the ground for bicycle tricks (strangely there's no mention of padded floors or bicycle helmets, though it would appear Ms Marks does favour a dashing bonnet for the ladies), and how to recruit friends to form a troupe of bicycle tricksters.

 And I thought track standing on a Boris Bike was impressive.  Try doing it when you're 11 years old dressed in full Edwardian get up next time...

"I humbly crave your kind indulgence", wrote Ms Marks in 1901 "for the interesting subject upon which I have ventured to dilate, somewhat after the fashion of those who intrude where angels fear to tread.  May my insignificant efforts be of some little service to the merry band of tricksters; and may the tracks of their wheels be ever increasingly present in the land"

Little could she have guessed, over a hundred years later, that her book would still be doing just that, and helping to bring smiling faces and grazed knees to newly inspired trick cyclists across the country.

"Fancy Cycling" the facsimile reproduction will soon be available via the Publisher's Website, for order at all good local book store and via Amazon.com

For more bicycle-based nostalgia, do check out this article on The Guardian bike blog about the come back of the Penny Farthing by Carlton Reid.

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Roll up for a night of adventure with the Bikeminded Film Festival!

What better way to celebrate Bike Week 2013 than to inspire yourself with a night of cycling adventure with the first ever Bikeminded Film Festival?

Those good cycling folk from Bikeminded at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea are screening an evening of celluloid-based cycling stories in the faded grandeur of the Coronet Cinema in Notting Hill; surely one of London's most beautiful best kept secrets and most ornate independent picture houses?

One of the great joys of the bicycle is its incredible flexibility; from getting you to work in the morning, to potentially riding around the world!  The evening of June 20th will see all manner of bicycle-based adventures great and small celebrated on the silver screen.  The cinematic cycling extravaganza kicks off with a selection of short films about riding around the Royal Borough, showing that you don't have to go far in order to have a micro-adventure; from riding a tandem to learning how to ride as an adult, this series of short films covers every corner of cycling. 

There will be introductions to the films by community cycling entrepreneur Jim Blakemore from the phenomenally successful Bikeworks project, and an introduction to the team behind Velonette; the city touring curio guides who have been riding around the best monuments and city attractions across the world (next stop, London!).  As well as all this, I'll be giving a brief talk on why we're attracted by adventure, bicycles and the thirst for freedom, before the evening's feature presentation.



"Janapar" is a feature film written and produced by world cycle tourer Tom Allen of Tom's Bike Trip fame.  Filmed over the course of a three and a half year round-the-world bike ride attempt, it charts the highs, lows and saddle sores of love on the open road; of what happens when you set off to embrace adventure and when an unexpected and chance encounter with love stops you in your tracks.  Three years and thousands of miles after cycling out of his village in England, Tom returned home having ridden across Europe, down to the horn of Africa, across the deserts of the Middle East, free-wheeled across Iran, through the coldest Eastern European winter in decades, back to England... ..and with the addition of a wife.  His story will inspire any would-be adventurer and will have you geared up and ready to ride through summer in no time at all!

All this bicycle film goodness (not to mention the opportunity to hob knob at the cinema bar with likeminded bikeminded cycling folk) comes at the bargain price of just £5 - the perfect mid-week night out - but tickets must be booked in advance and are not available on the door.

The 1st Bikeminded Film Festival takes place at 7PM at the Coronet Cinema, Notting Hill Gate on Thursday 20th June.  Tickets are £5 per person and can be ordered in advance via the event website.

I'm looking forward to getting inspired to want to get on my bike and ride, and hope to see some of you there!

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What's Dutch about Hackney? Finding out what makes London's most successful cycling borough tick

There is a corner of London where canals, parkland paths, closed roads and cycle routes converge to create the perfect cycling scenario.  Stand on Broadway Market's Cat and Mutton bridge in the east London borough of Hackney and it is easy to imagine yourself transported to some bicycle-friendly corner of the continent, as oppose to inner London.  Bike stands groan with the pressure of parking.  Boris Bike docking stations ring to the sound of hire cycles being docked, hired, docked and hired again.  Creative types on fixed wheel bikes flash past, whilst regal ladies on upright Dutch bikes grace the scene with a touch of style.  You don't need the statisticians to tell you that there is a lot of bike riding happening in certain corners of Hackney; it is there for all to see.

Here at ibikelondon I've been cataloguing the cycling culture around Broadway Market for nearly four years.  From the cycle chic riders who braved the winter and kept riding in January 2012 and February 2011, to the football teams who pedal to practice on Hackney Marshes (not forgetting autumn and the long hot days of summer as well of course!).  There's the "cycle chic wall" outside Lock 7 cafe, not to mention the "bicycles-only road" where two wheels rule.  Noticing how the sun brings out the best in cyclists using Hackney's canal-side paths, to documenting the change from early adopters to everyday and ordinary cyclists, when it comes to London's bicycling borough I've really seen it all.





And, being both an observer and a contributor to the borough's cycling culture, I've often thought about what makes Hackney tick, and why so many people choose to ride bikes here.  Unusually for an inner-London borough it doesn't have an Underground station (although it did gain a handful of Overground stations in 2010), meaning the fastest way to get around is on two wheels, with the 2nd and 3rd fastest means of transport - buses and cars - being prohibitively slow or expensive.  It's also always had a strong cycling 'scene', with specialist shops and bike polo and grass track racing groups for example.  With a strong creative class stationed in the borough there is also a lot of local area and home working, meaning distances between home and the office are eminently cycleable for many.  What's more, the borough benefited from the introduction of the Congestion Charge in its southern corner since 2000, and more people now cycle to work in the borough than drive.  But that's not all that has made Hackney an inviting place in which to ride a bike...



 

The Hackney branch of the London Cycling Campaign have been working with the borough very closely for many years, encouraging the Council to consider the bicycle in all that they do; from approving planning applications, to which bin lorries they procure.  And where they've had the most evident success on the ground is with their programme of "filtered permeability" interventions; making one way streets two way again, using bollards to make streets no-through-roads for motorised traffic, hence becoming a handy cut-through for cyclists and pedestrians.  Clever short-cuts and links, made with little more than a dropped curb or a handy bollard, have allowed cyclists to avoid the busiest and most unpleasant roads, whilst efforts to unwind all of the biggest gyratories in the borough continue.  Long-serving Councillor and former cabinet member Vincent Stops has a long list on his blog of some of the interventions done in recent years to encourage more travel by bicycle, which is well worth a read.

But is this over-egging the pudding?  Is Hackney a popular spot for cycling simply by lucky coincidence, a chance concurrence of beneficial elements?  It is worth remembering that although 14.6% of trips to work might be by bike, the modal share for all journeys by bicycle in the borough remains low compared to other means of transport.  And not everyone agrees that Hackney is exactly a cycling paradise.  Much missed cycling blogger, the famously venomous Crap Cycling in Waltham Forest had this to say of the borough back in 2010; 
"East of Mare Street I quickly became lost in a labyrinth of one-way streets and hideous gyratories... After an hour cycling in Hackney I sobbed nostalgically for Waltham Forest. It's that bad."  
Even self-described vehicular cyclist "Buffalo" Bill Chidley of London bicycle courier scene fame is keen to point out that there are really big changes needed to some of Hackney's biggest and busiest roads; 
"I agree that there remains a lot to do in Hackney.  I live right by the A10 Kingsland Road, on which 3 cyclists have been killed in the last 10 years.  This road desperately needs some redesigning, but not just for cyclists, for pedestrians as well."
And every time I ride west along the throbbing, thronging Hackney Road I curse the absence of a separate cycle path on this busiest of arterial routes that seems to have been left as a festering free-for-all where anything goes.





And this is where things start to get really strange...  Because the Hackney branch of the London Cycling Campaign - the LCC group for the most bicycling bicycley biking borough in biking Boris's London - is staunchly anti-cyclepaths and segregated cycling infrastructure.  So convinced are the lead members of this group of the potential damage that can be done by cycle lanes that they proudly write on their website how they have managed to block TfL from installing cycle paths on Old Street, a busy transport corridor in the borough; "We do not see any advantage in cycle lanes here" they opine.  On the At Home in Hackney blog, Hackney Cycling co-ordinator Trevor Parsons talks of lessons to be learnt from the greatest cycling nation in the world; 
"[in] the Netherlands people are compelled to ride on separate cycle tracks and paths where they exist and Dutch police shout at people for cycling on smooth, empty carriageways. We don't want that over here... ..we want to take the 'permeability' approach".

And this perhaps rather odd approach has trickled down to the borough Council with Vincent Stops asking on Twitter "How many miles of trip hazards is Boris going to install?" after the Mayor's recent announcement that he will build a 15km substantially segregated cycle track across central London.

How many miles of trip hazards is Boris going to install. I'm sure Hackney will continue to focus on what's important for cycling and peds.
— Vincent Stops (@VincentStops) March 7, 2013

So is Hackney a bicycling valhalla, or merely a lucky fluke?  Are its bicycle campaigners on the right track, or is their exclusion of separated cycling infrastructure as a useful, available tool holding back the two wheeled potential of the borough?  And if you had next to no cycling levels in your borough, what could London's most successful cycling borough teach you?  Should we even be looking to this unique and unusual corner of inner London as an example for other locations to copy at all?

All these themes and more will be explored at the June Street Talks, next Tuesday the 4th of June in the upstairs bar at The Yorkshire Grey pub.  As usual the bar opens from 6PM for drinks, food and networking before the presentation at 7PM which this month will be given by Hackney Cycling Campaign co-ordinator Trevor Parsons and Hackney Councillor Vincent Stops, who will explore the challenges they feel their borough faces, the success they have won, and what they would like to do differently to bring about more people on bikes.  See the Movement for Liveable London website for more details.

And if that's not enough Hackney in one month for you, spaces are still available for the Hackney Cycling Conference 2013, taking place on the 6th of June at Hackney Town Hall, and featuring key note speeches from the Mayor's Cycling Commissioner Andrew Gilligan and the author of the Get Britain Cycing report Professor Phil Goodwin. Get your tickets here.

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Cyclists hate road narrowing schemes, but have our cycling campaigns been asking for them all along?

I was in Birmingham recently for the excellent Cycle City Expo where hundreds of cycling campaigners, road engineers, and local councils came together to think about really getting Britain cycling.  There was a palpable atmosphere that the new age of the bicycle was well on its way, and indeed that "something" will need to be done on our streets to help accommodate it.  But just what should be done is still very much up for debate, and this was brought home to me by a conversation I had with an engineer there who was exasperated with cycling campaigns.

"You cyclists don't know what you want!" the engineer exclaimed.  His outburst came as a shock to me.  I'd been telling him about the latest design trend for road narrowing schemes that is sweeping our capital.  I'd told him that such a design had been built on the Bethnal Green Road and provoked an incredible reaction from people who ride the road everyday, and that in Westminster plans to narrow the carriageway on Haymarket had people who ride there up in arms.  I explained my view that road narrowing puts people on bikes at a disadvantage, cutting their ability to get ahead of stationary traffic, bringing them closer together with heavy moving traffic and leading to dangerous overtakes by drivers who don't realise that cyclists are supposed to take the lane, or worse, just grow reckless and impatient.  I told him that I thought plenty of cyclists hated such schemes and would do anything they could to avoid any such future projects being implemented on busy roads and key cycle corridors.  Many people have told me they feel intimidated and bullied by motorised traffic when they are brought closer together by road narrowing, and recounted horror stories of road aggression, near misses and uncomfortably close passes.  That's when the engineer started to sigh, scratch his head, and look at me in an exasperated way.

 Road narrowing on London's Strand. No room for error here.

"Don't you see?" he began to explain, "Cyclists have been asking for road narrowing schemes for years.  And now they are being built, you are telling me that cyclists hate them.  You cyclists don't know what you want!"  

I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing, so I asked the engineer to explain further.  He agreed, on the condition that I kept his identity confidential so as not to prejudice some bicycle-friendly measures he is currently working on with a London council

"I've worked on a road narrowing scheme before.  The client, the Council, wanted to turn an A-road in to a more people friendly street, most particularly with regards to accommodating all of the cyclists, who in recent years had become the majority of the traffic on this particular stretch.  The road is also a bus corridor, and busy with lots of pedestrians.  A shopping centre had been built on the road recently and there was a big pot of Section 106 money set aside for streetscape improvements.  There was enough space to build really good cycle tracks, and increase the width of the pavements for pedestrians, as well as to accommodate pull-ins for the buses and loading bays for the shops.  At first I thought that would be the best option to build; something for everyone.  But the local cycling campaigners disagreed."

My heart sank at the words "local cycle campaigners"; whilst I know there are hundreds of highly committed individuals up and down the country doing outstanding work, sadly amongst their number there is still a highly vocal minority wedded to some very strange ideologies regarding how best to provide for cyclists.

"The local cycling campaign drew our attention to the Hierarchy of Provision.  It's a Department for Transport standard, you must have heard of it?" quizzed the engineer.  Indeed, I had.  The "Hierarchy of Provision" can be found in the DfT's briefing LTN 2/08 Cycle Infrastructure Design [PDF]  It is also the foundation guide for all of the CTC's approach to campaigning and the basis of their recent design brief Cycle-friendly design and planning [PDF].  In a nutshell, it tells urban designers and road engineers what they should do when considering the place of cyclists and supposedly cycle-friendly measures.  It says that Dutch-style infrastructure should be considered as a 'last resort' after traffic reduction, traffic calming and speed reduction, junction treatments and painted bicycle lanes or shared bus lanes.  Everyone knows that overt traffic reduction is a politically impossible request, so the first practical suggestion on the list of considerations is speed reduction and traffic management.

"Don't you see?" said the engineer, "The local cycling campaign showed us the Hierarchy of Provision and made it perfectly clear that even though there was space for really good quality cycle tracks where our scheme was being constructed, they didn't want them.  They pointed to the DfT's guidance and, well, frankly it isn't the place of a road engineer to take on the might of the Department!  They showed us that cycle tracks weren't wanted, necessary or welcome.  In fact, one or two of them had some funny ideas about cycle tracks being an invitation for trouble and danger, and the last thing I want is some kind of liability issue arising out of my work.  So I followed the guidelines and did what it asked; we narrowed the carriageway as much as we possible could.  It slowed the traffic down - down from about 40mph on average to about 25mph today.  It also meant there was room to put in a few extra trees and benches and bike stands, which is great, obviously.  We reduced the speed, and managed the traffic, just as the cycling campaigners had asked us too."

At this point the engineer's face grew dark.  He even looked angry.  Downing the last of his coffee he pointed at me and said again "Cyclists don't know what they want!"

"We did what the campaigners asked.  We did what the guidance from the DfT asked, which I understand was written with input from the CTC.  We reduced traffic speed.  We put in place a system that managed traffic.  We didn't leave room for reckless driving"

"But it's been terrible.  The Council are furious with us!  Firstly, the volume of cycle traffic on the route dropped off by about a third.  You have to remember that cyclists used to be the majority of traffic here; that's a big deal.  Worse still, the instances of pavement cycling have shot up.  The local Police had non-stop complaints from shop keepers and local residents about people cycling on the footway during the rush hour because the traffic is at a standstill and cyclists can't get through on the narrowed road.  I admit it, what's the point of riding a bike if you can't go faster than all of the stationary traffic stuck in jams?!" 

A skip lorry overtakes a cyclist on the narrowed Cheapside in the City of London. Picture courtesy of Cyclists in the City of London.

"Then, last month there were two terrible accidents on the road.  It turns out that in order to skip the stationary traffic, but avoiding cycling on the pavement, some people on push bikes have been riding down the outside edge of the lane - that is to say they've been riding down the middle of the whole road - like a motorcyclist would.  Someone on a bike got hit head-on by a motorbike coming the other way.  It was a really nasty crash." 

"Then the other crash was when a driver tried to over take a cyclist in the middle of the lane whilst the traffic was moving.  Technically the cyclist was doing the right thing, but the driver, either through ignorance, or impatience, or both, tried to overtake.  Our design was supposed to "discourage" over taking, but it hasn't worked.  The driver went for it, misjudged the distances and crashed in to a pedestrian refuge in the middle of the road.  It could have been very serious."

I suddenly felt sorry for the engineer.  Designing a street on which cyclists, buses, lorries, pedestrians and cars have to interact is a huge responsibility, and the individual obviously took the consequences of his work very seriously indeed.

He continued; "After the crashes, and with all the pavement cycling going on, we went down there to actually talk to the road users to try and find out where our design was going wrong.  We spoke to some taxi drivers who said they hated the road now; they had no idea that cyclists were supposed to ride in the middle of the road and said they always felt unfairly held up when the traffic was moving.  We also spoke to some of the cyclists and every single one of them really hated it.  They told us that our new design made them feel in more danger than before, and that they didn't want to have to ride their bikes as though they were cars.  They felt that there was no room for mistakes on the narrowed road, and most of them admitted to skipping on to the pavement when the traffic came to a standstill, of it they felt they were riding too close to big vehicles likes trucks and buses.  I asked them all, if they had a choice between narrow slow roads, or less narrow roads with cycle tracks, which would they choose.  Nearly all of them chose cycle tracks; the very thing we had not built.  So you see my point now; cyclists, and their representatives, don't know what they want!"

 The terrifying plans for Haymarket in the City of Westminster - why have our cycle campaigns so far been silent on these proposals? (See Cyclists in the City here and here for more details of these appalling plans)

I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing; cycling design guidance had been used to create the very last thing that any normal cyclist would want.  Whilst I think the creation of the Hierarchy of Provision came from a well-meaning place, the episode over coffee with a design practitioner showed me that in reality it simply isn't fit for purpose.  Except for some stringent vehicular cyclists, I am yet to meet a single cyclist who thinks that road narrowing schemes on major roads (like the Bethnal Green Road) are a good idea.  That the very guidelines which have been drawn up to supposedly protect people on bikes are now being used as an excuse to create conditions which actually threaten them is perverse in the extreme.  The Hierarchy of Provision fails because it tries to be a "one size fits all" fix for all roads, regardless of what the primary use of those roads might be, and because it is far too open to interpretation.  Road narrowing (and shared space) could be a useful tool available to us in our quest to create a more liveable city, but only when used in the right context.  On primary transport corridors which throng and heave with cyclists as well as buses, trucks and cars, it is clearly an unmitigated disaster.  It is no good suggesting a series of measures to help cyclists without first considering what the street it is being applied to is being used for.  The Hierarchy seems to me to be a document from another age; a less-cycled, less knowledgeable age. Dare I say a pre-internet age where we weren't able to see, and understand, the other options available to us just over the North Sea in more successful cycling countries.  

The Hierarchy of Provision is like Communism; perfectly well-meaning on paper, but a disaster in reality.  When interpreted in to the real world it equals a harrowing experience on our streets.  That an engineer waved a copy in front of me as being the basis for introducing a dangerous and uncomfortable road narrowing scheme just goes to show how far those interpretations can go, and how entirely unfit for purpose our cycling design guidelines are.  There may be one or two campaigners in our midst who very much like the idea of bicycles behaving as vehicles and taking their "rightful place in the road", but as road narrowing schemes demonstrate when it comes to actual everyday and ordinary cyclists using these designs, the reality does not live up to the rhetoric.  

The alternative solutions are well-documented and already exist, it is time for our cycling campaigns to go back to the drawing board together and start again with our cycling design guidelines, before every other road in our city is narrowed.

In brief, cyclists must decide what they want.


For more excellent and in-depth analysis of problems with the Hierarchy of Provision, see As Easy As Riding a Bike, Vole O'Speed and War On the Motorist blogs.

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